Welcome to TASA
The Actors Studio Academy, founded by Joe and I, has since nurtured thousands of artistes, many who are regarded as the crème de la crème of the industry today.
Our very first class in 1992 comprised luminaries such as Tiara Jacquelina Eu, Patrick Teoh, Leslie Dawson, Ramli Hassan, Jeffery Nicholson and Fawziah Nawi.
Today, students from as young as three years old have a clear pathway to grow with us, learn from industry professionals and enjoy klpac’s full-fledged professional facilities.
Besides our year-round Speech and Drama programmes, we also customise specialist training programmes for arts groups, schools, drama teachers as well as corporates under our corporate training arm.
After two years of disrupted learning, let’s inspire our creative minds to BE EXTRAORDINARY again through much-needed physical interaction, creative play time and a safe space to express themselves.
Dato’ Dr. Faridah Merican & Joe Hasham OAM
Co-Founders, The Actors Studio Academy
Head of Academy
Kimmy Kiew, Head of Academy
“I am glad to be back at klpac again, working with many familiar faces and old friends alongside Joe & Faridah at The Actors Studio Academy @ klpac.
I have enjoyed working onstage and offstage in various capacities. Ever since I became a mother, nurturing young creative minds has become my passion which is why I have focused on arts education in the past decade.
I am looking forward to getting to know you and your children in the coming weeks.
Feel free to reach out if you have any questions or concerns.
See you all at klpac.”
A theatre graduate from the Malaysian Institute of Arts, Kimmy has more than 20 years of experience in the arts having worked as a front-of-house supervisor, publicist, producer, educator, actor and director.
She was a Publicist and Associate Producer with Gardner & Wife Theatre Company before joining klpac as Director in-Residence from 2010 to 2012. She has participated in the ASEAN-Japan Exchange (2003) in Tokyo, CPI (2007) in Seoul and Tamsui Arts Carnival 2010 in Taiwan. Kimmy’s production of “The Bear” (2003) won Best Production at the 2nd ADA Awards and she was named Best Actress at the BMW Shorties Awards 2008.
A mother to a ten year old, she has shifted her focus to arts education in the past decade. She has been a speech and drama facilitator at The Actors Studio Academy @ klpac, Never-ending Story Education, Earth Tone Dance Academy and several other kindergartens. In 2018, Kimmy directed “Journey of a Baby Butterfly”, the very first baby theatre in Malaysia produced by Hong Jie Jie Workstation.
Pre-school Facilitators
Teacher Vicky Ang
Vicky specialises in working with young children, through creative English classes with speech and drama components, private tutoring, school holiday programs, special needs homeschooling, class presentations, year end concerts, and live shows! Passionate about educating young minds, Vicky strives to make the world a better place through embarking on educational journeys with the future generation.
Teacher Rebecca Bajok
Rebecca Bajok, or better known as Becky, is an educator, facilitator and a color therapist. She believes that one can identify and enhance a child’s personality and strength through the form of arts, especially through their expression, creativity and activities. Currently, she is focusing on alternative education for children and teenagers. Arming herself with her past corporate experiences, she has now developed training programmes modules in creative learning for children to discover themselves through the arts.
Assistant Teacher Nephi
Nephi is an actress and playwright who found her love for the arts early on in highschool through drama competitions. When she was 16, she staged her first play, “Di Kampung Tanjong” in klpac for Short + Sweet Theatre (2018) and she won the best newcomer. At 17, alongside her brother, they adapted Rajiv Joseph’s “Gruesome Playground Injuries” for a Malaysian audience. Later on, she continued to hone her craft by joining klpac’s Theatre for Young People (T4YP) programme and was a member of the 2021 T4YP ensemble. More recently, she was part of Theatresauce’s Emerging Directors Showcase II titled “Children Should Not Play in the Dark Because They Might End Up Dead, or Worse, Lost” (2022).
Speech & Drama Programme Facilitators
Teacher Phraveen
Phraveen Arikiah is a singer-songwriter and actor who has had the honour of performing on stages across Malaysia, Hong Kong, South Korea, and Thailand. His recent performance credits include five roles that he originated for Mahsuri (And Other Peculiar Tales): A New Musical; by Liver & Lung Productions – which won the Innovation in Musical Theatre Award at the 14th BOH Cameronian Arts Awards 2017, Musa in Penang PAC’s production of ‘Bengal Tiger At The Baghdad Zoo’, Michal Katurian in theatrethreesixty’s staging of ‘The Pillowman’, and an ensemble member in Theatresauce’s production of ‘4.48 Psychosis’. (2022).
Teacher Nabil
Nabil Musawir (M.Bale) started his acting journey by participating in the Theatre for Young People (2017) programme in klpac. He then continued to work on his craft by acting in numerous plays such as Kelas Tambahan, Dato’ Seri, Harder Than This: The Musical, Mixtape for Maz, Mautopia, Tanah Akhirku, Floor 43, Forget Me Not, PohLiThik, IndicineLive! 6, Wangi Jadi Saksi, and Rashomon. M.Bale won Best Newcomer (2017) and Best Supporting Actor & Overall Production (2018) in Short & Sweet Theatre organized by klpac. He also won Best Production with Wangi Jadi Saksi in Drama Stor Teater (2019) organized by Persatuan Teater Malaysia. He is an avid Liverpool fan. YNWA!
Teacher Adam
Adam Hamizan is a Corporate Administration Diploma holder. He decided to hone his performing talents and became an ensemble member of Theatre for Young People (T4YP) 2019.
His past performing credits include: “Kurator Dapur” (2018); “TIGA 3” (2019), Five Arts Centre; “Bunga Mimpi Yang Kembang Kuncup” (2019); “Rashomon” (2020), klpac; “T4YP Emergence: Love & Loss” (2020), klpac. More recently, he was involved in the Singapore Bicentennial Experience playing the role of Sang Nila Utama.
Teacher Emira
Emira Sofia is a diploma holder in Communications and currently works in the corporate field. However, her true passion lies in education, with her having spent time at Precious Years where she taught English to children from the ages of 3 to 14 years old. She is an avid follower of the performing arts as she makes it a point to catch as many theatre shows as she can. Her philosophy as an educator is that kids should always be treated with compassion and to treat kids how you yourself would like to be treated.
