The Secret Of Theatrical Space

Christopher Stadulis - Actor and Business person

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 20:15:17 -0500

My day job is as a NYC Firefighter, which allows me the flexibility within my schedule to pursue this craft. I have studied the martial art of Taekwon-Do for 20 yrs, which enables me the discipline, strength, integrity and perseverance to continuously work hard at my career as an Actor.

Rejection doesn't prevent me from moving forward; it only strengthens me to work harder and smarter. I am passionate and dedicated about my craft and career. I don't believe in waiting for my BIG break, I believe in creating it! I have a responsibility in telling a good story. Having an audience connect, relate, feel various emotions as I take them on my journey, are very gratifying for me.

To me, that is success. If I accomplish that, then I have done my job.

In addition to being a Firefighter & Actor, I am a Father, Husband & caretaker for my disabled mother who suffers from Multiple Sclerosis. People always ask me how have I accomplished so much in being an Actor for only 4 years and having so much on my plate. I tell them it's about having a balance, staying focused, dedicated and very hungry towards becoming a TRUE Actor.

I am a firm believer in doing something productive everyday towards my career, shaking as many hands as possible, always maintain a professional positive attitude and understand that this is a business. I am the CEO of my own business and should always showcase myself in the best possible light.

I have been meeting as many CD's, Agents & Managers as possible to show them my work, personality & build as well as maintain relationships via career updates. I understand this business and my type/product well & focus my time, energy & money in areas that I am best suited. Also, I have have registered the treatement for my full-length screenplay entitled, "FORBIDDEN", which is based on a true story. It's compelling subject matter is relevant to today's world & will provoke thought worldwide. Soon, I will be writing, producing, directing and starring in a documentary style short that I will look to pitch to various networks, especially HBO.

Lastly, I not only enjoy being a part of projects that have great messages that need to create awareness to the public but also feel a need to get involved as a human being. I believe it is my duty as a person to help anyone I can that maybe can't help themselves, do not know where to go for help or simply do not have the ability for their voice to be heard for reasons beyond their control.

Some of the many topics that intrigue me:

Genocide (recommended films- Darfur Now, Beyond The Gates, God Grew Tired of Us & Hotel Rwanda.
Child trafficking and sexploitation (recommended films- Holly & Trade)
Global Warming & anything else to do with the preservation of our planet (recommended film- Inconvenient Truth)
Terrorism (recommended films- The Cult of The Suicide Bomber &The War Within)
Racism
History
Corruption
Rape
Genital Mutilation
Slavery
UFO'S & Aliens

Some highlights of my career thus far:

10/31/08 Booked a Recurring role on "All My Children". I play a Guard at a Psyc ward. It airs Dec 2nd & Dec 3rd.
9/2/08 Booked a Principal role (COP) on "30 Rock". I had the pleasure of working with ALEC BALDWIN, JENNIFER ANISTON AND DIR. GAIL MANCUSO. It airs: NOV 13th on NBC @ 9:30 pm EST.
7/31/08 Read commercial copy for Jenevieve Brewer, head agent at "About Face Models". I am now freelancing with them.
7/30/08 met with CD Jill Creighton of "Guiding Light" for a general interview. She took a liking to me and said she will book me for one, possibly two roles in August
Booked a Recurring role on "One Life To Live" on 6/19/08
Did another LIVE interview on Blogtalkradio.
Registered the treatment (on 4/13/08) for my full-length screenplay entitled, "FORBIDEN" with WGAE. It is based on a true story.
Booked a PRINCIPAL role on "One Life To Live" on 4/3/08 AIRED: 5/22/08
Did a live 30 min. interview on Blogtalkradio on 3/27/08.
Booked a RECURRING ROLE on "All My Children" on 1/23/08 AIRS: 2/14/08, 2/15/08 & possibly 2/18/08
Booked an UNDER/5 ON "As The World Turns" on 1/17/08 AIRED: 2/06/08
Interviewed with Robert De Niro and was cast as an Under Cover CIA Agent in "The Good Shepherd".
UNDER/5 on "All My Children" AIRED 3/6/07
PRINCIPAL ROLE in a PSA Commercial with Harrison Ford on 5/7/07 AIRS starting: Jan 08' for 1 year
LEAD in a full length Indie.
Completed 2 shorts, one of them I had a SUPPORTING role in and I just booked another SUPPORTING role in my third short entitled "Why" & will air on the cable channel "Logo".
Received a CALLBACK 6/25/07 for the play "The Upside Down Mirror" at The Riant Theatre.
7/7/07-Booked LEAD role in the play "The Mission". Performances were be held Aug. 9th-12th & may have another run in the Spring of 2008.

Some advice for actors, which have proved successful for me:

Get to know industry professionals, but treat them as people first, not as a business opportunity.
Be pro-active with your career.
Don't make excuses, complain, worry, dwell, be negative, lazy, etc.
When you audition for a role or have a meet and greet (general), JUST BE YOURSELF!! Don't try to give the CD, Agent or Manager what you think they are looking for. If you do that, it comes across as bad acting. Bring yourself to the role and if you're simply speaking to the industry professional, remember, it's just a conversation!! They want to see personality.
When auditioning, keep this idea in mind- it's not about who's the better actor, it's about who's more interesting.
Network your butt off. Network on websites, meet and greets, seminars, workshops, etc.
Even if an actor obtains representation, you still need to be proactive and understand it's a relationship. It's a marriage without sex. What you both (the actor & rep) put in is what you will BOTH get out of it.
Continuously train your acting muscle.
Support other artists. This not only inspires one another but that actor may just contact you in the future with the possibility of an audition or flat out job.
Have fun! If you are not enjoying what you do or the proccess of constantly working hard to get to the next level of your career, then maybe you should reconsider this career.

MY MOTTO: "I DON'T BELIEVE IN WAITING FOR MY BIG BREAK, I BELIEVE IN CREATING IT"!

Scene Study Work: It's Values and Lessons

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 05:29:46 -0500

I haven't posted for a while because I've actually been quite busy: a LOT of auditions, took an "Improvisation for Commercials" class at Weist-Barron, a "Commercial Casting Director Festival" through The Network, and I'm starting to do more background work (mostly for the money). As a quick aside, the improv commercial class and The Network casting director meet-and-greet resulted in some commercial agent referrals. One of my major goals is to get commercial representation, and I seem to be making progress in that direction . . .

But for the moment, I've been focusing on how best to grow between acting jobs (i.e., off-off-Broadway theater, which I consider really more on-the-job training). One of the best ways, I've discovered, is scene work. We've been focusing on scene work in Deborah Carlson's Word Of Mouth Studios, but up till now, I haven't fully appreciated its value and opportunity. I mean, I knew it was important, but I underestimated its value.

I was cast in a Columbia University MFA director's scene study workshop: the goal of the class was for a director to put together a scene with about 1-2 weeks of rehearsal. I was cast against type as king Creon in Sophocles epic Antigone. I've put the scene below. It was a fair amount to understand and memorize in a week & a half — between working on the scene at home and the 3 rehearsals we had, it actually turned out to be a major project that crowded out auditions I had planned for that week — rehearsals took place in the tower of Riverside Church up near 119th Street in Harlem, so it was a fair commute from Brooklyn).

What I learned:

I've never really understood how to take advantage of a scene study class until now, and the biggest lesson was to get off book as quickly as possible. Up till now, when I've had these opportunities, I've stayed on script longer than I should have (I can get scared of a lot of text).

