tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16876687.post7024605711643869767..comments2024-02-27T16:59:54.089-05:00Comments on (The New) Theatre Ideas: Actors, Gimme Your MoneyUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16876687.post-50125465020617444922008-01-31T01:04:00.000-05:002008-01-31T01:04:00.000-05:00I'm Karen McKevitt, the author of the discussed ar...I'm Karen McKevitt, the author of the discussed article. You've misquoted me and I'd like to correct that here. In the first block quote, you started with a quote from my Editor's Note, then used asterisks and connected to a quote from ACT casting director Meryl Shaw. So, half that quote is not mine, so I only wrote half that "knowingly." Also, the article was not an opinion piece. The article was based on interviews with casting directors, all of whom indicated that they were interested in casting actors that, among other things, continued training of some sort. One of them had the opinion too that "training" didn't necessarily mean dishing out money to acting teachers, or to anyone at all. I do not necessarily share their opinions.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16876687.post-66393518096056572962008-01-11T18:33:00.000-05:002008-01-11T18:33:00.000-05:00ok - someone is going to kill me for saying thisth...ok - someone is going to kill me for saying this<BR/><BR/>the best classes i ever took were with CASTING DIRECTORS (tv/film and equity level) - why - because the class did what i needed it to do - get me in front of someone that could actually GIVE ME A PAYING JOB. <BR/><BR/>because so much of this business has to do with you knows your work and who knows they can trust you to deliver, and because casting directors in Big markets don't have much time and don't make much money, these classes were the fastest, most cost effective way for me to get in front of these people. and it worked. the classes more than paid for themselves in relation to the work i ended up getting from these people.<BR/><BR/>yeah, yeah, yeah - it shouldn't have to be that way - well tough, these cd's don't make much money, so it is a way for them to supplement their mostly crappy income AND they get to know a whole pool of new people. as for the old "well they should just go see more shows" - most of these cd's work really long days and do see plently of shows - just not the ones you might be in.<BR/><BR/>it's not magic, you actually have to have some talent and/or training for this to be an effective method - but it was more cost effective than the tens of thousands my MFA cost.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16876687.post-32758415033492631672008-01-11T12:02:00.000-05:002008-01-11T12:02:00.000-05:00As an actor (and a director, writer, producer, jan...As an actor (and a director, writer, producer, janitor, house manager - fucking name it, I'm somewhere doing it), I concur.<BR/><BR/>I coach a thing in Chicago that works like this: it's a class/workshop in long-form improvisation. I traditionally work them on basic improv techniques, acting techniques (disguised as improv techniques) and some pretty direct feedback on their work. The feedback that I get regularly is that the folks that come get more out of it once a week than they do studying at the various institutions in town.<BR/><BR/>Here's my favorite part. It's free the first time and five bucks each subsequent time. That's to cover the cost of the room and my whopping $30 fee for teaching.<BR/><BR/>I'd love to see a lot more of this model - it smacks of ancient Greeks, sitting under a fig tree, learning and absorbing philosophy, ethics and hemlock.<BR/><BR/>The fact is some classes are <I>exactly</I> what you need and bear fruit and some are merely a great way to meet people and pay the teacher's (or institution's) rent. Constantly taking classes will stymie you just as no classes can.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16876687.post-1669546024955539672008-01-11T03:16:00.000-05:002008-01-11T03:16:00.000-05:00Interesting insight.I'm trying to get into grad sc...Interesting insight.<BR/><BR/>I'm trying to get into grad school to work on my MFA in Directing. My undergraduate theatre training was more focused on acting, more specifically, Method acting. I've directed two studio theatre, $0 budget, no-support-from-faculty shows. I've decided that I really enjoy directing, I'm pretty good at it (I think! I hope!), and I'm smart enough, talented enough, and determined enough to make it.<BR/><BR/>So, is your suggestion ultimately to skip grad school and "move to a town with low real estate prices" and work professionally? How do I get connected to the Directing world?<BR/><BR/>I feel like I could benefit from more formal training, since I had next-to-no formal training at the undergraduate level, but I've also got other more practical concerns (read: food, rent, insurance) that I could use some time focusing on if I don't need to sacrifice three years of my life in an MFA program.<BR/><BR/>What's your suggestion?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16876687.post-47483439297447917152008-01-11T02:52:00.000-05:002008-01-11T02:52:00.000-05:00I know I've cited this before, I think to Don Hall...I know I've cited this before, I think to Don Hall, but there was an interview with Cherry Jones several years ago in Backstage West where she questioned the value of the MFA for actors -- particularly when the cost of said degree is now so high that most actors won't be able to afford committing to lots of stage work when they get out, and will be scrambling for commercials and small speaking parts in television.<BR/><BR/>Then again, I'm not an actor, so I don't feel comfortable telling them what to do vis a vis training, and I know people who are really happy with the MFA program that they attended. But yes, it seems to me that it mostly makes sense after your formal schooling is done to take a class to pick up or brush up on a specific skill (dance, singing, stage combat, etc.), or, as you say, if you're really interested in working with a particular teacher. (One of my friends was fortunate enough to study with Joe Chaiken and it was a life-changing experience for her.) Otherwise, I would think it would be more joyous and fulfilling to work with other actors informally on scenes or even do an evening of short plays (or a full-length), just so you can have the satisfaction of building a character completely. That was pretty much what Jones advocated as an alternative to grad school -- pool your resources with other theater artists and start doing shows.<BR/><BR/>Would be interested in hearing more on this. It also occurs to me that actors who get stuck in the class-audition-class-audition loop are probably going to be as frustrated as playwrights who get stuck in the table reading-submission-staged reading-submission pattern -- the point is to really be able to do it full on in front of audiences, so you know what really works. Yes, always be polishing up and looking for ways to improve, but getting off yourself and onto the world does help make for better art sometimes.<BR/><BR/>KerryAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16876687.post-10381662844811905432008-01-10T12:08:00.000-05:002008-01-10T12:08:00.000-05:00Jesus Christ -- can we get out of the theatre ghet...<I>Jesus Christ -- can we get out of the theatre ghetto every once in a while and interact with LIFE?</I><BR/><BR/>Let the church say, "Amen." Can I get a "Amen"? Let me hear Hallelujah!<BR/><BR/>In other words, I wholeheartedly agree. Contrary to the cliche, it's art that represents life, not vice versa.<BR/><BR/><I>For 2400 years of theatre history, actors took care of themselves. They rehearsed on their own, they looked in the mirror, they thought through their role, and they performed and adjusted to each other's performance as it happened.</I><BR/><BR/>Yes, indeed. I think this is part of the reason why I was attracted to theater in the first place, as opposed to other arts. Everything you need to do it is already within you. Although I always endorse education, you don't need a BFA or MFA or PhD to learn this stuff. You simply need to be a student of life. Everything else is auxillary to that.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com