ALRA’S NEW HOME
& Archives
[coming soon]
subscribe
& join the community
Sign up with your email and we will let you know as soon as the site is fully up and running.
We want to reconnect the ALRA community and create a place to remember all the great things it and its people over the years have accomplished.
As no formal database of staff or students exists anymore, this will become the ALRA database for all staff and students past and recent.
Please sign up and ensure we have a complete (as possible) list of all alumni from 1979 to 2022.
What will the site offer?
The website will include a photo and printed archive, stories, anecdotes and ultimately a way to connect with other ALRA alumni and share jobs, ideas and insights.
We will accept guest contributions and blogs of all kinds, so if you have a lovely story to share, please do send it in!
“ALWAYS REMEMBER THAT YOU ARE NEEDED.
THEATRE BRINGS JOY.
THAT IS OUR JOB.
PLAY AND DON’T BE GLOOMY”
JOAN LITTLEWOOD, FORMER PATRON OF ALRA
THE FOUNDING ALRA ETHOS:
TO PRODUCE NOT ONLY CREATIVE ARTISTS, BUT PROFESSIONAL PEOPLE WHO ARE DEDICATED, GENEROUS AND WELCOME IN ANY COMPANY.
The Academy of Live & Recorded Arts (ALRA) was founded in 1979 by Sorrel Carson-Hanau, Caryll Ziegler and Mark Hanau (Sorrel’s son).
ALRA was created to be inclusive and accessible, but importantly it had a strong focus on TV & radio which, at that time, was not catered for within traditional drama schools.
After a few years based in East Finchley, ALRA moved to The Royal Victoria Patriotic Building in Wandsworth. It was here, in the early eighties that Mark built ALRA’s first, state-of-the-art film and recording studio.
From 1979 until 2022, ALRA supported the education and ambition of thousands of talented drama students. It was a highly regarded and coveted drama academy until it’s sudden and sad closure in April 2022.
This website is dedicated to providing a single source for all things ALRA and its alumni who continue to perform, teach and direct all over the world today.
It will, in time, become the main archive of ALRA history, memories and photos. Our biggest hope is that this site will form a single record of all ALRA alumni and a community network of like minded people who can continue to help and support one another (as they always have) through the weird and wonderful world of acting!