Second, given a short rehersal period (one and a half weeks for this Columbia workshop), the goal is not so much to create a polished finished performance but to effectively and efficiently rehearse, i.e., to make the best use of a short rehearsal window. That's the real learning opportunity: you can never short-cut rehearsals, but with a short rehearsal window, the danger is to do just that and go right for finished results. It's like trying to write a check for more money than you've built up in your checking acount — all you'll wind up doing is bouncing a check.

So, I just focused ONLY on the fundamentals, really, for the first time: just starting out, it was cold reading, and I did everything I learned in Deborah's class. Once I understood the scene from the bottom-up (i.e., the text), then I could say the lines like I meant them, and that helped with memorizing them.

During the rehearsals, I really took the opportunity to NOT speak until I let my breath drop (what Deborah Carlson & Patsy Rodenburg call not getting ahead of the text). Second, I really REALLY listened. I practiced putting full 100% attention on whoever I was interacting with (what Patsy Rodenburg calls second circle).

And something quite new happened: rather than thinking and planning parts of what I was going to do, impulses started to come up all by themselves, and I just followed those. These were natural reactions, very early natural blocking, and I could start to distinguish between my reactions and Creon's reactions.

Too often, in an attempt to "be real," I've gone with my own personal reactions, but the problem is, they haven't been the characters reactions. Doing the basic script ground work and then not getting ahead of the text and getting EVERYTHING off my partner helped bring Creon's reactions to the fore rather than my own (i.e., Creon is tough, merciless with Antigone; I'm not either of these things, normally, and I, personally, as the audience does, have a great deal of sympathy for Antigone's viewpoint). However, by working as just described, I started to "feel" and "think" and see things the way Creon did.

The other thing I did is when I couldn't remember my next line, rather than breaking out of the moment to "think" and try to remember my next line, I instead stayed in the scene, in the moment, and just kept breathing and much of the time, the thought or impulse to speak the next line would come up, and then the line would come to me out of a genuine need to speak at that point. That's the linkage I started to build up: the need to speak a line and the line itself. It came out of all the work I did before arriving at the rehearsal space, and then not getting ahead of my own moments in rehearsal (i.e., not thinking of or rushing to my next line) and really listening to my partner, getting everything off them.

Rehearsing is a joy when you work this way.

Scene Work/Study: Antigone, Sophocles, 442 BC, Act II, Scene 1, Creon confronts Antigone:

CREON
You there—you with your face
bent down towards the ground, what do you say?
Do you deny you did this or admit it?

ANTIGONE
I admit I did it. I won’t deny that.

CREON [to the Guard]
You’re dismissed—go where you want. You’re free—
no serious charges made against you.

[Exit the Guard. Creon turns to interrogate Antigone]

Tell me briefly—not in some lengthy speech—
were you aware there was a proclamation
forbidding what you did?

ANTIGONE
I’d heard of it.
How could I not? It was public knowledge.

CREON
And yet you dared to break those very laws?

ANTIGONE
Yes. Zeus did not announce those laws to me.
And Justice living with the gods below
sent no such laws for men. I did not think
anything which you proclaimed strong enough
to let a mortal override the gods
and their unwritten and unchanging laws.
They’re not just for today or yesterday,
but exist forever, and no one knows
where they first appeared. So I did not mean
to let a fear of any human will
lead to my punishment among the gods.
I know all too well I’m going to die—
how could I not?—it makes no difference
what you decree. And if I have to die
before my time, well, I count that a gain.
When someone has to live the way I do,
surrounded by so many evil things,
how can she fail to find a benefit
in death? And so for me meeting this fate
won’t bring any pain. But if I’d allowed
my own mother’s dead son to just lie there,
an unburied corpse, then I’d feel distress.
What going on here does not hurt me at all.
If you think what I’m doing now is stupid,
perhaps I’m being charged with foolishness
by someone who’s a fool.

CHORUS LEADER
It’s clear enough
the spirit in this girl is passionate—
her father was the same. She has no sense
of compromise in times of trouble.

CREON [to the Chorus Leader]
But you should know the most obdurate wills
are those most prone to break. The strongest iron
tempered in the fire to make it really hard—
that’s the kind you see most often shatter.
I’m well aware the most tempestuous horses
are tamed by one small bit. Pride has no place
in anyone who is his neighbour’s slave.
This girl here was already very insolent
in contravening laws we had proclaimed.
Here she again displays her proud contempt—
having done the act, she now boasts of it.
She laughs at what she’s done. Well, in this case,
if she gets her way and goes unpunished,
then she’s the man here, not me. No. She may be
my sister’s child, closer to me by blood
than anyone belonging to my house
who worships Zeus Herkeios in my home,*
but she’ll not escape my harshest punishment—
her sister, too, whom I accuse as well.
She had an equal part in all their plans
to do this burial. Go summon her here.
I saw her just now inside the palace,
her mind out of control, some kind of fit.

[Exit attendants into the palace to fetch Ismene]

When people hatch their mischief in the dark
their minds often convict them in advance,
betraying their treachery. How I despise
a person caught committing evil acts
who then desires to glorify the crime.

ANTIGONE
Take me and kill me—what more do you want?

CREON
Me? Nothing. With that I have everything.

ANTIGONE
Then why delay? There’s nothing in your words
that I enjoy—may that always be the case!
And what I say displeases you as much.
But where could I gain greater glory
than setting my own brother in his grave?
All those here would confirm this pleases them
if their lips weren’t sealed by fear—being king,
which offers all sorts of various benefits,
means you can talk and act just as you wish.

CREON
In all of Thebes, you’re the only one
who looks at things that way.

ANTIGONE
They share my views,
but they keep their mouths shut just for you.

CREON
These views of yours—so different from the rest—
don’t they bring you any sense of shame?

ANTIGONE
No—there’s nothing shameful in honouring
my mother’s children.

CREON
You had a brother
killed fighting for the other side.

ANTIGONE
Yes—from the same mother and father, too.

CREON
Why then give tributes which insult his name?

ANTIGONE
But his dead corpse won’t back up what you say.

CREON
Yes, he will, if you give equal honours
to a wicked man.

ANTIGONE
But the one who died
was not some slave—it was his own brother.

CREON
Who was destroying this country—the other one
went to his death defending it.

ANTIGONE
That may be,
but Hades still desires equal rites for both.*

CREON
A good man does not wish what we give him
to be the same an evil man receives.

ANTIGONE
Who knows? In the world below perhaps
such actions are no crime.

CREON
An enemy
can never be a friend, not even in death.

ANTIGONE
But my nature is to love. I cannot hate.

CREON
Then go down to the dead. If you must love,
love them. No woman’s going to govern me—
no, no—not while I’m still alive.

[Enter two attendants from the house bringing Ismene to Creon]

CHORUS LEADER
Ismene’s coming. There—right by the door.
She’s crying. How she must love her sister!
From her forehead a cloud casts its shadow
down across her darkly flushing face—
and drops its rain onto her lovely cheeks.

CREON
You there—you snake lurking in my house,
sucking out my life’s blood so secretly.
I’d no idea I was nurturing two pests,
who aimed to rise against my throne. Come here.
Tell me this—do you admit you played your part
in this burial, or will you swear an oath
you had no knowledge of it?

ISMENE
I did it—
I admit it, and she’ll back me up.
So I bear the guilt as well.

ANTIGONE
No, no—
justice will not allow you to say that.
You didn’t want to. I didn’t work with you.

ISMENE
But now you’re in trouble, I’m not ashamed
of suffering, too, as your companion.

ANTIGONE
Hades and the dead can say who did it—
I don’t love a friend whose love is only words.

ISMENE
You’re my sister. Don’t dishonour me.
Let me respect the dead and die with you.

