Associate Professor of Acting and Voice at St. Edward’s University, is Head of the BFA in Acting program at St. Edward's University. Specializing in both Michael Chekhov and Feldenkrais, she has an extensive background in movement related approaches to both acting and voice production.
Sheila Gordon is Head of the BFA in Acting Program at SEU. She is a professional actor, solo performer and dialect coach. She is a member of SAG-AFTRA, AEA and VASTA. Gordon is an award winning solo-performer, who has performed regionally and internationally. Her most recent show, Liz and LadyBird: Whistlestop 1964! appeared at the Bullock State History Museum and the Missouri Solo Play Festival. Other performance credits include several roles at MMNT, Vivian in Wit, Heather Woodbury’s A Tale of Two Cities at New York’s Public Theatre, and as Brandon Teena's Mom in the film, Boys Don’t Cry. She has worked extensively as a dialect coach in theatre, film and television, and has coached several Emmy Award and Oscar winning actors.
Education
- MFA in Acting: Carnegie Mellon University/Moscow Art Theatre,1998
- BFA in Acting: New York University, 1982
Research
Professor Gordon has engaged in interdisciplinary research on the integration of Feldenkrais movement with vocal expression, resulting in two published articles and a documentary film. Gordon also spent several years researching the role of women in politics during the 1964 Presidential campaign. Her research on this subject culminated in a full length play, Liz & LadyBird: Whistlestop 1964!. In 2018 and 2019 Gordon curated theatre historian and acting teacher Mel Gordon's (1947–2018) collection of research on method acting, German cabaret and the Grand Guignol, as well as hundreds of rare sound recordings that capture performances of vaudeville, early twentieth-century Broadway theatre, and interviews with noted actors and directors. Professor Sheila Gordon's work was paramount in landing a permanent home for the collection at the Harry Ransom Center.