Don’t think since you are not auditioning for or performing a role that you are not an actor. As an actor, it is youe job to carefully observe yourself and the world around you. Notice the smell of the air, the colors. Try associating a color with an emotion. It may help you further down the line when performing a play. Keep you eyes and ears and brain open to everything around you and if necessary, carry a small notebook and enter your observations. Try pairing some of these to characters you have worked on. It is your nature. You are an actor!

Summer is a time to observe and take note of everyone and everything around you as more people are out and about. See if you can observe some interesting new and different habits and behaviors and categorize them in your notebooks. Read some new plays and try to find new material. Sometimes, just being by yourself on a walk in the woods can be  a source for new material. Have fun and remember that you are an actor so your approach to everything is as an actor. You have a point of view about things and it doesn’t have to be like everyone else’s.Try out your observations . Play and have fun!!!! It is summer.

The glory of working on a character is your process. By the time you are being the character in the circumstances of the play, you don’t have to think about it just do it. All your work will be there. The minute you start judging yourself and debating choices , you are no longer in the the present tense so do your homework and have fun with the character!!! Stay in the present tense!

Sometimes in life things happen and we can’t continue with our daily activities as we would like. For me, it has been a total knee reconstruction with the added problem of a wound graft that had to be immobilized. I can only say that even down time for an actor can turn into a very important and useful learning tools. Many of the behaviors and reactions to the pain has helped me catagorize behavior for a character I will be playing in March. Everything that happens to you in life can be used at sometime. So get out the notebooks and note the behavior and save it for future reference. Things happen in life for a reason but an actor has to use everything, good and bad, but be specific. Note specific reactions and definite physical adjustments. As an actor we must never stop working. Human beheavior is intricate and there is always something to be learned from every situation

There  is nothing like hard work as the avenue to success. Ask Corrine Callahan or Chris Cortes or Anni Weisband.

Corrine, present student just worked extremely hard and landed the role of Helen Keller at Moorestown High School for the fall play.

Chris Cortes , after much hard work landed and played the part of Rum Tug Tigger in Cats at Eastern High School and was nominated for the Cappies nomination from  his school for best single male vocalist, which includes New Jersey as well as Philadelphia high schools.

Anni Weisband graduated from Tisch at the top of her class and on a handshake right now is working with Frontier Booking and John Shay who started Courtney Cox as well s many others. She only graduated 2 weeks ago and has worked so hard and will be working with their theater, film, commercial and print departments. She also has started a theatre company with a friend who is a fabulous writer who she met at Governor’s School when she was a scholar her  junior year of high school.  Amazing accomplishments on her own hard work.

So keep working, learn how to market yourself, show humility and things will happen .

By the way –watch the Tony Awards on Sunday June 12th. My dear friend Forrest McClendon and his show “Scottsboro Boys” is nominted for Tony awards.

THERE IS NOTHING LIKE HARD WORK AND DISCIPLINE. TALENT IS ONE THING BUT 80% IS THE WORK! AFTER ALL—ACTING IS  A CRAFT WHICH YOU NEED TO HONE!

Don’t wonder what the value of improvisation is. You will see in your daily existense how looking at where you are and knowing who you are will help you express what you want or need in a situation. By practicing the art of improvisation you will see how much easier it is to have a definite point of view about different situations and  you will notice how more people listen and attend to what you need.

An actor is an actor, whether he is performing in a show or not. It is the way he looks at every day situations. Not being in a show is no excuse not to work on your craft. Read new plays , find a new character to dissect. Begin the character work and add a new monologue to your repertoire. Find music for the character, find clothes the character might wear. Give your character a secret! Have fun.

As an actor it is important to take whatever happens in your day and find something that you observed, not necessarily something you learned but something that you observed that made you think. Jot it down in a journal and just keep it for future reference. As bad as some things may seem, you will use it sometime in your work. It might be interesting to ask yourself, “What did this observation make me do”? That is the behavior that will translate on stage.

Once The character work is done, you have to trust that all the behaviors you have worked on will be there. Just relax and stay in the moment. Let things happen so every performance is fresh with something a little different. Surprise yourself.

Thursday, 6:30-8:00

This class focuses on the “who, what and where” of improvisation. Students will be more aware of thinking on their feet and working in an ensemble. Character and voice work is emphasized as well. Students learn to use their bodies and voices to communicate who they are. They become aware of where they are and what is in the space. They learn that they are always doing something in the space as someone who has a reason to be there. They learn how to keep a scene going by using certain words. This is always a popular class as everyone works at all times. We will finish the session with a showcase to show parents and friends our skills.

Check out the latest photos from out class!