ANTIGONE
Don’t try to share my death or make a claim
to actions which you did not do. I’ll die—
and that will be enough.

ISMENE
But if you’re gone,
what is there in life for me to love?

ANTIGONE
Ask Creon. He’s the one you care about.

ISMENE
Why hurt me like this? It doesn’t help you.

ANTIGONE
If I am mocking you, it pains me, too.

ISMENE
Even now is there some way I can help?

ANTIGONE
Save yourself. I won’t envy your escape.

ISMENE
I feel so wretched leaving you to die.

ANTIGONE
But you chose life—it was my choice to die.

ISMENE
But not before I’d said those words just now.

ANTIGONE
Some people may approve of how you think—
others will believe my judgment’s good.

ISMENE
But the mistake’s the same for both of us.

ANTIGONE
Be brave. You’re alive. But my spirit died
some time ago so I might help the dead

CREON
I’d say one of these girls has just revealed
how mad she is—the other’s been that way
since she was born.

ISMENE
My lord, whatever good sense
people have by birth no longer stays with them
once their lives go wrong—it abandons them.

CREON
In your case, that’s true, once you made your choice
to act in evil ways with wicked people.

ISMENE
How could I live alone, without her here?

CREON
Don’t speak of her being here. Her life is over.

ISMENE
You’re going to kill your own son’s bride?

CREON
Why not? There are other fields for him to plough.

ISMENE
No one will make him a more loving wife
than she will.

CREON
I have no desire my son
should have an evil wife.

ANTIGONE
Dearest Haemon,
how your father wrongs you.

CREON
I’ve had enough of this—
you and your marriage.

ISMENE
You really want that?
You’re going to take her from him?

CREON
No, not me.
Hades is the one who’ll stop the marriage.

CHORUS LEADER
So she must die—that seems decided on.

CREON
Yes—for you and me the matter’s closed.

[Creon turns to address his attendants]

No more delay. You slaves, take them inside.
From this point on they must act like women
and have no liberty to wander off.
Even bold men run when they see Hades
coming close to them to snatch their lives.

[The attendants take Antigone and Ismene into the palace, leaving Creon and the Chorus on stage]

And a film version of the scene. The amazing Juliet Stevenson (of Truly Madly Deeply) wonderfully plays Antigone & John Shrapnel plays Creon

Being 'In The Moment:' Some Clues About How Actors Do This

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 13:34:39 -0500

Question: What's the relationship between the audience and the actor?
Answer: People sitting around watching other people pretend to do things.
~ observation attributed to Bart Simpson, but I can't find the ref.

The observation is funny because that's essentially the relationship, and it raises the question: how can we (the audience) be sometimes so captivated, so drawn into a story or a particular character?

The answer has to do with what actors call "being in the moment."

Most actors reading this will know what I mean by being the moment, but non-actors might be puzzled about this means and why it's important.

Basically, it's the ability to experience a play, what a character says to you, what you're going to say as if it has all never happened before. Everything you say, you say it as if it's just occurring to you now. Everything is NOW — you don't know what's going to happen next (even though you do).

This is why audiences are captivated and so drawn into a story or a particular character. It's the distinguishing trait of a great actor and great acting.

In order to both better understand what it means to be "in the moment" and to get a better handle on how to do this, rather than consult a top acting teacher or coach (though they are the best source) I decided it might be interesting to go way outside the traditional box and pose this question to a leading neuroscientist, Dr. Larry R. Squire (Ph.D), director of the Memory Research Laboratory, part of the Functional Magnetic Imaging Center in the School of Medicine at UCSD.

What could I possibly ask this guy? Well — this:

Dear Dr. Squire,

I’m an actor here in NYC, and I have a question about memory and experience that perhaps you can help answer.

What happens in my brain when I first walk into a room that I’ve never been in before, or when I’m meeting a new person verses when I walk into my apartment were I’ve lived for 10 years or when I see an old friend?

In the first case, I have no memory of the new room or person because I’m experiencing them for the very first time. In the second case, my experience of my apartment where I’ve lived for 10 years or my experience of an old friend is very difference because of “history,” the memories I’ve built up over time.

The reason I’m asking is because every actor, if they’re good, has somehow mastered the skill of seeing and hearing as if for the first time, because the character they are playing is experiencing things for the first time. In reality, of course, you (the actor) know the story, you know exactly what everybody is going to say or do (you’ve been in rehearsal for weeks), yet you must “act” as if you don't know what people are going to say and do. Often characters are meeting people they’ve never meet before, going places they’ve never been before. It’s all new, and to have this “new” experience on stage is the source of one of the great joys of acting for most actors, at least it is for me.

Ideally, the actor needs to be so “in the moment” that all his/her attention is taken up with what’s happening right now. Then things start to feel as if they are happening first the time. If my “memory” starts getting in the way, i.e., if my attention shifts ahead of the moment, ahead of what’s “happening right now” to what my scene partner is going to say or to my next line before I get there, I simply don’t act well.

And it’s sometimes hard to keep my attention in the moment. In real life, however, when we’re in a new place, meeting a new person, and whenever someone is talking to you, you’re naturally in the moment (or at least much more easily) because you’ve never been in this new place before – you really don't know what the person you’re talking to is going to say or do next.

What I’m trying to get better at is seeing and hearing as if for the first time those things I’ve seen and heard before. I want to learn how to shift into that part of my brain that get’s engaged when I’m having a novel experience. Perhaps if I better understood what my brain is doing when I’m having a novel experience in life, maybe I can learn to somehow use that part of my brain on stage.

I don’t know if that’s ultimately going to be possible, but I hope my questions here are a good start. Thank you for your Dr. Squire.

Cheers,
Christopher

Dr. Squire wrote back and had this to say, and found it very interesting:

Dear Christopher,

I have your interesting letter about novelty and familiarity. The question is broad, and a short letter cannot explain what happens in the brain when we encounter a novel person, place, or event. The second edition of my book with Eric Kandel is just now out (Memory: From Mind to Molecules), and it is written at the Scientific American level. Perhaps that would be of interest, especially Chapter 5.

Speaking generally and simplistically, novelty evokes arousal and attention, which facilitates the formation of long-term memory. Our perceptual systems in the brain are more active, because we are examining the event more attentively, and we are secreting more stress hormones. But knowing biological detail such as what the hippocampus is doing or when protein synthesis is occurring, is not going to help you much, I expect. Our eye movements are different to a novel stimulus -- we sample more regions and make fewer fixations in a set amount of time than when we encounter a familiar stimulus. That is not brain information, but you might find it interesting.

I understand your question. If you could shut down your hippocampus, you could be “in the moment”, but one does not know how to do that nor would it be desirable in the long run.

Best wishes,

Larry R. Squire, Ph.D.
Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry,
Neurosciences, and Psychology
UCSD School of Medicine
Research Career Scientist
VA Medical Center, San Diego
3350 La Jolla Village Drive (116A)
San Diego, CA 92161

So, gently letting your attention be on everything that's happening now, listening w/out thinking or explicitly judging and evaluating, Uta Hagan's moment-to-moment exercise, Patsy Rodenburg's & Deborah Carlson's exhortations not to skim the text and not to get ahead of the text but to slow down, be in every word — it seems the advice of these great women are backed up by hard science.

Postscript: Uta Hagan, in A Challenge For The Actor, has a great exercise that she calls "moment-to-moment," and what she has to say about action, behavior, is almost exactly what Patsy Rodenburg & Deborah Carlson say about text:

Once you have experienced the glorious sensation of being newly alive that accompanies the full involvement in each moment of the playing, trusting that the next one will arise logically out of your circumstances with no need to anticipate, you will never again want to settle for anything less — certainty not for the vastly different experience of simply repeating behavior, of skimming over actions while anticipating everything that is about to happen, hanging on the external form you had settled on — no matter how meticulously or "humanly" it may have been initially arrived at. (Uta Hagan, The Forth Exercise: Moment to Moment, in A Challenge For The Actor).

