AFLAMDA Board
AFLAMDA has its own Board of Directors. Click on the names below to find out more about each board member.
Brian Cox (Patron)
Brian Cox, CBE., is a LAMDA alumus. With decades spent on the stage and screen, Brian Cox is best known for his Emmy-nominated roles in the critically acclaimed HBO series Succession and popular films such as Manhunter and Braveheart.
Professor Baron Kelly (Chairman)
Professor Baron Kelly is a distinguished actor, educator, and scholar with a career spanning over four decades across the United States, Europe, and Asia. A graduate of the Juilliard School and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he earned his PhD in Theatre Research, Professor Kelly is internationally renowned for his expertise in classical theatre, particularly Shakespearean performance.
His illustrious acting career has seen him perform with some of the world’s most prestigious theatre companies, including the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre of Great Britain, and the Stratford Festival of Canada. Equally at home on stage and screen, his credits extend to acclaimed television and film productions.
Professor Kelly is also a highly respected academic, currently serving as a Professor of Theatre and Drama at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His research and teaching interests focus on acting methodologies, cross-cultural performance practices, and the development of classical theatre training in diverse global contexts.
A passionate advocate for arts education, Professor Kelly has dedicated much of his career to fostering emerging talent and expanding access to high-quality theatrical training. He has worked extensively with underrepresented communities to promote inclusivity in the arts and has collaborated with institutions worldwide to build cross-cultural artistic exchange programs. Professor Kelly recently delivered a lecture to LAMDA students during Black History Month where he outlined the contribution of black actors to the stage from the 10th century until the present day.
His commitment to fostering international partnerships, his extensive experience in both the professional and academic realms, his personal knowledge of LAMDA, and his dedication to supporting the next generation of artists make him a valuable addition to the AFLAMDA board. Professor Kelly’s insights will further strengthen AFLAMDA’s mission to support LAMDA’s world-class training and its growing presence in the United States.
Mary Willis White (Treasurer)
As Partner at NYC based attorney Raines Feldman Littrell LLP, Mary Willis White represents owners, operators, and investors on a wide variety of complex and high-profile real estate transactions in the New York market and across the country, including acquisitions, dispositions, joint ventures, financings, and leasing of office, hotel, retail, multifamily, and mixed-use properties.
In addition to her real estate practice, Mary Willis is the co-founder of Heiress Productions, Inc., a 501(c)3 organization dedicated to raising cancer awareness and funds through professional theatre and film. She also sits on the Board of Directors of Catskill Mountain Shakespeare, a non-profit focused on providing accessible theatre to residents and visitors of the Catskills.
Mary Willis is also an Adjunct Professor at Brooklyn Law School, where she is currently teaching a Real Estate Transactions seminar. As a long-term advocate of LAMDA and supporter of student work in NYC, Mary Willis will support AFLAMDA through a deep knowledge of NY real-estate and law, her understanding of 501(c)3 charities, and passion for the arts, which is a unique and vital contribution as AFLAMDA navigates an ambitious future.
Katie Channon (Director)
Katie is an Artist and is delighted to join the American Friends of LAMDA board continuing a long family legacy of supporting charities in the visual and performing arts. Katie worked in property development in Ireland for ten years before eight years working for CBS news in London. She currently lives and works in Essex, England where she runs an events company.
Ben Curwin (Director)
Ben is both an advisor and early stage investor with US & global operational expertise for both start-ups and established large corporations. He is a founder of Sero Partners, a New York based advisory firm providing global expansion services to growth companies. Previously he has been Vice President at Kwamecorp Ventures, Chief Development Officer for Mood Media, London, New Business Development Director and Head of Marketing for Ovei, London and Marketing Director at Virgin Records, London.
Ben has the distinctive ability to leverage technology, media, music and lifestyle sector experience, to identify strategic business opportunities for early stage growth.
Anne Ashby Gilbert (Director)
Anne Ashby Gilbert is a journalist and film producer whose work has appeared in Fortune Small Business, Your Company Magazine, and Office.com, where she wrote a twice-weekly small business advice column. She is also the author of The Fight for City and Suburban Homes, a history of the ten-year battle to save a 100-year-old tenement housing complex in New York City. She served as staff writer and producer at the New York Center for Visual History, a documentary production company that produced landmark films series on the Arts for PBS, including American Cinema, the poetry series Voices and Visions, as well as one-hour biographies on literary luminaries such as William Styron. More recently, she produced and edited a non-fiction film profile of US Ambassador Richard Gardner entitled "Portrait of a Professor," which celebrated Gardner's five-decade teaching career at the Columbia University Law School.
