Michael Bakkensen

E-mail:  michael.bakkensen@lehman.cuny.edu
Office: Music Building, Room 214
Phone: 718-960-8247
Office Hours: Virtual, by appointment via email
Rank: Adjunct Assistant Professor
Degrees: B.A., Yale University; M.F.A., University of California, San Diego

Michael Bakkensen is a professional actor, narrator, songwriter and teacher based in Upper Manhattan. A member of the acting unions for over two decades, Michael has extensive experience on Broadway (Noises Off, The Man Who Came to Dinner, Festen and the Pre-Broadway National Tour of The King’s Speech), Off Broadway (RX, Three Gifts for Lenny Bruce, Out of Iceland) and in the nation’s top regional theaters. A partial list includes the Guthrie Theater, the Mark Taper Forum (LA), the Huntington (Boston), the Alley (Houston), Hartford Stage, The La Jolla Playhouse, The Shakespeare Theater (D.C.), Center Stage (Baltimore), Actor Theatre of Louisville, the Alliance (Atlanta) as well as the Alabama and NJ Shakespeare Theaters, working with the prominent directors Les Waters, Michael Kahn, Michael Wilson, Joe Dowling, Kyle Donnelly, and Andrei Belgrader. On camera, Michael is the series lead in the multiple award-winning pilot Mann Overboard a regular on the Emmy winning PBS mini-series The Cobblestone Corridor and the lead in the award-winning short film The Sixth Amendment (Amazon). He has guest or co-starred on the hit series’ The Equalizer, The Americans, The Good Wife, Madam Secretary, Law & Order, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Royal Pains, Unforgettable, Deception, and Elementary. At Lehman, he assistant directed, filmed and produced the play and digital adaptation of Polaroid Stories. As a narrator Michael has recorded and/or produced dozens of fiction titles (including the best seller The Decent Proposal and Off the Page by Jodi Picoult) as well as dozens of educational titles for Pearson Learning and others. He has also recorded three albums of original songs (Lionize, Sekara Grace, and Circle Kiss). He was awarded the IRNE for Best Actor for portraying Horace Wells in Ether Dome as well as an Earphone Award for his work on Salt. Member AEA, SAG-AFTRA and ASCAP.