Owner: The Secret Of Theatrical Space URL:http://www.thesecretoftheatricalspace.dramaticimagination.com/ Join Date: Fri, 20 Apr 2007 23:45:48 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: This is a personal acting journal that would be of interest to anyone in what its like to try to become an actor in New York City. Its primary purpose is to chart my own course to help me learn to become a better actor, and it is my hope that others will Site statistics:Click here
RegistrationCentral Casting 2007-04-20 07:34:08 The Mayor's Office of Film, Theatre, and Broadcasting tax credits has made the film and television industry the fastest-growing employment source in New York City, creating 10,000 jobs over the last year and pressuring California to consider similar incentives.
Central Casting
celebrated its 80th year in Hollywood by opening a second office in New York City on April 17th 2007. They're registering all types of talent: Union, Non-Union Adults as well as Children. Most of the work I'll get will be non-union background, but there is work in commercials and featured background roles.
I am now registered with Central Casting New York City.
I'll get work two ways: 1) there's a hotline number (updated daily) that I'll call. It will list all available work. If something sounds like I'm a good fit, I'll be put through to a casting director who'll look at my resume and headshots and they'll decide whether or not to book me. 2) Central Casting will do some casting footwork on their own,
Dreams 2007-04-16 22:27:49 Over the past few weeks, I've become determined to make my living as a actor as much as possible. While one doesn't just wake up on a Monday morning with a clear plan -- and the means -- to do this, one can become single minded, focused, and determined.
That's where I've started -- I do need to earn money somehow, but I won't allow that need to distract from what I need and want to do . . . the money I'll earn from non-theatrical/non-commercial work will support (not distract from) training, classes, time for rehearsal, and time to take advantage of those opportunities that will move me forward. I'm still working out the "how," but I'm determined that I will do it.
This morning, I had a dream. I needed to print something on a printer at work, but I didn't know exactly what it was suppose to be, I just knew I had to print it out, but the first batch of paper I used wouldn't work: they jammed th Read more:Dreams
Words, words, words 2007-04-16 05:25:07 The obsessive writer in me, like Anton Chekhov's Trigorin . . .
. . . see ...
Book Review "Winning Auditions (101 Strategies For Actors)" by Mark Brandon 2007-04-16 01:21:48 Advice for the actor. Restoratives for the soul.
Great, invaluable, practical, and insightful, veteran working actors share what they've learned about how to manage the practical and technical aspects of the audition process.
While some trial and error learning will be inevitable in learning any skill, this book will help bring clarity and focus to the acquisition of your audition technique, to the strengthening of your audition skills, and believe me -- it is a skill, and high one at that. You'll learn hard won insights, tips, and revelations that will help you set your audition targets -- and once you know what your targets are, where you weaknesses are, then all you need to do is continually practice setting your sights on those targets. That is the real value of this book. Some highlights are:
AUDITION PREPARATION STRATEGIES:
how & why to practice your sight reading, a critical cold reading skill: see strategies #8 & #38 (Professional Sight Reading Techniques).
how Read more:Auditions
, Brandon
, Strategies
, Winning
Book Review "The Dramatic Imagination" by Robert Edmond Jones 2007-04-14 06:02:54 Epically Poetic. Sweepingly Romantic
This beautiful little book (one of the first theatre books I've ever read) is one of the great speculations and reflections on the theatre. While "The Dramatic Imagination" won't teach you HOW to design for the theatre, it will teach you (or remind you) WHY you design for the theatre -- you design to keep it alive. And while the copyright is c. 1940, the goal of the book for the design and performance arts today is as it originally was - to create a theater for OUR time. The goal of this book will always be relevant, it will always be a guide.
Robert
Edmond Jones was not only crafting stage designs, he was crafting a vision of the human soul in flight in ways that had yet to be embodied on the stage, and this book is a testament to that goal. What's beautiful -- amazing -- about what Robert Edmond Jones has put down here, is a `vision eternal' of the theatre. He does not write of a `theatre of the future' -- he writes of an `ideal theater,' a
Audition Notes: 07 . 01 . 2006, New York City 2006-07-01 07:44:49 Working with Deborah, employing Patsy Rodenburg's approach to breath, voice, and text, and benefiting from Deborah's extensive performance and audition experience -- this is just start of a new way of working . . .
Audition
: 13th Street Theater
Location: 50 West 13th Street between 5th and 6th Avenues, New York
City.
