Sandy Faison studied music at The Juilliard School, improvisation at Second City Theatre in Chicago, Shakespeare at The Globe in London, and educational theater at The Abbey and Samuel Becket Theaters in Dublin. She is a graduate of the Neighborhood Playhouse, where she studied with Sandy Meisner. She holds a BA from Hamilton College and is currently a Master’s candidate in educational theater at NYU. She has been a member of SAG, EQUITY, and AFTRA for 36 years. Sandy currently is a full time Drama and Speech teacher at La Guardia High School For The Performing Arts in Manhattan.
In Los Angeles, Sandy directed, produced, and stage-managed thirteen major productions for The Country School, each involving over two hundred fifty students. She also conceived, directed, and produced three major fundraisers for The Country School’s Diversity Committee. Two were mounted at The Comedy Store in Hollywood, and one at Pepperdine University, raising enough money to send 6 students all the way from Pre-k – 6th grade at the private school. (See letter of recommendation from Paul Singer, the head of school.) She also provided directorial assistance on “Footloose” for The Los Angeles County High School For The Performing Arts.
As a professional producer, Sandy has produced a dozen award winning new plays and musicals from Los Angeles to New York. She formed her own production company eight years ago “to promote and develop new works created by staggeringly talented people.” Her first venture was "Dying For Laughs", which won the LA Times Critic’s Choice, and was subsequently published by Samuel French. Her next venture, "Both Barrels: A Salvo of John Forster Songs", also received the LA Times Critic’s Choice as well as the LA Times “Best Of The Year.” In 2000, "Both Barrels" premiered at Goodspeed Opera House. At that point, Sandy joined forces with Chase Mishkin and Leonard Soloway to move the show to the Variety Arts Theater off-Broadway, under the name of "A Good Swift Kick". Sandy’s most recent venture was "Actor, Lawyer, Indian Chief" by Craig Carnelia. It was chosen from hundreds of selections by The National Alliance For Musical Theatre to be presented as part of their fall conference in New York in 2001. For the second time, Goodspeed Opera House picked up one of Sandy’s original productions, and it premiered in 2002. Currently, Sandy is co-producing “Four Christmases” which premiered November 12th, 2005 at The Center Stage in Seattle. During Sandy’s thirty-six years of professional acting, she unabashedly enjoyed working for directors Sidney Lumet, Mike Nichols, Alan Pakula, and Ellis Raab. For the past eighteen years, Sandy has been honored to be a voting member of the Blue Ribbon Panel for The Emmy Awards. Her favorite times on Broadway were creating the role of Grace Farrell in "Annie" and playing opposite Jason Robards in "You Can’t Take It With You." Her favorite film was with Tom Cruise and Craig T. Nelson in “All The Right Moves.” Two years on “The Days and Nights Of Molly Dodd” starring Blair Brown and one year on “Anything But Love” starring Jamie Lee Curtis were her favorite television experiences.
It can be said with certainty that Sandy Faison is an arts advocate. Her job at LaGuardia combines her various loves of acting, music, producing, and directing with her love of working with young adults. Sandy is joyously committed to supporting young artists and developing a safe and exciting work place where they may explore and create works of excellence. She is grateful beyond words to the milieu of the theater, within which she may exercise her passions and commend her heart.