Katie Hanley, By My Side: Godspell

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 12:38:33 -0500

Godspell (1970) is a powerful musical, though it is somewhat overshadowed, I think, by the more controversial (but excellent) Jesus Christ Superstar which opened in New York City the year before.

It started as a college project performed by students at Carnegie Mellon University and moved to La Mama in Greenwich Village. It was then re-scored for an off-Broadway production that open in the Cherry Lane Theatre (New York City's oldest, continuously running off-Broadway theater). Godspell moved from the Cherry Lane Theater to the larger Promenade Theater on August 10, 1971, where it became one of the longest-running off-Broadway musicals, before moving to Broadway in June 1976, where it ended its run in September 1977 after an additional 527 performances, for a total of more than 2,600.

Starting a sequence of powerful and moving scenes that continue until the end of the film, Katie Hanley (who, simply, does a wonderful job throughout the film), in this scene comes to "Jesus" with love and strength at the start of his darkest hour, when he understands what's going to happen to him:

Goals and Plans for the 2008-09 year

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 02:17:22 -0500

I have four overall goals: 1) get better at auditioning. This is a perennial goal. 2) Keep working in good non-union off-off- . . . -off Broadway productions. 3) Start working in high-end off-off Broadway and off-Broadway theater productions and 4) audition for and start booking professional paid work in film, television, and commercials.

Auditioning

First -- yah gotta audition, so each day, I'll religiously use these resources (they cover just about every type of audition for both union and (me) non-union actors):

Backstage — the flagship site for finding audition and casting announcements. You can submit yourself for castings through their web site.
Actors Access — arguably the best place to find audition announcements. Actors Access is a nation-wide (though you can focus on L. A., NYC, Chicago, and other areas). You can submit yourself for castings through their web site.
NYCastings — one of New York's most widely used source for Actors, Models & Musicians of all types to find work in Film, Television, Commercials, Theatre, Music Videos, Voice-Overs & Print. You can submit yourself for castings through their web site.
ActorsFirstNY — in addition to audition announcements. through their yahoo group, ActorsFirstNY is an impressive new group in New York City that offers classes, workshops and meet-in-greets.
GlorysList — started by a terrific up-and-coming New York City-based director Glory Bowen, GlorysList is a Google that unfortunately has evolved well beyond it's initial mission of posting audition information. Most of the announcements are now show announcements, sublet information, stage and crew job announcements, etc.. Still a great group to subscribe to for anyone working in the performance arts, but it's value as a place to find auditions had decreased significantly.

Auditioning is a numbers game under the following constraint: I need to audition consistently well (i.e., to the best of my ability).

So how do I do that? Keep working on my audition technique in class (Deborah Carlson's Word of Mouth Studios) and on my own, and then apply what I'm learning in real auditions. The goal is to audition as much as possible: monologues, cold readings; theatre, film, commercials, to get better and better and more confident. Becoming confident that I can audition to the best of my currently ability is the main goal to work for. Practice, risk, and the accumulation of small and large successes will take me there — then the opportunities and jobs will take care of themselves.

Keep working in good off-off- . . . -off Broadway productions.

I'm still new to "the scene," and I a guppy in one of the Biggest ponds on the planet, and off-off- . . . -off Broadway production are in the shallows, so what is their value? Why do it? Well -- first, since I'm new, even for many years, most of my opportunism will be here. Second, non-union off-off- . . . -off Broadway is terrific on-the-job training. Again, coming out class, studying on my own, watching amazing actors in great productions, I define specific rehearsal and performance goals for myself, and when I'm a show, it's main value to me is an opportunity to work towards those goals. In short — it's one of the best opportunities for me to get better.

This focus and goal is also important because no agent or casting director is going to come to see these me in these shows, nor are they going to really care. In their minds, this is the absolute minimum I should be doing. NOT doing this would almost be more noticeable. Doing this is for myself, to get better, and this brings me to my third goal:

Start working in high-end off-off Broadway and off-Broadway theatre productions

My goal here is to start working with in the best theatres and with the best people (serious professional producers, actors, directors) that I can. This includes equity showcases (interestingly, the equality showcase rules are undergoing change). The opportunities in NYC are amazing and the best on the planet, but the bar is set high.

The value of these productions is that I'll be meeting and working with people who have gotten over that bar. This is the start of professional theatre in NYC, and it's a terrific growth opportunity, professionally and personally.

Second, agents and casting directors do see these shows under the following conditions: 1) the show is well promoted and really REALLY good. In this case, I can invite agents and casting directors who I've meet in meet-and-greets. 2) These productions often use professional and established actors. These actors already have agents and a large professional network, so their agents and casting directors who come to see them will also see me. If I get cast in such a show, that's extra motivation to work hard.

Audition for and start booking professional paid work in film, television, and commercials.

The entry point, for me, a non-union beginner, is what are called Network Houses, or Meet-and-Greets. (You can read more about actor's Network Houses & Meet-and-Greets here).

I'm currently a member of the Actor Alliance, a membership by audition only network house.

There's a couple of goals this year. A major goal this fall is to audition and be accepted in another network house, One of One. The second goal is focus on learning monologues that I think are good choices for the type of work that is cast through these network houses, mostly television and film. The third most important, critical and scary goal is — just DO IT! Start going to more meet and greet — get my monologues ready, and then go to as many as I can (and be prepared). There is some cost in doing this, but it's relatively small. Working with Deborah Carlson's Word of Mouth Studios will be a major component of this plan.

An additional goal is to get more Comerica auditions, booking those jobs, and auditioning and working in Corporate Film. The best way to proceed, for me, is — again — meet-and-greets, continue my postcard mailings, and this fall, the following classes at Weist-Barron: Improvisation for Commercials and Working In Corporate Film.

Critical Daily Actions

One of the most important things I feel I need to do — and it's hard to do — is each day practice/rehearsal my monologues, work on my cold-reading and sight-reading skills, and practice delivering commercial copy to my web cam. My goal is to do this 4-5 times a week, up to 2 hours per session (two hours is plenty).

In sum

Training --> Auditioning --> Theatre (to become a better actor, to meet and work with serious professional actors, directors, producers, theatres), and Meet-and-Greets (paid professional jobs in film, television, & commercials)

OK -- let's get to it.

Long Term Theatre Goals (the Theatres I Will Work In):

New York

U.K

Chicago

Regional

Actor's Theatre of Louisville, Humana Festival
City Theatre: Pittsburgh
The A.R.T.
Geva
The Long Wharf
The Cape Playhouse
Acadia

Auditioning for '30 Rock:' Acting & filming On The Set, my Experience

Sat, 13 Sep 2008 18:12:22 -0500

Whenever I get called to audition for something, I read the scene and visualize what it would look like as I'm reading it. Like moving images in my head. Like I'm watching a movie.

Of course I factor in the genre and medium when doing this. I don't look to put on a performance. I simply bring myself to the character (be myself). When an actor tries to give the CD what they think they are looking for, it comes across as bad acting.

I make the best choice I could make in my opening line/moment and use internal pause. I also make sure my instrument is free.

Before I went to audition, I read the scene and it was hilarious! The show is a straight comedy. Most actors would play it very comical but you have to be realistic and logical. My character is not part of Alec Baldwin & Tina Fey's little click. My character is a police officer so I should play it straight and real, which makes the scene even funnier.