Educated at Barnard College, the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, she is a founding member of the Lincoln Center Family Circle, as well as parent mentor for the Lincoln Center Student Arts Council, both of which are dedicated to developing new and diverse audiences for the arts.
An LAMDA alumni, producer, and philanthropist who serves on the board of a number of Arts organisations in NYC, Anne is a vital advocate of LAMDA’s activity in the USA and would bring an important understanding of arts philanthropy in the city, as well as significant experience as a board director in NYC.
David Beach (Director)
Educated at Dartmouth and LAMDA, David Beach is a respected and hugely experienced actor for stage and screen, with a career spanning several decades, including a number of acclaimed projects on Broadway, in seminal musicals such as Mamma Mia (original Broadway cast), Urinetown and most recently in Something Rotten (original Broadway cast).
Highly active in New York art and culture circles, alongside his husband Russell Granet (former executive vice president of the Lincoln Centre), David Beach not only brings a passion for LAMDA, as a former alumnus, but also a firm understanding of the city’s theatre landscape, and its intersections with philanthropy. Providing the potential for invaluable insight that can inform LAMDA’s trajectory as it seeks to establish itself in a crowded market, and work towards key events such as the AFLAMDA Gala.
Whitton Frank (Director)
Whitton Frank is a Los Angeles based Producer and Performer creating live Immersive theater in Virtual Reality. She is an actress in film, television and theater and a VO actorspecializing in Animation, Gaming, Commercial and Narration. Her work in VR includes the award-winning immersive VR worlds of The Under Presents and The Tempest, as well as the Ferryman Collective productions PARA, and the award winning Welcome to Respite and Gumball Dreams.
Whitton is a graduate of LAMDA’s MA Classical Acting for the Professional Theatre programme, and will bring invaluable insight and knowledge of LAMDA as a recent student and current alumni. This will have equipped Whitton with a unique viewpoint that will benefit the board, allowing them to understand the needs of US students with ambitions to study in the UK. Whitton’s practice and experience as a performer will also bring invaluable knowledge as AFLAMDA look to establish its training provision in NYC and beyond.
Gabby Beans (Director)
Gabby Beans is a US and NYC based actress, writer and filmmaker.
In 2022 Gabby made her Broadway debut as Sabina in the Lincoln Center revival of “The Skin Of Our Teeth,” for which she received Distinguished Performance Award and Tony Award nominations. Her recent off-Broadway credits include “I’m Revolting” and “Anatomy of a Suicide” at the Atlantic Theater Company, “Mary’s Seacole” at LCT3/Lincoln Center Theater, and “Jonah” at Roundabout, for which she received a Lucille Lortel Award and a Distinguished Performance nomination. She can be seen as Mercutio and Friar Lawrence in the revival of “Romeo and Juliet” at Circle in the Square Theatre.
Her recent TV credits include a recurring role on the AppleTV+ series, “ Presumed Innocent,” HBO’s “Succession,” CBS’s “The Good Fight,”and Showtime’s “Ray Donovan.” As a filmmaker, Gabby has written, produced, and starred in two award winning narrative shorts that have screened at both international and domestic film festivals.
She completed her BA at Columbia University, double-majoring in Neuroscience and Theatre, and MA in Classical Acting from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA). An acclaimed actress and creative, Gabby will bring first hand experience of the industry to the board, offering an insight into the performance landscape for stage and screen, and an important perspective that will shape our work both in terms of the support we offer students and the commercial opportunities of NYC.
Annabel Capper (Director)
Annabel has worked extensively in the corporate and government sectors as a facilitator, coach, and actor facilitator for over 15 years and as an actor and director for 25 years in both the UK and US. She has facilitated and led companywide programs on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Culture Change and Inclusive Leadership. She has coached leaders at all levels and stages of their careers. Annabel works with individuals and groups to develop skills in challenging conversations, managing feedback, leading with impact, enhancing communication skills, embodying presence, stakeholder presentations, negotiation and influence.
A former graduate of LAMDA’s MA Classical Acting for the Professional Theatre programme, Annabel will bring a unique blend of US and UK industry knowledge, which will provide an important insight to a board with cross Atlantic stakes. Moreover, Annabel’s broad understanding and experience of working in a range of sectors will be a welcomed skillset that will bring enhanced understanding of the US landscape
Sir Nigel Carrington (Director)
Sir Nigel Carrington is a distinguished leader with a career spanning over four decades in higher education, culture, business, and the arts. Renowned for his strategic vision and transformative leadership, he has consistently championed creativity, innovation, and cross-cultural collaboration on a global scale.
