Amy Chaffee

Professor Amy Chaffee came to Tulane Department of Theatre and Dance in 2017. In addition to being a Full Professor at Tulane, she is a Global Senior Instructor of Fitzmaurice Voicework and is the Director of Artistic Endeavors at the Fitzmaurice Voice Institute (FVI).

She has been affiliated previously with UCLA, CSU-Long Beach, and CSU-Northridge and guest taught at the Central School of Speech and Drama, Yale School of Drama, and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. She holds a BFA from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and an MFA from USD/Old Globe Theatre.

As a research practitioner, Professor Chaffee is an actress/singer/playwright/director/Executive Speaking coach/stand-up comic and clown. She has acted in films, soap operas, and episodic television in addition to being a voice actor. She was a Founder and former Artistic Director of Door Shakespeare in Door County, WI. She is a long-time associate artist at Northern Sky Theatre in Door County, Wisconsin, and starred in their fall production of “When Pigs Fly,” in Fish Creek, WI in 2023. Professor Chaffee began her professional career in theatre in childhood and has performed in most major US markets since 1990. As an on-camera performer in Hollywood, she has worked professionally since 2000. As a director, she has directed shows on 5 continents since 1990. As a playwright, her plays have been performed on 4 continents. Her vocal work was featured as a soloist and ensemble singer on the recent album “The Birthplace of The Thunder” by Zen of Thieves available on all streaming platforms.

Other Practice as Research (PaR) includes dialect design and coaching for film and television for the past 15 years. Recent projects include “Interview with The Vampire” and “Mayfair Witches” both for AMC’s Immortal Universe, Apple’s feature film “Fly Me To The Moon” on which she coached Scarlett Johansson, the Netflix series, “Boots,” and the upcoming Amazon Movie starring Viola Davis, “Ally Clark.” She just finished narrating Stephanie Soileau’s novel, “Should The Waters Take Us,” for Penguin Random House. Amy’s private clientele have won Emmys, Oscars, Tony’s and Olivier awards.

She was the Executive Director LA Fitzmaurice Institute Freedom and Focus 2023 which marked the first FVI offering held in the USA. She also produced the Freedom and Focus Performance Festivals in 2016, 2018, and 2025. A member of Equity, SAG/AFTRA, Dramatists Guild, SETC, PAVA, ATHE, VASTA; Amy served a term on the international board of directors for the Voice and Speech Trainer’s Association (VASTA) and was for 5 years the VASTA liaison to the Association of Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE).

Listen to Amy Chaffee on The Wealthy Actor Podcast.