When I auditioned for "30 Rock", I walked in the room and carried myself as if I already booked the role. That it was mine! I introduced myself and shook the hands of both people that were present and gave them my headshot/resume.

They then asked me to slate for the camera. I said, "Hi. I'm Christopher Stadulis and I'm coming in direct". Coming in direct means I self submitted and do not have any representation.

One of the gentlemen (Trey) then told me we will be doing the scene 3 times. I made sure I did it different every time. Think about this. While filming, if you do every take the same exact way, once the editor is in the editing room, he will have nothing to work with. But if you make it different every take, he will have a field day. There will be so many different colors, which will make the scene so rich.

They then said thank you and I said thank you for your time, have a great day.

And just as I was about to walk out the door, I said, "Oh and Trey, if you ever need a REAL Firefighter, I'm your man. I'm on the FDNY and have my own bunker gear (firefighter gear)". That's marketing myself. Whatever skill, professional trade, uniforms, etc. that you have, let them know about it and they will make a notation on your resume and keep you in mind for future projects.

He called me that night and said I've got the job. They liked me a lot. They meaning Jennifer McNamara (VP of NBC casting) and Katja Blichfeld of McNamara casting. They both doing casting for "30 Rock".

Mind you, I met Katja Blichfeld, an associate of Jennifer McNamara, at a meet and greet at Breakthrough Studios and have kept her and Jennifer updated with my career ever since.

I had to be on set at 6:15 pm. I was introduced to the director, producers and then to ALEC BALDWIN & JENNIFER ANISTON. As I extended my hand I said, "Hi Jennifer, pleasure to meet you" and did the same with Alec. Alec asked if I was a real cop, I said former state trooper but now with the FDNY. We then rehearsed our scene several times and I was then brought to wardrobe for fitting and hair/makeup.

We broke for lunch and had to be back on set at 8pm. While at lunch I was sitting with the BG people and started to chit chat. There were 2 older women and 1 older gentleman. All were around 60's. I seem to get along very well with older people. I guess it's because they appreciate life more and are simply more real.

As we chatted, one of the women asked my wife's name and she then quickly said, "Wait, her name is Michele". I said, "wow, very close. That's my sisters name". She replied, "I am getting vibes from you that's why I was so close at guessing. Good vibes. You are going to have a bright future ahead of you in this business". That kinda freaked me out at first but then realized she is sensing my positive energy that I was giving off as we all spoke about the business.

Now to the good part:

We began filming our scene about 9 pm and finished at 12:30am. At first I was drawing my firearm and pointing it at Alec. But the director then said I can just put my hand on it as if I am in the ready position to draw it but don't actually remove it.

Jennifer first jumped on my back as Alec started to run away but the director changed that (DAMMIT!! LOL). And after several takes, Alec told the director, "Listen, when I run out into the street as the 2 cops are chasing me, I'm going to just jump into a random car, it'll be so funny, and keep taping it".

He ran into the street and stopped 3 lanes of traffic, it was hilarious. In between takes, Alec came over to me and asked me how long I was a state trooper. I told him 3 months and he asked why did I leave. I told him because I wanted to be close to home. And now I'm in the FDNY and this enables me to be an actor. He said close to home is good. And we continued filming.

Then the paparazzi just wouldn't stop taking pics and video. Several ppl on set told them to stop taking pics while we're filming because of the flash but they didn't listen. So we had to put a huge black curtain over the fence of "The New York Palace Hotel", which is where we were shooting.

One of the paparazzi was about to take a phone pic when Alec was standing behind Jen, holding her waist just as they were about to sdo another take. In a very intimidating voice, Alec told him not to take the pic. I am guessing because he didn't want any tabloids putting a spin on the pic and making it seem like they are now a cpl.

We did 8 takes in medium shot, 8 takes of Alec's POV on Jen, 8 takes of Jen's POV on Alec and then about 6 takes of Alec and Jen's POV on us.

And while on set waiting to film, I was networking, handing out my card and spreading the word about my screenplay. There are several individuals that would like me to send it to them.

And finally, I I sent thank you letters to Alec Baldwin, Jenifer Aniston and both CD's that hired me, Jennifer McNamara (VP of NBC casting) and Katja Blichfeld. I made sure I mentioned in my letters to Alec and Jen that if they ever need a blue collar type that's Intense, determined, sincere, confident with a hint of arrogance and outspoken, to keep me in mind. And I mentioned my screenplay in case they are interested in reading it or the treatment for it.

My experience was fantastic!!! The reason why I got called in the first place is because of my meeting CD's at meet and greets and keeping them all updated with my career.

Today I just submitted for roles on "Damages", "Fringe", "Law & Order" and several feature films.

HERE'S A TIP:

IF YOU EVER HAVE A CAREER UPDATE, PUT IT ON THE OUTSIDE OF YOUR SUBMISSION SO IT CATCHES THEIR EYE. I PUT ON MY SUBMISSION, for example:

CAREER UPDATE:

JUST BOOKED A PRINCIPAL ROLE ON "30 ROCK". I HAD THE HONOR AND
PLEASURE TO WORK WITH ALEC BALDWIN AND JENNIFER ANISTON!!
IT AIRS NOVEMBER 13th ON NBC @ 9:30 PM.

Of course I will remind them in another submission that is closer to the air date or will send them a postcard.

PS- We just signed a 40% tax break for film & television in New York City, and there are sooooooo many feature films lined up to begin filming this month all the way till who knows when. There are also a lot of TV series that have now moved to NY and alot of Pilots are also being filmed here because of the huge tax break. Everyone, get you A game on and get ready to get out there and start working. It's going to get busy. It always gets busy after August but even more so now.

Lastly- Ironically, one of the police officers in the scene with me had worked with me on the PSA I had did- "The Fireman's Widow's and Children's Fund". While on set, I asked him about a film that I had came across on IMDB entitled, "The Fallen". He told me he knows the director of this film and will email me his email address. It is scheduled to film in Mid November. Samuel Jackson has been picked up, it's a $20 Mil. budget and it's based on a true story about a Boston Firefighter that gets hurt on the job and gets addicted to prescribed meds and his life begins to spiral out of control as he tries to pull himself back up.

My point being, this is why networking is so freagin important because you never know where something may lead to. Plant as many seeds as you can and your garden will begin to sprout in many areas.

Regards,
Christopher Stadulis

NYC actor/writer/firefighter/father/husband/son/brother/semi-activist

Don't wait for your BIG break, create it

Philippe Petit, Artists, Actors, Dreams & How to Live

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 21:04:40 -0500

The 9-11 anniversary, I’m sure, is a sad day for most of us, yet there’s a story that’s come to the fore over the last few years, an old story, but one that’s finding renewal, and one that I think not only helps transform one’s experience of 9-11 into a positive frame but also carries a message for all actors, for all artists.

Below, you can see a clip from a film by Ric Burns (American Experience: New York: The Center of the World), a clip that I’ve been looking hi and low online for -- and I finally found it.

Watch the clip and think about acting, or any art you do. Ask: Why do we do it, really? What draws us? What is “it” -- what’s its value? Answer: It is everything -- it is priceless.

Shakespeare was right -- life is a stage, and a stage is life, our life, our larger life, and we rise to meet its possibilities. The heightened words and text take us there:

Whenever other worlds invite us, whenever we are balancing on the boundaries of our limited human condition, that's where life starts, that's where you feel yourself living.