Director: The directors group, Edith O'Hara artistic director
Monologue: Gabe, Dinner Wish Friends
Positives:
I did it, finally! Took the stage, positioned the chair as I introduced myself and the piece.
Negatives:
First, the audition was in a theatre, so the performance space was large, and I wanted to be intimate with Tom and I was sitting in the chair, but I needed to fill the space because the directors and company interns were sitting all over the place. Because the space was large, filled with people, and I was sitting rather than standing, I was pushing my voice -- not too badly, but still pushing.
&n Read more:New York City
, Notes
Dreams and Visions of Off-Broadway 2006-06-18 06:26:48 Twice a month, I'm going to see an Off-Broadway
production (rather than an off-off-...-Off-Broadway), because I want to see myself doing that; I want to have a clear image, dreams and visions of performing at that level. Once I perform at that level, then I can die, or at some point later, but not before . . .
CageLove
Primal obsession, & terrifying: the deepest of part of you, more real than anything, and it's ugly, weak, destructive: its actions, what it wants, the energy, the experience, all want expression in the universe. The behavior, the choices -- there's nothing else: there's no thought of not acting on what you are really, Really feeling, because nothing exists outside of that, so there's nothing to stop it; there's no where else to go . . .
- the challenge for the Cagelove actors, in my opinion, to bring to life -- and they did just that: the vertical Read more:Dreams
, Visions
Technique Will Hold You ... "Joan's Voices" Closes 2006-06-06 06:53:52 A good friend Ivana wrote me after the close of the show on June 4th, Sunday, 2006:
Hey Christopher,
I'm so glad we came to see your play. You did a really nice job. It's a huge step for you to play that role after being at Weist Barron and you could definitely hold your own. I was proud of you:))
Anyway, stop by the bar when you get a chance.
Talk to you soon
Ivana
I wrote back:
Hey Ivana,
that's very kind and generous of you to say that -- thank you very much.
It was really a great learning experience, and what really helped was finding a very good coach/teacher (Deborah Carlson, 'Word Of Mouth Studios') who's teaching me (finally!) good physical technique. Performing and training at the same time -- it's tough, but it's the best! I'll tell you the two biggest lessons I learned (and you'll definitely appreciate one of them). On Sunday, Read more:Voices
I Want To Be A Great Actor 2006-05-10 03:11:32 Ok, I tried something . . . strange, and it really seemed to work (quoting from an online article here):
In the early 1980s, a man named Scott had heard of a process called affirmations from a friend. The process he learnt was simple.
Visualize what you want and write it down fifteen times in a row, once a day, until you obtain it.
Scott was told that the process did not require any faith or positive thinking for it to work. Even more interesting was the suggestion that the technique would influence the environment directly and not just make you more focused on your goals. In other words, it would spawn amazing coincidences to move you towards your goals. The coincidences could be things that were seemingly unconnected to you and beyond your control.
Scott was very left-brained and logical in his thinking. He had his doubts about the process but figured that there was no harm in trying.
Within a few weeks, coincidences started to happen to me, wrote Scott. Amazing coincidences, str Read more:Actor
, Great
New Rehearsal Idea -- Improv 2006-05-02 02:24:18 Thoughts, triggers, & background homework in scene 2 seem to be forming the basis of some great improv, i.e., after a character speaks, I improv my thoughts and feelings, not as me, but as Charles, then I go back into the actual text.
Often this "activation" carries me effortlessly through the next few lines of dialog until something changes in the text (i.e,. a beat change). All this based on my imaginative forages into the world of the play.
Also, this leads to an idea: how to respond, be alive, when the other character is talking to me. When the other character has long "speech," have him/her say one line or thought to me, as best they can, mean what they say, and then I'll breathe and just improv an immediately intuitive response to that one line/thought, and the other actor breathes that in, really listens, and then responds with the next line or thought. This is really to help me take in and start to respond to what the character is saying to me.
Read more:Rehearsal
Fundamental Rehearsal Mistake 2006-05-01 02:04:34 "saving it" or slowly working towards some final performance level that will coincide with opening night and the run.
Reality: I'm holding back -- not moving forward.
How it's done: if each rehearsal gets stronger, richer, more full, more clear and my ability to find more and more new, interesting and exciting insights, then that's how to grow into a performance! Work hard each time!
