ACTING

Ever since Adina was a child growing up in the quiet suburbs of Montreal, she has loved creating theatre and music, and making lots of noise in her house. In the early years, she enjoyed the process as a way to use her imagination, be spontaneous, and make audiences laugh. Even if it meant inviting friends, family, neighbours, and stuffed animals into the living room for a matinée performance, it was always play time! As she grew older, she realized the deeper importance to express voices of the human experience and tell stories, engaging viewers to connect, reflect, grow, digging deep into realities or indulging in the world of fantasy.

Throughout her life, Adina’s deepest love has been live theatre. Whenever there was an opportunity to be in a play, she auditioned. As a young adult she focused more on the art professionally, and branched out into also performing for screen and voice work. After graduating “With Distinction,” holding a B.A. from McGiIl University, majoring in English Drama and Theatre, and minoring in Humanistic Studies, which included a year of exchange on scholarship at the University of Toronto’s acting program, she juggled many theatre and improv performances and started directing and teaching drama and improv.

Following her university studies, Adina quickly established herself in the Montreal theatre community. She performed in numerous professional English productions and began her career-long connection to Yiddish theatre. These formative years on stage, combined with her growing interest in improv and directing, laid the foundation for her deep commitment to the craft.

After taking workshops that focused on the Meisner acting technique, taught by the late Jacqueline McClintock, she moved to New York City to study the technique full time in its home, The Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre. She then stayed in New York to study musical theatre at the Circle in the Square Conservatory on Broadway, while taking countless workshops in Improv, Musical Improv, and Sketch Writing at UCB (Upright Citizens Brigade), Magnet Theatre, alongside private coaching with the late Suzanne Shepherd. Having gone to New York to focus on acting, she emerged as a well-rounded artist, ready to create her own work and bring a deeper truth to every role.

She went on to complete full-time studies at Chicago’s Second City, focusing on Musical Improv, Sketch Writing, Producing, and Comedic Songwriting. Adina began developing more of her own original work, leading to the creation of her acclaimed one-woman show, Be a Good Girl. While in Chicago, she also produced, directed, and performed in Lalala and Order, at The Second City, and released her original music EP, Back to Before.

Since re-establishing herself in Montreal in 2017, Adina has been a mainstay of the stage and screen while prioritizing her own creative projects. Her production of Be a Good Girl toured extensively, and she founded the all-female musical improv troupe, “The Jazz Ands.” Known for her comedic character work, including the beloved “Bubby Golda,” Adina continues to develop new material for the Montreal stage. In June 2026, she returns to her roots at the DWYT Segal Centre stage, performing in Michel Tremblay’s classic Les Belles-Sœurs, (Di Shvegrins) in Yiddish.