So when I found myself one foot on the wire and one foot on the building, and ready to decide to shift my weight to become a bird, it was not something new, and after a few steps I knew I was in my element. I didn't even take the full length of the crossing to get to know the rigging and the vibration of the building and the wire, and then very slowly as I walked, I was overwhelmed by a sense of easiness, a sense of simplicity. I can be seen smiling in one of those first pictures [of the event], smiling, smiling probably out of disbelief, it's so easy, after all those years and months of ups and downs, of detours, of victories and disasters, finally . . .

. . . I was carrying my life on a path that the simplest, the most beautiful, and easiest.
(Philippe Petit, from Ric Burns 'American Experience: New York: The Center of the World).

Petit continues (in his book, To Reach the Clouds: My High Wire Walk Between the Twin Towers) about why and how it was so easy:

Inundated with astonishment, with sudden and extreme fear, yes, with great joy and pride, I hold myself in balance on the high wire. With ease.

A not-yet-recongnizable taste seizes my tongue -- the longing to soar.

The gods in me.

Determination! Tenacity! Now is the moment. The moment is given unto your hands -- hold on to this balancing pole. The moment is given unto your feet -- hold on to that steel cable. Are they telling you , "Give up?"

As in a dream, with immense effort, I manage to displace myself through space.

The gods in my feet know how not to hit the cable, how not to make it move when each foot lands. How do they know? They worked that out during their endless days of rehearsals. The know the slightest addition to the vivacious dance of the catenary curve would mean peril for the wirewalker. They ask the feet to land on the steel rope in such a way that the impact of each step absorbs the swaying of the cable, it's vertical oscillations, and it's twisting along the axis of the walk; the feet answer by being gentle and understanding, by conversing with the wire-rope,by enticing the huffing and puffing living entity above them to let go of his rage to control.

Wirewalker, trust your feet!

Let them lead you; they know the way.

September 11, 2001 Memories of New York City - Out of a Clear Blue Sky

Thu, 11 Sep 2008 09:10:47 -0500

HOW IT BEGAN: 8:45AM, Tuesday, New York City, September 11, 2001.

8:45AM. I woke right up.

My eyes just opened.

I didn't know why.

I had just lost my job, the beginning of the long long unwinding of the late 20th Century technology bubble.

Of late, I had been waking up more or less on my own - but usually an hour later.

My bedroom was cool, gently breezy, late summer morning peaceful. I felt fully relaxed, but surprisingly awake. Lying on my side, through my 5th story window, I was looking west, at the river, at the hills of the shoreline, New Jersey right across the Hudson from my apartment on the upper West Side.

A perfectly morning.

OK, I thought, I'm up, so let's get up. I had some calls to make, so I plodded into the kitchenette, sunshine and green, to make some coffee, and while it was brewing, I called a company somewhere in Nevada.

8:55AM. I needed a replacement part for something - I can't remember for what now. I remember describing the problem, convincing the woman on the other end of the line, on the other side of the country, to send me the part, and she asked for my address. I told her, and she immediately stopped me: You live in New York City? I said yes.

Pause.

Do you know what's happen at the World Trade Center?

She didn't sound alarmed, but time stopped - it was an ominous, out-of-the-blue question, from someone somewhere in a little town in Nevada, so early on a perfect late summer morning . . . I said no, and she said a plane has flown into one of the towers . . . it's on fire . . .

Around 8:45 a.m. on the morning of September 11th, 2001, people along the west side of Manhattan heard the piercing whine of a jet plane moving south down the Hudson.

Everything about its trajectory was wrong. Heading south along an airway normally reserved for northbound traffic, it was moving much too fast and much too close to the ground - nearly five hundred miles per hour, at an altitude of just nine hundred feet - more than twice the speed permitted for aircraft that low.

It took less than ninety seconds for American Airlines Flight 11 to hurtle the entire length of Manhattan Island.

A little after 8:46 a.m., the huge 137-ton Boeing 767 aircraft - measuring more than half a football field in length from wingtip to wingtip, and carrying more than nine thousand gallons of highly inflammable jet fuel - flashed across the final twenty blocks from Canal Street to the World Trade Center, and tore through the north wall of the north tower between the 94th and 98th floors - instantly killing everyone on board, and wreaking incomprehensible carnage across five full floors of the building.

Witnesses on the upper floors of the south tower were stunned to see a wall of flame burst through the south windows of Tower One 130 feet away - followed by a shower of disintegrating desks, files, furniture, computer terminals, airplane parts and burning bodies.(American Experience: New York: The Center of the World).

That was the start of a sequence of events, beyond belief, events I couldn't keep up with, couldn't wrap my mind around . . . couldn't comprehend . . .

ONE YEAR LATER: 11:09AM, Wednesday morning, New York City, September 11th, 2002.

Woke up early,

to a day,

to a moment in time.

I had always loved the twin towers, and had always wanted to go all the way to the top. I actually stayed in the Holiday Inn Winter Garden hotel in the summer of 1994 as part of a summer RA with NCSA, just after the structure had been repaired from the '93 bombing. I didn't go the top, I think, because the trip was fast (3-4 days), and I ran out of time.

On impulse, I went down to the WTC site early that morning, ground zero, to be there, as it has been for that first year, for one last time -- for it was that last day both a place in transition and a moment in time, and as the city transitioned forward, it left that place as it was, for the last time, forever belonging to that fateful day.

Many New Yorkers, myself initially among them, really just wanted to let this day, the first anniversary, pass, and I wasn't sure why something inside of me wanted rather to turn and face it - again. Perhaps was the Scott in me (or is the Irish?), but the bagpipe processions brought so much of it back.

I remember those men, afraid, frightened, yet unflinching, they went into those towers, up there in the sky, burning, and even after the south tower fell, still they stayed as close as they could, to do whatever they could because they refused to abandon or forget us, and I wanted to mark that day, because I would not abandon or forget them, what they did. This is what I wanted to foreground in my memory: not so much what happened, but how people responded.

A few weeks after 09 . 11 . 2001, in a church where we were rehearsing MacBeth (I was the stage manager), Bob, the Senior Paster, asked the director and I if we would like to sign a banner that would later be taken down to the WTC site, to write our thoughts and feelings. A remember quite clearly a prayer and promise that came to me, and I wrote:

We will never surrender our long fought for and hard won freedoms, and we will never forget those who were lost.

GOODBYE TO THE TOWERS: 8PM, Wednesday evening, New York City, September 11th, 2002.

Washington Square Park: candles in the gathering darkness.

A surprisingly hard, sad day, at least for New Yorkers. A year of shock had finally given way to an acceptance of what happened: almost by surprise, I realized that day - that night among the candles - I had said goodbye to the towers, to NYC the way it was, the way it felt, and to all the lost lives. I lit a candle, to say goodbye -- and to light the way to tomorrow, to hope . . .

I didn't really realize till later, but after that 1st anniversary, I think I finally found the courage to commit more fully to theater, to read - to devour - plays, to act. That fall, I took an introductory acting course at NYU's School of Professional and Continuing Studies, and then I took a monologue and audition workshop. And plays, plays, plays . . . I took them apart, fascinated to discover how they worked, how I worked . . . how life works . .

The Tribute in Light is assembled atop the parking garage over the entrance to the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel near Ground Zero in preparation for the remembrance of the 9/11 terror attacks on the World Trade Center. There are spotters in New Jersey, Brooklyn and Manhattan helping to determine if the lights are straight. By flagging the individual light, the spotters and the workers on site are sure they are all looking at the same light. Each tower of light is made up of 44 individual lights. They will all be turned on before sunset on 9/11 and become visible as the sun sets. They will fade away at dawn on 9/12

Networking: Actor, Agents & Casting Director Meet-and-Greets

Sat, 06 Sep 2008 11:36:36 -0500

A few weeks ago, Christopher Stadulis wrote a post about why actors need be meeting agents and casting directors at network houses, commonly called "meet-and-greets."

