International Acting Studio: History — LS&CO Studios

Michèle Lonsdale-Smith's Theatre Journey: From Trinidad to the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute in New York.

After that she returned to Canada to co-found her first acting studio in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lyric School of Acting quickly became one of the most well known studios in Vancouver, which at the time was a hotbed for Hollywood productions that headed north to take advantage of the Canadian dollar and the versatile Canadian landscapes.

Michèle expanded her teaching to Toronto and Los Angeles under the monikers: Lonsdale Smith Studios and Lonsdale Smith & Company Acting Studios (or LS&CO). Over the past decade, Michèle has expanded her teaching internationally to Italy, both through Milan and now landing in Rome through partnerships with various Italian theatres and studios. Michèle has also brought her techniques and the studio of actors back to her birthplace in the Caribbean with acting retreats in both Jamaica and at her new family home in Tobago. Michèle, along with her company, Gracemoon Arts, have formed a non-profit theatre so they can share their work philanthropically, supporting the arts and acting community, making the LS&CO conversation and process available to all. LS&CO Studios offers comprehensive support to actors and artists through various initiatives, programs and partnerships developed by Michèle, aiming to nurture and empower the creative talents within the community.

In 2023, she returned to New York, the birthplace of her acting training, to live, work and play. To create a community centered around art and acting, and to add her voice to the global conversation. Together with her company of 16 actors, they will officially open The Gracemoon Theatre, Salon & Gallery in Bushwick in July 2024. The non-profit, under the leadership of executive director Michèle Lonsdale-Smith and business director Randall Ross, is a creative home for “the artist”, devoted to uplifting and upholding the New York tradition of excellence and integrity in acting, while aspiring to evolve the art form and its humanitarian impact.