Sharon Gans: Cult Leader In The Theatre
Bizarre Buffet Podcast
Sharon Gans, and her late husband Alex Horn, founded and operated an ” acting school”. Though some former students have asserted it’s actually a cult, which Gans had vehemently disputed. We’ll let you decide ! It’s certainly a bizarre story!
Listen To ” Sharon Gans : Cult Leader In The Theatre” Below!
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Sharon Gans – Episode Credits
Hosted by Marc Bluestein, Jen Wilson, & Mark Tauriello.
Original Story / Episode concept by Jen Wilson.
Show Notes by Jen Wilson.
Original episode artwork by Mark Tauriello.
Audio & Visual production by Marc Bluestein.
Sharon Gans – Episode Show Notes
Question:
Have you ever taken an acting class?
Tonight we are going to ACTING SCHOOL ! But before we take this class, I would like to introduce you to the woman behind our class, Sharon Gans. She is an American actress who is best known for her work in the 1972 film version of the novel Slaughter House Five. She has also acted, directed, and wrote various plays in and around the New York City area.
Although a lot of her work was located in New York, I need to take us across the country to San Francisco first. Sharon and her husband, Alex Horn ran “The Theater of All Possibilities” in the late 70’s. They were driven out of town after accusations from former students surfaced stating that Sharon and her husband forced students to purchase tickets for their shows (not doing so would end in physical abuse), and arranged marriages and pregnancies.
Yes, Sharon Gans in fact was a cult leader using her acting school as a facade for her cult.
Sharon and Her husband packed up and went to New York (her native hometown), and opened The Odyssey Group in the early 80s.
They followed a belief system called “Fourth Way” which was a based off the beliefs of Russian philosophers George Gurdjieff and Piotr Ouspensky believing that “people
live in waking sleep and that transcendence from this sleeping state requires a specific inner work, which is practiced in private quiet conditions. This inner work will supposedly lead to otherwise inaccessible levels of awareness and/or possibilities for personal development.
Cult members referred to Sharon as “S” or “Our Friend”.
Sharon was said to have targeted the wealthy for her cult. Some students were heirs and heiresses of wealthy families, some were high-salary professionals. One student allegedly bragged about their $20,000 bonus which Sharon made them sign it over to her on the spot.
The money from students were used for Sharon and Alex to live a lavish lifestyle where they also purchased a penthouse at the Plaza Hotel.
Over the years, Sharon Gans has elevated a number of her most devoted followers to the rank of “teacher.” This means members should demonstrate deference to them. This cadre of core teachers run the numerous classes and activities on her behalf both in New York and Boston. Sharon Gans directs her devoted followers largely by phone from her Manhattan apartment or another one of her residences. Over the course of a year, Sharon will preside over a given class about 20-25 times for about two hours. At other times, her cadre of teachers, under her strict supervision, will also teach classes.
Classes were year round, 2-3 classes per week 4 hours each. Students were also expected to attend a weekend retreat once a month. These retreats consisted of building projects on Sharon’s other properties. This was for members to allegedly “work on themselves”. This was always done under pressure in unsafe conditions as students had no experience with manual labor.
A former student, Spencer Schnider, recalls his time at the Odyssey Group. He was groomed by student’s of Sharon’s at a bar late one night and was then invited to take a class.
This is a statement regarding Spencer’s introduction to The Odyssey Group:
“Schneider was then invited to attend classes he was forbidden to talk about, discussing esoteric Russian philosophers George Gurdjieff and Piotr Ouspensky (who, despite his philosophy degree from Washington University in Saint Louis, Schneider had never heard of) as well as “ancient oral wisdom” dispensed by Gans, who described herself as almost at the “level of Christ and Buddha.” He paid a monthly “tuition” of $300 in cash, which included boxing classes — that were supposedly to teach him “what it means to be courageous and a hero” — acting classes, fishing trips, parties and retreats.”
Sharon also was very intrusive, and gave unsolicited advice to her students regarding their sex lives. It has been said that she has:
- Ordered a married man to find a young woman to jog with and get oral sex from.
- Told a married family woman to go to Italy, Stand in the fountain, wait for a man, and have an affair.
She arranged marriages amongst students of the group, and even encouraged Spencer to impregnate his 19 year old daughter. I can happily say though he did not take her advice.
Sharon once told a student she could “marry any man she wanted” and arranged for her to marry a man who was happily married to another woman in the group. Sharon threw an engagement party, and humiliated the wife of the married man in front of the group.
Child neglect was also a huge issue amongst the group. Children of group members would be left to their own devices in the theatre for hours upon hours while members performed manual labor, classes, and endless rehearsal time.
Students were also encouraged to disassociate with anyone outside of the Group.
Sharon died in January 2021 due to Covid related issues. Alex also has since passed.
Before Sharon died, she cut her children from her will for allegedly betraying her whatever that means.
The school, now called “The Study” is run by 4 members of the cult and are currently in a lawsuit filed by two women who state they provided slave labor to sharon.
Spencer Schnider has also since released a book called “ Manhattan Cult Story: My Unbelievable True Story of Sex, Crimes, Chaos and Survival “
Sharon Gans
