OK . . . where am I now . . . and where do I want to go?

1st) Training. Since I've never had formal training, I find myself putting together my own program. It looks like the two pillars are: basic acting technique and auditioning skills. The real teacher, of course, is real-world experience. I find I have to audit or take a trial class to get a feel for the teacher -- I need to feel comfortable, I need to be on the same wave length, and there needs to be something there that I feel, instinctively/intuitively, I need to learn:

• JZ, a former actor and professional agent, at Weist-Barron has been good for me -- intutitively I thought I would learn a lot, & that's turned out to be the case. We're on the same wavelength. We're moving into scene work in work. Here's where I'll confront my strengths and weaknesses.
• Impossible Casting -- C.L. is an astute, tough, no nonsense, supportive guy, former casting director and (from what I can tell) well networked into the NYC casting scene. He knows what he's doing, what he's talking about, and I "get" it. Beyond this, two important things happened at the free class: 1) I found I worked pretty well with him, and 2) he zeroed right in on what I think my big problem is: thinking too much/over-intellectualizing what I think is going on; not getting out of my own way/not quite trusting myself, trying to do MORE ; and some problems breathing while performing which I strongly suspect impedes being in full contact with what's going on with me in the moment. He said I need to simplify -- very interesting observation as I was just thinking about how great acting, at it's heart, is always about one simple thing. No coddling with guy -- good: what I need is very good feedback on what's going wrong, and I think I might get it here. He focuses primarily audition for film, theatre, and commercials.
• Deborah Carlson, Word Of Mouth Studios. Something tells me her work could be very good for me.
• Jason Bennett's subpersonality work seems promising, and it makes intuitive sense to me.

       So after JZ this fall, I want to try out both Deborah Carlson and Jason Bennett, for basic technique and to help address some fundamental weakness, and I'd like to start with CL to develop a solid audition technique. Impossible Casting also runs inexpensive showcases, casting directors that CL brings in -- my goals are to get my audition skills up to a professional/competitive level in order to participate in these casting showcases. Apparently CL won't recommend that you do this until he thinks you're ready, and he pushes you to get ready.

      All this can cost some $$, but not a bad as one might think. However, my ultimate goal is to get as much real-world experience as I can, so . . .

2nd) Audition for 13th Street. I've been having some trouble setting up/finding out when their auctions are, but Abe says I just need to talk directly w/Edith to set up a time, so I'll do that first thing next week. Audition piece, Gabe from Dinner With Friends, Donald Margulies. Auditions are usually set for 6:30 PM every Tuesday evening. Target date: 11/15/2005. Work with Tom to prepare for the audition -- he's a highly experienced and skilled audition coach. Even though the audition at 13th Street won't be a huge deal, I'll work with Tom to give an audition as if my life depended on it, and that'll give me a chance to see how we work together preparing for serious auditions. CL is also a very good candidate for this role.

3rd) Daily work . . . I know what I need to do and what I want to do.