Chala Savino
Chala Savino ('99) is a graduate of WSU with a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre and minor in Dance. She is a comedy TV/Film actress in Los Angeles. Recently she was cast in a new comedy series, Margot's Got Money Troubles set to air on Apple TV and has a few commercials currently running. Her TV/Film credits include Barbershop: The Final Cut, All American, Truth Be Told and Lifetime movie, Road Trip Hostage. Some of her favorite theatrical credits include Beth in Dinner with Friends, Daniela in In The Heights, Inez in A View Upstairs, and Charlotte in Cinderella. Outside of performing, Chala loves dancing Bachata and going to the beach with her pug babies, Bob and Barb.
"I am primarily a comedy actress in LA and being a theatre graduate of WSU definitely paved the way for me into pursuing comedy when I seriously wanted to be a serious actress instead. It all started with taking a dialect class with Judy Babnich at WSU. I remember having such a chip on my shoulder because Judy wanted me to heighten everything I was saying and I thought she was out of her mind! For one assignment, I wrote these serious monologues and Judy was like "BIGGER!" and I would do the monologues again and everyone started laughing. I was confused because what I wrote was no laughing matter. Then she cast me in "Five Women Wearing the Same Dress" and for weeks after our shows, I had students coming up to me telling me how funny the show was and how surprised at how outlandish my character was. Still, I proclaimed "But I'm a serious actress." When I moved to NYC, I had casting directors and directors encouraging me to pursue comedy. So I joined a sketch comedy team, CAMP WAYNE and went on to study improv comedy at UCB, Second City, iO and now currently at The Groundlings in Los Angeles. I even did stand up comedy however I realized early on that I love working with an ensemble as opposed to performing by myself on stage. It is such a joy to make people laugh and to inspire an audience to laugh at themselves instead of taking themselves so seriously as I once did. Judy Babnich introduced me to the world of comedy and Joyce Cavorizzi was an amazing acting teacher and director and cast me in my first leading role as Stella in A Streetcar Named Desire. I had other teachers like Terri McWIlliams and Sabrina Vasquez that introduced me to the foundation of dance when I had very little dance training before WSU. Then there was Linda Starkey that told me I had an interesting voice and that I should keep singing! The encouragement I received from my professors at WSU is the foundation that has kept me going in the world of Entertainment for so many years. It was truly a blessing."- Chala Savino ('99)
