June 2007 Archives

I ran across a great article in Backstage that reaffirms the training approach we're taking at Deborah Carlson's Word Of Mouth Studios.

Betsy Aidem (She recently received an Obie Award for sustained excellence of performance) has this to say about how she learned to approach plays -- and how it helped her to move forward:
Not surprisingly, Aidem cites an acting teacher, not a buzz-creating role, as her career turning point: Zina Jasper. She studied with Stella Adler and Harold Clurman and knows how to understand what a playwright is trying to say, Aidem says. She has a lightning-rod ability to connect what's on the page to the heart. Up until I started working with Zina, my experience of a play was totally subjective.

I thinks there's two goals, at least for me: 1) understanding what the playwright is REALLY trying to say and 2) connecting that to my heart. On this second point, it's the distinction of "knowing" what's going on a scene and actually "living/doing" that. Often it seems I "get it" (or at least think I do), but the "doing" it doesn't automatically follow. It's like what Morpheus tell Neo in the first Matrix movie: "There is a difference between knowing the path and walking the path."

This is exactly the strength of Deborah's approach: how to read, and how to connect. If I'm not working towards those two goals, I might get lost in that subjective place Aidem talks about.

No matter what anyone else might think . . .

There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique, and if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium; and be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is, not how it compares with other expression. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep open and aware directly to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open. No artist is pleased. There is no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is on a queer, divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others.

~ Martha Graham (American Dancer and Choreographer, 1894-1991)

I don't know if I'd agree that there's never any satisfaction -- that's too grim, but it's definitely true that growth is at least partially motivated by being unsatisfied with some aspect of your work, but not letting that dissatisfaction ruin your day or motivation. Martha Graham definitely had a great relationship between who she was at any given moment and an idea/desire of who she would like to be, and maybe it's comes down to dropping any idea/desire of what you should be and work instead on just becoming more open.

Alan Nusaum, Founder and CEO of TVI Actors Studio, has a great blog, actor-preneur.com, that focus on the practical side of acting, the business side.

A few days ago, he posted an article about how the beginning of an acting career is like a "start-up," and how a start-up is more likely to succeed if you commit to a "failure is not an option" mind set.

Actress Leslie Becker, another successful business person, gives exactly the same insight and advice about identifying and committing to those things you know you need to do to succeed. Realize that certain things ARE non-negotiable.

Walls and Faith

We had an interesting conversation last night in class about the frustrations of working and working and working and feeling that NOTHING is working, e.g., we're not getting cast, we don't feel we're getting any better at what we want to so desperately get better at, and in those times, I always try to rely on a couple of insights to help me get through those frustrating times:

The first is a very short story about perseverance that I heard long ago, and it's always made sense to me.

Second, and definitely related, is the "punctuated equilibrium" theory by the great American paleontologist & writer, Stephen Jay Gould. It's a new and now widely accepted theory of evolution that basically states that change, evolution, is not smooth and continuous but instead is a process of nothing happening for a long time, and then suddenly, you get a big change

It turns out this idea is also a great model for just about any type of complex system that evolves and grows, from businesses, to technological breakthroughs, economics, our careers, and -- I suspect -- to artists trying to grow in their craft.

Perhaps 99% of the time, it always looks, in the moment, like "nothings happening" (in the sense that we don't feel a big jump forward), but this is the difference between appearance and faith: it looks like you're not getting anywhere, but you have to have faith that you are -- because it's true: you are.

Last Thursday evening, I participated in the reading of a new play at the Young Playwrights, Inc., Fifth Avenue, Upper East Side, New York City -- and I was paid!! It's the first time I've been paid for acting services directly rendered.

It was also my first reading -- however, I've seen readings of plays, so I knew, sort of, how to participate in one. Nevertheless, leaving as little to chance as possible, I saw Deborah, my acting coach, to go over the scenes I was in. I was minor supporting character -- not too large, but large enough.

Basically, a reading is a well prepared cold reading that you do with other actors. There's a couple of "tricks," at least for me. It's critical that I understand what's really going on with the character without making ANY assumptions. Everything is based in the text, but often that's hard for me to get: the mistake I make is assuming too much, or trying to do to much, trying to make more of it than what's really there. If that's done too much, you wind up with a definite character, but it's not the character the playwright intended, nor will the character support the scenes they're in as fully as they should. So the second trick is to first approach the text as clean as I can -- this is one of the major goals of the work I'm doing at Word Of Mouth Studios (techniques based on the work of Patsy Rodenburg).

I was quite nervous before we started, but I remembered what I had learned from all the readings I had watched, and I applied everything I had been learning in Word of Mouth Studios -- and apparently it all paid off: I got this kind e-mail a few days later from one of the playwrights in the audience:

            It was great meeting you the other night. Again, I really thought you did a wonderful job with the Mitch character--especially amazing for a (relatively) cold reading!

. . . oh yeah, I did mention I also got paid? I think you should always do a good job, especially if you're getting paid! :)

Dear Reader,

This, apparently, is getting stratospherically high marks:

a great story, outstanding acting, and everything spoken and sung in French -- c'est beau!

- an obvious Francophile,
                             Christopher

Doing background work can be hit or miss or terms of whether or not it's a good experience (there's so many factors that are outside of your control), but here's some quick tips to help make this type of experience a positive one (as this one certaintly was for me) . . .

Typecasting is industry lingo used by directors of film, television and commercials for casting generically according to the actor's personality or physical appearance to convey an immediate message to the audience.

Bob Fraser has published a excellent article to help one to discover or understand how casting directors see you.

And, just for fun, I've discovered my own somewhat unorthodox approach. While there's definitely more to typecasting then just looks, I figured out who I kind of look like so I could ask myself what sort of roles these actors are getting.

How do I find out how I look like?

Ask a visual pattern-face recognition algorithm -- duuuh!!

Click here to see who do I look like.

The tool can be found here: share black and white photos with facial recognition technology.

A rough night tonight on the coast of Wales near Barkloughly castle: more notes on how to approach learning a monologue, avoiding fundamental acting errors, and removing specific obstacles.

My auditions have been getting better -- not steadily, but more think small but significant leaps forward after periods where I don't seem to be getting better at all, yet I continue to work and push, and I think that's the key to my growth (think Punctuated Equilibrium):

. . . instead of a slow, continuous movement, evolution tends to be characterized by long periods of virtual standstill ("equilibrium"), "punctuated" by episodes of very fast development of new forms.

Having a difficult audition is painful, but they're incredibly useful, if I can learn from them. Here's what I've learned:

I'm auditioning 3-4 times/week. Here's some running notes:

• If I'm talking to one or more people in the monologue, place them in the room before I start.
• If I'm working with a reader, don't use the reader if the reading is flat, remember to do this.
• Treat the audition room and the auditors as a stage, a performance space. That's the mental transition between introducing myself and the piece and starting the monologue.
• De-voicing when I try to relax -- I'm relaxed, but suddenly I've lost full breathe support. Practice at home relaxing w/full breathe under the words.
• Really, really, really listen -- don't just "hear."
• Chickening out: if I get scared of some audition, I usually stay up too late the night before . Always be fully prepared and take the time I need to be fully prepared.