Education & Classes in Beverly Hills

When other kids played in the street, imagining lives as astronauts or cops, Leslie McKenna played in the kitchen, already a chef in her heart. Her childhood passion persisted, earning her a degree in Culinary Arts from Johnson & Wales University, praise in the pages of Bon Appétit for her pastas and desserts, and a job as Bob Hope’s private chef. In 2005, she decided to share her love with a new generation of aspiring culinary artists, so she founded Chefs, Inc. as a place to learn, cook, and have fun.

Today, her school hosts a wide array of cooking classes, when it isn’t occupied as a film set by shows such as Millionaire Matchmaker. The classes range from Julia Child’s classic French recipes to a dipping-sauce course focusing on grilled and fried eats slathered in custom condiments. She even teaches a knife-skills class, preparing students to slice and dice food like a professional, quickly chopping money or deftly cracking the fruit of the money tree to reveal the paycheck inside.

The Los Angeles School of Comedy fills its studio spaces with classes in standup comedy, improv, and film and television acting. Resident comics Sunda Croonquist and James Harris share the knowledge they use at gigs at the Laugh Factory and writing for television, guiding their charges from building their acts to their first performances at Hollywood comedy clubs. Actors David Kano and Victor Cruz train screen workers of all ages in character development, scene study, and mock auditions.

ComedySportz Los Angeles, LA's longest-running stage show, showcases sidesplitting talents in competitive team-based improv spats populated by Hollywood's up-and-coming comedians. Free-wheeling funnypeople forage for laughter every Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m.—with a 10:30 p.m. late show in some months—as well as a 7 p.m. Sunday show and a college team performance 8 p.m. each Thursday. In the signature ComedySportz Los Angeles shows, comedic squads square off against one another in a some-holds-barred refereed stage match that is surprisingly appropriate for all ages. In an effort to keep humor clean, referees and audience members can call for the brown-bag foul, which puts offensive performers into bagged timeouts to think about both what they've done and what it feels like to be a grocery item.

With schools on the shores of the United States, China, and the Philippines, the International Academy of Film and Television (IAFT) works to nurture the next generation of Hollywood’s elite. The academy's hands-on training, one-on-one attention, quality gear, and focus on all aspects of the craft, from writing to directing to performing, have earned it praise from the Hollywood Reporter as one of the Best Film Schools in the World. To put these means to use, IAFT hosts programs that can lead to certification or a diploma, as well as workshops that sharpen skills or introduce beginners to the world of the silver screen.

Yet for a student few things are more important than having a stolen answer key to their finals and an influential mentor. So IAFT stocks their faculty with experienced professionals such as Frederick Bailey. Bailey has directed more than 100 stage plays in theaters across the United States and has seen more than 20 of his screenplays become movies. He also holds a recurring role on the television soap Days of Our Lives and has taught acting, directing, and screenwriting in Japan and the Philippines.

From 18 studios scattered around Los Angeles, Lori Moran Music Studios’ armada of instructors offers all-ages voice, piano, guitar, violin, and composition classes. With teachers who have worked on films such as Dreamgirls and Dance Flick, world-touring operatic productions, and Grammy-nominated choral CDs, the school can cater to virtually every musical taste—from classical to jazz to pop. Students choose the emphasis of their lessons, whether they want to work on their public performance skills, write their own songs, sight-read scores, or simply be able to play musical chairs during a power outage. Many will also get the chance to show off in recitals, concerts, and showcases.

An AT&T ad executive hangs up the phone, grabs his jacket, and heads toward the subway to Hell's Kitchen. It's the late '80s, and at the New York comedy institution The Improv, a slew of up-and-coming talent, including Jerry Seinfeld and Chris Rock, are testing jokes and honing timing. In the next few years, they'll perform on television for millions. But for now, they're changing the life of one ad executive.

The founder of LA Stand-Ups, Joe Falzarano, quit his promising advertising career because he "hated being a suit" and preferred to nurture promising young comedians. With accomplishments that include producing the CableACE Award–winning Caroline's Comedy Hour for A&E, Falzarano helped launch the performing and writing careers of entertainers including Jon Stewart and Louis C.K. Today, Falzarano imparts his more than 20 years of industry experience to aspiring joke-tellers, teaching them tactics for perfecting a punch line, calming nerves, and subduing hecklers with a marshmallow gun. Falzarano maintains a supportive atmosphere where students learn how to use who they are to connect with an audience, and even lets students try out material at the Hollywood Improv.