I thought it was a great example about why actors should be doing this, but then it led the question about how does actor go about doing "meet-and-greets?" What's a good strategy or plan? I asked Christopher the follow questions based on his experience as an actor who is just starting to break into the business at a professional level:

How much $$ can one expect to pay for meet and greets? (This is an important question because it has to do with ROI, something all actors with professional ambitions should be doing (because producers calculate ROI) -- even though when you're just starting out, it can be painful calculation because numerator is probably low if not zero. Yet tracking costs is a great habit to get into -- and an essential habit if you are or want to be a professional actor. In fact, a simple way to do this with mailings and meet-and-greet is to use this Marketing ROI Calculator. For meet-and-greets, just enter the number of meetings you've been having instead of the number of pieces of mailings you've been doing). So, the question again: How much $$ can one expect to pay for meet and greets?

It all depends on a persons budget, but I would recommend to do a package deal since you will see a good amount of industry professionals and will save money by going that route.[At Breakthrough Studios] it usually costs $32 per meet with a CD, Agent or Manager of your choice. I recently signed up for the $599 special at Breakthrough Studios, which I love, to meet with as many industry professionals as I can within 1 month. I met with 35 total. A combination of CD's, Agents and Managers. If I were to see each other and pay individually, it would have cost me $2,000. So I saved $1,400 which is huge! (Christopher Stadulis).

(An aside: I've been using The Actor's Alliance Studios in New York, which is a little less than Breakthrough Studios, but you can only attend The Actor's Alliance Studios by first auditioning. Both places often specific workshops, intensives, and classes, which I also recommend because the goal of these classes is to make you more successful when meeting industry professionals).

How does one choose how often to meet industry pros and how does one choose who to meet? (This is an important question because to answer it you should know, as best you can, your 1) type, 2) your strengths and interests, and 3) the relative opportunities with the specific areas of the industry, i.e., there may be more casting opportunities in the summers for commercials rather than the episodics -- that's just a guess, but you get the idea).

I look at the monthly calendar, which can be viewed on their web site, and I see who will be attending for that month. I then choose to see industry pros based on if I had recently seen them already (within 1 yr) or what types of projects they mostly cast for or are currently casting. (Christopher Stadulis).

How many monologues should one have prepared for meet and greets, and how to pick which monologues to use? (This question too gets at the whole issue of one's type. The more closely aligned your monologue is with your "type," the more successful you'll be. Also -- you should have a great coach and mentor in your corner to help you not only polish your monologues but to help you choose them. If you're looking a terrific acting and audition coach, I recommend Deborah Carlson who's approach is based on the work of Patsy Rodenburg. Also, if need expert help looking for a monologue for your type, check out Prudence Holmes -- she has a collection of over 5000 rarely-done monologues).

I picked monologues that are very much like my own personality/type. If an actor picks something that is his/her type, it will be very organic. Also, picking something that you can relate to is a big plus. It also helps you to connect. I have 2 monologues. One Dramatic and one comedy. I always go with the dramatic because that is more towards my type. If they ask for the comedic, then I give it to them. (Christopher Stadulis).

Does one get feedback from meet and greets and how helpful is it?

Yes. Everyone gets feedback. But you have to take everything with a grain of salt. Not everything a person says is true. It's all about their perception of you and where they see you in this industry. But I have received honest feedback and that's what you want. Not feedback just because you are paying them. (Christopher Stadulis).

What about cold readings -- how does one prepare for those?

For cold readings there is usually not much prep time. Sometimes a CD will ask you to look over a scene for 10-15 mins and then you will do it. Other times, you may go in to audition for a role and after you finish your scene, you may be asked to read for another role right there on the spot.

What I do is make a strong choice in my opening line. If I don't get the CD's attention at the very beginning of my scene, there's a very good chance I will lose him/her. (This is actually terrific advice -- it's always harder to get someone's attention than it is to keep their attention, so -- be sure to have a "moment before" any monologue and your first line if you're starting a scene).

Remember, they do not expect you to memorize lines for a cold read. Focus on telling the story and bringing yourself to the character. I used to get caught up in trying to memorize and would also try to figure out what they are looking for. That's a big NO-NO! When you try to give them what you think they are looking for, it comes across as bad acting. And that's exactly what it is, ACTING. You don't want to act, you simply want to be DOING and speaking TRUTH. (Christopher Stadulis).

I finally asked Christopher what had he learned from the work he's booked and what he has learned about how to handle himself on a professional set.

I learned that this is a business and where I see myself best in this industry. And the jobs that I have booked were for roles where I walk in the door, I already am that character. They call it typecast, I call it putting your dues in. An actor usually doesn't get an opportunity to take on other roles that will stretch themselves until they have clout in the BIG leagues. Until then, take what comes your way and ride that wave.

I would love to get roles that Philip Seymour Hoffman or Daniel Day Lewis play but that is not being realistic. They are not my type. You have to ask yourself, if you were to audition for roles in the BIG leagues, what types of roles could you be cast for. Not what roles you'd like to be cast for. You have to be realistic and logical in this business. And understanding where you fit in best will help your career dramatically.

On a professional set, always be professional, polite to EVERYONE, friendly and listen. Listen more than speak. Try to learn as much as you can. Even when I'm not in a scene, I observe and pick up as much as I can. An actor should learn the technical side as well. (Christopher Stadulis).

Acting is Breathing, Connecting and Presence

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 15:33:38 -0500

Jim True Frost on the value of theater work:

The deep process and craft that you employ in the rehearsals and in the nightly repetition of a theatre job provide a way into acting that camera work never can have (Jim True Frost, Interview, ActorsLife.com).

. . . the deep process and craft, the value of a nightly theater job -- there's nothing like it for growing and learning.

I've been blessed with a fairly long run of the Cat and Moon -- about 6 weeks, and I can't remember working harder on a play after it's opened.

Breathing

Deborah Carlson's Word Of Mouth Studios hammers home, almost each week, the directive to speak no faster than you can breathe. Patsy Rodenburg calls this letting the breath drop.

I find this difficult to do partly because I'm not used to doing it, partly because I'm worried I'll drag a scene down pace wise, and partly because characters are often in an excited or heightened state, i.e., they're thinking and speaking rapidly.

However, if I go faster than I can breathe & think, I speak before my body and mind are naturally ready to speak -- what Ms. Rodenburg calls this getting ahead of the text.

So, despite my fears, I'm been forcing myself to go no faster than I can speak.

I first noticed it's power in the Last Jew In Europe. There the first director, out of stylistics concerns, wanted us to speak as rapidly as we could -- which was fine -- but I, at least, found myself going faster than I could breath, i.e., my breath wasn't fully dropping in, so I was speaking more from my head and chest, never really tapping into the power that is at one's center.

By rushing to my lines, there was no time to take it in what the other actors were doing and to let it mix with my response. Without letting the breath drop, I was just spouting my line back with no real connection or power or truth behind what I was saying . . .

. . . until one night, I said the hell with my fears and resolved to not speak until my breath fully dropped. I found it hard to do this deliberately because it takes some attention away from my partner, away from what's going on (which is why I need to practice doing this until it becomes automatic), but nevertheless, it had some great effects, and the effects -- surprisingly enough -- were on my partner!

On just a few lines, on the few occasions when I could do this, it made me speak with "truth" and "power," and the person I was acting with was almost "captured" by what I said -- I could see it in their eyes: for just a moment, they were really paying attention to me because I had just really meant what I said, and they knew it.

