Those Who Teach, Lead.

Having heard, and believed to some extent, the harsh critique- “Those who can, do; those who can’t, teach” * – I shunned becoming a teacher.  The first acting classes I attended regularly for any length of time, at Playhouse West in Los Angeles, met twice weekly, with one teacher on Tuesdays, and a different one for Thursdays.  The Tuesday Teacher, Mark Pellegrino, was, and is, an actor in known movies and T.V., including ‘The Big Lebowski”, “The Number 23”, and “Dexter”.  Tony Savant, the Thursday counterpart, was the school’s artistic director.  Each teacher presented wonderful insight and guidance toward creating the strongest, most truthful, acting foundation.

Having never taken an acting class, aside from an ‘Introduction to Acting’ and ‘Accents & Dialects’ courses at L.A.C.C., this school became my Home for two years.  Spending so much time there, in more than the two classes a week I was a member, additionally a wonderful perk of this school/repertory theater was the option to also attend any other class at your current level or below.  That is, if one were in the beginner course, one had the ability to sit-in and watch any other beginner class; if you’re in the intermediate level the option was for any beginner and intermediate, you get it. Learning through watching other students and hearing another teacher’s vocabulary, provided great insight and excelled my progress.  Sometimes, as long as I arrived prepared, the teacher might even let me participate.  Granted, my main teachers were always the best, it was beneficial to hear different phrasings to repeat an idea.

Aside from the numerous classes attended, the course required a minimum of two rehearsals outside of class each week.  The appointed class secretary compiled a class roster including each student’s name, phone number, and email address, and distributed it; some even volunteered to open their home at a specified day/time each week for rehearsals.  Did that mean people actually rehearsed?  No, however, it was easy to discern who took the Art seriously.  Having one teacher working in the field, and another assiduously focusing us week after week, forged a determination toward living truthfully – and the truth is teachers are Gold.

*George Bernard Shaw Man and Superman

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Passion Ate Time

Acting revealed itself to me only after I moved to Los Angeles, where the buzz of everyone else doing it bred curiosity in me to discover “what’s all this about”?  The library is a wonderful resource for every endeavor, especially when you live in Hollywood and the subject is acting- I checked out any book: Stanislavski, Adler, Meisner, and every one on the business too.  Read them all, took thorough notes on all subjects and experiences almost to the point of obsession.  Feeling I was a late starter in my early twenties- most actresses seeming to have either been a child actor or gotten ‘the big break’ when barely legal to purchase a lottery ticket- my self-education about this much admired, and often under respected, art made me realize the never before fathomed: an integral piece of me had been neglected.

Poetry was a blessing, a therapeutic release, I began prolifically producing in the back of 9th grade Economics.  It flowed, fed by my life experiences and the entertainment I enjoyed- namely ‘The X-Files’.  One parental unit urged me toward becoming a lawyer, when I excelled in debate, and a doctor, when I demonstrated a natural inclination toward the sciences.  However, every tiny piece occurs in preparation for another, and so….university calculus became the catalyst for re-evaluation and realization true fulfillment requires artistry for me….furthered by reading borrowed books and amalgamated in the first acting school ever attended being a Meisner Technique Playhouse, discovered in the trade paper Backstage West: I knew I was fortunate to be a clean slate to soak up TRUTHFUL acting technique emphasizing REALISM.  Day one, the teacher queried where I had previously studied.  Believing it be the ritual for new comers, I shyly admitted the truth, though in two years of attendance not another student was asked.

Stanislavski aroused in my belly acting’s “poetic reflection of life’s experience”.   A fiery spirit was fueled, hungry to devour more.  I audited every class and teacher I could at my new home, Playhouse West, filling notebooks with insights.  Thus I befriended myself and the dedication required of acting so natural it goes unnoticed by the untrained eye.

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Play: Within the Lines

The hardest part in acting is learning the lines.  At least, so goes the opinion of consensus.  Some actors go “off-book” before truly being so, regularly calling out “line”- slowing rehearsal- or continually toting and repeatedly pulls out from her (literal) back pocket a stack of notecards with all her lines- also causing delay. Others have photographic memories, and hence remember rapidly. However, he takes time picturing the page in his mind’s eye to recall and then read the line, therefore, are lines memorized? Occasionally actors have played the part before, recollecting lines previously secured in long term memory from that long-last performance.

For those committing lines to memory for the first time, Playhouse West School in Hollywood, California, teaches students to write all the character’s lines- sans any punctuation- and know it as you would the spelling of your name- forwards/backwards without a stress on any one letter/word in particular.  Taking this one step further, I write all the lines half a dozen times, akin to grade school rote learning of spelling words. When recording lines for auditory memorization, the school instructs only record your lines and be conscious to do it in a monotone voice to prevent an ingrained line-read.  The reason to ignore the other character when memorizing is to promote a LISTEN and respond reactiveness.  Should the other actor not have his line, you must not be waiting for a ‘cue’.  Our duty is to respond to what we hear, as if for the very first time, if a scene partner uses a word ‘desire’ when the script actually says ‘demand’ but your line is throwing the same phrase back at him – Listening and repeating the word actually used creates consistency.

If the other actor jumps ahead in the scene, or the play, you may become flustered, if you only know your cues.  Conversely, Listening (and knowing your lines by heart) gifts one with the ability to remain in character and continue flawlessly.  Remember your character’s life.  It is called ‘Play’ for good reason and we all get there, in front of an audience, via our own path.  We collaborate in love of art.