Educated at St John’s College, Oxford, Sir Nigel began his career in international corporate law. As Managing Partner at global law firm Baker McKenzie, he worked extensively with American clients and businesses, fostering strong transatlantic relationships and leading major international transactions. This experience has given him a deep understanding of the cultural and commercial connections between the United Kingdom and the United States.
In 2008, Sir Nigel transitioned to higher education as Vice-Chancellor of the University of the Arts London (UAL), one of the world’s foremost creative universities. Under his leadership, UAL forged significant partnerships with institutions and organisations across the United States, expanding its global footprint and elevating its reputation for excellence in creative education. These collaborations included exchanges, research initiatives, and alumni engagement in key American cities such as New York and Los Angeles.
Sir Nigel’s dedication to the arts and culture is reflected in his extensive board-level contributions to organisations including the British Museum, the English National Ballet, and the Design Council. His experience in the United States has also involved active participation in fundraising and advocacy efforts to promote British arts and education to American audiences, fostering greater transatlantic cultural understanding and exchange.
His insights into governance, philanthropy, and strategic partnerships—combined with his experience building bridges between UK and US institutions—make Sir Nigel an invaluable addition to the AFLAMDA board. His expertise will play a crucial role in strengthening AFLAMDA’s mission to support LAMDA’s world-class training and expanding its influence and impact within the United States.
Professor Mark O’Thomas (Ex-Officio Member)
Professor Mark O’Thomas is the Principal and Chief Executive Officer at LAMDA.
Mark was previously Pro Vice Chancellor and Professor of Theatre at the University of Greenwich. In addition to working for the BBC for ten years as a network director, he has worked as a playwright, translator and dramaturg for theatres including Soho Theatre, The Royal Court and the Royal National Theatre in London, and has adapted a number of novels for the stage where his credits include Jorge Amado’s Dona Flor and her Two Husbands and Fernando Pessoa’s Book of Disquiet. His main research interest lays at the interface between translation, adaptation, dramaturgy and posthumanism. His work in this area has crossed many disciplines including musicology, film, and literature but his main focus remains on performance writing and the history and cultural policy of the Royal Court Theatre.
Alexia Phillips (Ex-Officio Member)
Alexia Phillips is the Director of Finance and Estates at LAMDA.
Dr Nicholas Holden (Ex-Officio Member)
Nick joined LAMDA as Head of Academic Affairs and Research in January 2024, having previously been Deputy Head of the School of Stage and Screen at the University of Greenwich. Prior to this Nick had held positions at the University of Lincoln, UK, and the University of Nottingham, UK, and, in 2022, was the Thomas P. Johnson Distinguished Fellow in English and Drama at Rollins College, USA. Following a career as an actor and dancer in theatre and film, Nick has worked in Higher Education for over 10 years but remains active in the industry as a script reader and producer, and as an associate at the Royal Court Theatre, where he works on the Living Archive Project, which supports the development of the theatre’s newly created digital archive. At LAMDA Nick teaches classes on the Foundation and MA Classical Acting degrees, and coordinates the MFA Classical Acting and MFA Musical Theatre programmes.
Nick has research specialisms in playwriting studies, musical theatre, masculinity, and the history of the Royal Court Theatre, specifically its work with young people. He is co-founder and co-convenor of the Contemporary Playwriting Network and co-editor of the book series Playwriting and the Contemporary: Critical Collaborations (Liverpool University Press). His publications include Masculinities in Musical Theatre (Forthcoming, Bloomsbury, 2025), Beautiful Doom: The Work of Dennis Kelly on Stage and Screen (co-edited with Jacqueline Bolton, Manchester University Press, 2024), a special issue of Comparative Drama on London’s Theatre (co-edited with Harry Derbyshire and Mark O’Thomas, 2022), and articles and book chapters on new play development, musical theatre on screen, and arts and cultural policy from the 1990s to the present day. Nicholas is currently the co-director of the Comparative Drama Conference, with Mark O’Thomas (LAMDA), Baron Kelly, and Ann Shanahan (University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA), and the Contemporary Playwriting Conference, and co-convenor of the Theatre and Performance Histories Working Group at the Theatre and Performance Research Association (TaPRA).