They almost had to pay attention to me, and that automatically influenced their response.

I've been doing this more with the Cat and The Moon. During previews and rehearsals, the director's sharp eye was catching me pushing lines with my head (I play a man who can't walk, so I'm sitting on the stage most of the performance). I wasn't aware I was doing this -- but I was very aware of speaking before I was ready, i.e., rushing to my line, taking a quick gasp of air before I spoke.

Because the line had no real truth or power, I "pushed" or empathized with my head or hands. In short, the "intent" was mostly there, but I wasn't sending it to the other actor.

Deborah Carlson's Word Of Mouth Studios had me on the floor at home with a broomstick over my shoulders and my arms draped over the broomstick. I'm sitting as I would in the play, and I'm running lines by myself. This is to keep my head and hands still.

Her idea -- and it works! -- is that it'll keep my head and hands and body still and make it easier for me to speak from my center, i.e., let my breath drop down to my diaphragm and to speak from there. It's a great technique (for me) because unlike in rehearsal or performance, there's no pressure, and I can simply let myself do this to get used to doing this, to develop the habit.

I've also noticed something else -- I hold my stomach in (vanity). It's not like I have a significant tire around my middle, but I do have a slight tummy, and I hold that in.

I can't do that when I'm working -- it makes it harder for me to breathe freely, and it introduces extra tension in my body.

Judy Dench said (said apparently, because I can't find an online source) that she realized she was a serious and committed actor when during rehearsals one day, she realized she was holding her tummy in (for normal vanity reasons), but -- she found she couldn't act if she did that, so she just let it all hang out for the world to see.

During the last couple of nights, I've been taking all this into performance, and again -- the biggest effect I've noticed as been on the other actors.

At one point, I tell one character he never should have been born, and rather than push or "bark" that with a lot of tension in my throat and neck and face, I instead let my breath fully drop -- and I suddenly felt what I wanted to say to him really drop in me. Right from my center, with almost no tension anywhere but a lot of "dark" power, I said this to him, and I didn't (as I usually do) have to try to mean it -- I meant it: it just filled me and came out, and I swear there was almost a beat and his eyes opened a tiny bit wider, as if it I had taken him, the person, the actor himself, by surprise. HE, the person he is, responded to me, just for an instant, and in that instant, he looked hurt. He wasn't trying to act hurt, it just happened.

He really, for that instant, connected with me, eye to eye, and (to me) he looked taken aback, just for a moment.

The other night, in another scene with an actor, again, I didn't rush to my lines but really listened and let my breath drop, and I was aware of how different the my lines sounded that night. I wasn't tying to make them sound different, and I wasn't trying to listen to myself, but I was aware of more specificy, more color, more power or truth in my lines, and -- as a testament to how badly I must usually act -- this seemed to take the actor by surprise, so much much so, he went off his lines in a couple of places.

Again, I could see in his eyes him really connecting and listening to me, and -- that seem to throw him.

So, next time you complain that someone isn't listening or paying attention to you -- make sure first that you're giving them something to really listen and pay attention to: yourself, your presence.

Beliefs, Success, and Happy Birthday to Me!

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 17:42:14 -0500

We have time to grow old.
~ Vladimir, Waiting For Godot

Today is my birthday.

I was worried about how I would feel -- often I don't acknowledge my birthday (because I don't want to be reminded that time is a thing and the growing older as we go through it), but this is a significant birthday.

Long long ago, I wanted to be an actor. It was all I ever wanted to be, and I'm more convinced of that now than ever before.

So, why did I wait so long?

I had been acting and painting and writing extensively in a city high school, so much so, I forgot to go to my other classes and almost didn't graduate, and -- I didn't care. I was happy, Happy, HAPPY.

In addition to being in everything, i.e., leads in the musicals (I couldn't sing a note, but I auditioned well, so they cast me), Saturday Night Live-esque revues, the senior play, I was also designing all the program covers and designing and painting huge joyous scenery flats. In Love with everything, and dreaming -- of going to New York City . . .

I remember clearly the day, the time of day, I decided that I wasn't good enough to become an actor.

It was a warm spring evening, a month or so after graduation, and a few months before my 18th birthday. It was time to decide what I wanted to do. Decide what I wanted to do. I knew what I wanted to do -- what I was deciding was whether or not I could do it.

That was my first mistake. Self-doubt.

And then I couldn't see myself doing it, going to New York -- I could see N.Y.C so clearly, I could see what I wanted to do, but . . . I couldn't see myself doing it (I wasn't in that picture. Better people were). And then I decided, no, I felt I couldn't do it, I decided that I wasn't good enough, and I let it all go.

Two months earlier at the graduation party when they handed out "most likely to ..." and "best whatever," I was awarded the titles: Class Actor and Class Clown (class clown because I was always on stage, the city high school was a bit rough, and -- everybody loves, or at least doesn't beat up, a clown). I didn't get Class Artist -- but I wanted that too, so it wasn't a clean sweep. I acknowledged these honors, these things I was really proud of, by falling down, on purpose, to get a laugh. But -- I fell down. I was becoming what I thought.

I never went to New York City.

Years and years later, in school, I fell deeply in love, for the first (& only) time, with a talented & beautiful dancer, but -- only later I realized, I fell in love with more than a beautiful dancer. I fell in love with what she was doing, her world, her dreams. After a year, she broke up with me, and I was beyond devastated -- I was annihilated. I was completely broken down (deliberately using the passive voice here). Everything, everything in this life for me was gone. I had nowhere to go. There was no place or time anywhere on this earth for me.

But then -- I don't know, a miracle? I landed a research scholarship at Rutgers University (and I was lousy at research!), 30 miles or so south-east of N.Y.C. (Before she broke up with me, she was talking about going to N.Y.C, the dance capital of the world, so in anticipation, I applied to this program, and I was accepted).

So with nowhere else to go, I went out east to New Jersey, and in the midst of nothingness, at the end of the world for me, I remembered what I had always wanted to be. The great love that I was in separated: my love for her and my love for who I really wanted to be, who I always wanted to be.

That very day, I resigned my fellowship, and I moved to N.Y.C. The rest is a new history.

A Lesson, and A Word about Belief

So, today I say to a God I don't know if I really believe in -- thank you, Thank You, THANK YOU for my health, for letting be in N.Y.C., for my apartment, for Deborah Carlson (my great teacher, coach and mentor), for all that I have, and for letting me do all this now. I don't have regrets, for some reason, about all the time gone because I'm doing it now. I'm doing it right now.

In The Magic of Thinking Big, there is a quote:

The size of your success is determined by the size of your belief.

In You'll See It When You Believe It, there is advice:

Work each day on your thoughts rather than concentrating on your behavior. It is your thinking that creates the feelings that you have and ultimately your actions as well.

And it all struck me this morning: am I learning about acting -- or life? When I read this advice, I immediately turned the book over to double check its title because I thought for second, am I reading a book about acting because this! is what acting is:

We are what we speak . . . [it all starts with the character's words, their thoughts] . . . make each thought sound as if it is the first and only time it has lived in you . . . [then] see and experience every image as you speak . . . [and then] allow these words [and thoughts] to transform you . . . Shakespeare understood that as enormous feelings pass through us, our world fragments and reorders itself. (Pasty Rodenburg, Speaking Shakespeare).

Thoughts lead to feelings, which leads to transformation, which leads to action! (behavior). It's how we create a character -- it's how we create ourselves; it is how we act -- it is who we are.

This morning, the morning of my birthday:

(Thomas Tallis (ca. 1505 - 1585), Tallis: Spem in Alium)