What the Profession Says
	Abroad America California
	California
	East Bay
	Rick Beaubien: Painter, Designer, Pilates practitioner
	So I caught, and very much enjoyed, the first installment of Faustathon [at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre]. Your readings conveyed at once both the sense of, and your personal delight in, the text. Only I thought that they should have let you play all of the "women's" roles. Actually, I think you would have made a great Faustus.
	Los Angeles
	Sharon Carnicke: Professor, USC; Author, Stanislavski in Focus
	Congratulations on your notoriety as a great acting teacher!!! I knew you when. . .
	Los Angeles/Tennessee
	Patrick Cronin: Veteran L.A. Actor; Professor, E. Tenn. State University
	Dear Lissa: Your beauty and charm and dedication and your skill as a teacher is matched only by your scholarship. It is a delight and a privilege to know you and your work and you son and your students. Lissa, the best acting coach in San Fran…
	Los Angeles
	John Crowther: Casting Agent; Co-Moderator, Online Professional Discussion Group
	Your program is ambitious, but it is exactly the kind of thing that's needed in this country to elevate the awareness that ours can be and is an art, and a genuinely spiritual endeavor, not just a commercial enterprise.
	Los Angeles
	Robert Goldsby: Director, Theatre Founder, Professor Emeritus
	Lissa Renaud was part of a graduate program whose intent was to shape a curriculum that would put graduate students through the disciplines of scholarship in comparative literature and rigorous work experience as a professional stage director. She received her Ph.D. from Berkeley in 1987. [University Teaching] Her work in the program was exemplary. She was one of the two or three best students we had during my time in the Department (1957-1985). When I was head of the Acting Program I chose Lissa to direct the first year. She did both semesters. Her teaching was characterized by lucid structuring of both theory and practice and demanded disciplined participation by all beginning students. Her evaluations were superb. [Acting] As an actress she distinguished herself in major roles…She has a rich voice; moves with strength and grace; and played with intelligence and passion. I remember her Rosalind in "As You Like It" and her Aurelia in "Madwoman of Chaillot" as performances which could have been done in any professional theater in the country and I have directed in professional theater since 1952. [Directing] As a director she did what was probably the most imaginative studio performance I saw at Berkeley when she staged Picasso’s piece called "Four Little Girls." I met one of her actresses in New York just last year who told me it was the most exhilarating experience she had ever had as an actress. [Academics] And, not only was she an accomplished theater person, but she wrote the best comprehensive exam (12 hours) I ever read and this view was shared by the other readers. [Scholarship] I hope [you] will read her paper on Kandinsky given at the AATSEEL convention in Washington in 1989. His work in synthesizing the arts was presented with clarity and precision, and it is clear from her own statement of purpose in creating her school that she is another kindred spirit whose mission is bringing an awareness of the interrelatedness of different art forms into the work of the actor. Her dissertation is publishable and it should be done. [Professional Teaching] What also impresses me about her work, is not only her belief in ideas and interdisciplinary studies, but how specific her work in voice, speech, and movement remains. She knows about repetition and drill as well as how material things might relate to the spiritual core of the human artist. The program she outlines in both Voice and Movement could not be more precise and concrete while her Recital programs show the breadth of her imagination and scholarly interests. Not only is she comfortable with Plato, but she wonders how Jack Nicholson might talk to Emily Dickinson about acting and poetry. She is an extraordinary person and, obviously, a teacher of unusual ability…a human being of generosity.
	Southern California
	Arthur Meiselman: Director; Moderator, Online Professional Discussion Group
	I want to keep you involved because your voice is important…I have to tell you, Lissa, that I love what you have to say and the way you say it. And I've heard a lot of good things about you from secret sources.
	Berkeley
	Peter Selz: Art Historian, Museum Founder, Curator, Author, Professor Emeritus
	Dr. Renaud’s [doctoral dissertation on Kandinsky] amounts to an important scholarly contribution to the history of modern theatre. It is also a noteworthy contribution to interdisciplinary investigation of the humanities. […] …Both of these institutions [Actors’ Training Project and Voice Training Project] were created by Lissa Renaud, and are highly successful in the training of actors and speakers. Her program includes classical theatre, avant-garde American and European plays, as well as original works… Before turning to teaching, Lissa was a splendid performer, and I recall seeing her as a perfect Rosalind in As You Like It…She also performed a great variety of roles and has worked as an actress in productions in this country and Japan. Lissa Renaud is recipient of a number of acting awards. …She is a person whose training and practice present a most unusual balance between scholarly research and praxis in the field. She is deeply committed to communication…I know her as a co-operative and well-organized person of great energy. She knows how to get things done…
	Bay Area
	Derek Sorrentino: Leading Voice-Over Talent
	It's nice knowing others are out there bringing diverse backgrounds and fields of interests into meaningful fields…I'm in awe of folks like you who are both skillful artists and accomplished academics. Had I the hat, I would take it off to you.
	Oakland
	Angelina Spector: Owner, Mind-Body Connection, Pilates-based studio
	I have observed a keen articulation and groundedness in Lissa's movement; she both senses and feels the source of movement. When she works with others' movement, she uses a variety of approaches to tailor her instruction to the needs of each individual. We have had a positive, productive collaboration.
	Berkeley
	Marni Wood: Dancer, Martha Graham Company; Director, UC Berkeley Dance Theatre
	When you and George [House] worked together [co-directing Ghost Sonata]…your ingenuity shaped the piece…Everyone recognized and acknowledged how fluidly the piece moved with you guiding George's vision, and how the atmosphere, (especially that introductory tableau for me at least), created a dimension of mystery and magnetism…You made it work…remember how deeply and fully the piece was impacted…Celebrate yourself (I remember the group coming out at the end of your orals saying they had never experienced such brilliance before)…I shall definitely do something subtle like have your name emblazoned on the Goodyear blimp and float it over the Bay Bridge to get my point across.
	Abroad America California