Read more:Fundamental
, Mistake
, Rehearsal
Acting -- it's a prayer and a surrender 2006-04-28 00:46:43 Worse rehearsal is a long time -- the worst: was not prepared for the scene, had not worked/thought it through. Other problems:
forgot to write down blocking for the last rehearsal so today I was suddenly lost,
didn't mentally-physically rehearse and pick out one or two things to address
overtired: not enough rest/sleep
Generally felt terrible, aware of how little I was getting or giving, and was not able to rally or focus, and rally to what, focus on what? Jill somewhat pointedly noted my fumbling during rehearsal . . .I was not prepared -- I'd better figure out what that means, how exactly to do that.
Next time:
Prepare: read/review the scene, blocking notes, any notes from self rehearsal. Critical to self rehearse, and then prepare to rehearse -- be ready to do that (don't just show up and then try to get orientated).
Pick specific things I want to work on.
Rehearse well -- give it my all (#1, #2, #4, & #5 here will be the foundation of this)
After rehears Read more:Acting
Rehearsals . . . Visions 2006-04-22 10:14:07 "Seraphic Dialogue" (1955) by Martha Graham, an interpretative vision, and one of the greatest moving Masterpieces of the 20th Century . . .
. . . Joan's
transformation by the Angles. Read more:Visions
Rehearsal Notes . . . sketchy update 2006-04-08 09:17:38 I was hoping I could do here, in this journal, what I did with the short scene for the Weise-Barron show case, but no way I can keep up in this journal, as much as I'd love to . . . later, if I keep careful notes, I'll detail the work I'm doing, which is starting to get intense -- all I can do is sketch some early things out here: I've got to remember to update my written journal after each rehearsal so that I can later transfer things here.
Some Running Notes
:
I pause a lot. I pause because sometimes I don't know why I'm saying something, and I'm waiting for motivation . . . inspiration . . . a miracle. Ron has me running through the text, and at first I thought 'how's that going to help!?,' but now I see . . . he's trying to get me to stop thinking, and this almost subconsciously seems to free up resources to focus on doing, and that is making things clear much more quickly than "thinking" about them . . . Ron's an old pro, and he knows what he's doing . . . Read more:Rehearsal
Film, Camera Work, and Improv 2007-05-20 07:43:57 Almost 6 weeks ago, on an unseasonably chilly early spring evening on the lower east side, I attended a rare two hour open cattle call for a full length independent feature film, Sublet. 60sec for a monologue -- and given the number of auditioners, the auditors were serious about cutting people off at 60sec, whether our monologues were finished or not.
I did my Vanya (only half this, and not exactly this but a great translation by Brian Friel).
They brought us in, in groups of 10 or 12, so I had the rare pleasure of watching other people perform their monologues (something I truly love watching -- one of my goals is to work as a reader for a NYC casting director: it shouldn't be too hard to find the time and opportunity to volunteer, and I'd learn allot, but about how to do monologues, and castings). Anyway, as usual, the rate at which I usually see people who really know what they're doing is about 10% (and I DON'T include myself in that 10%), but for some reason, when I see some Read more:Camera
Should theatre be socially motivated? 2007-05-20 00:33:33 A question was asked on Helium, Should theatre
be socially motivated, so I thought I'd try to work out my position on this (reproduced below):
I'm going to assume that 'socially motivated' theater means, for lack of a better term, 'political' theater.
Let's further define 'political theater' as a drama that emphasizes a political issue in an attempt to change peoples mind's about that issue. If changing peoples' minds about a specific issue (e.g., AIDS), is the starting or primarily goal of a creating 'art,' then I think it's reasonable to define that 'art' as 'political.'
Finally, let's define any play that does NOT have this as a starting or primarily goal as 'poetic' theater - with no more justification than the term 'playwright' appears to have been coined by Ben Jonson in his XLIX Epigram, To Playwright, where he argues that "true" writers of plays are 'poets' while 'playwrights' are creating something inferior. Today, of course, 'playwright' has lost
Motivation & Goals, "The Action Pack" 2007-05-31 13:51:49 Outils - that's French for "tools."
In this section of the site, I'll review the various "tools" I use to help me fly straight and true through the turbulent atmospherics of my life and the New York City Performing Arts Scene.
Not only does New York City have an overwhelming wealth of performance opportunities, it also has a world-class support system composed of life and success coaches and consultants who help actors with both the personal and business side of acting. Triple Threat Ventures's Leslie Becker is at the forefront helping actors and other creative artists create success in their careers and their lives (from their site):
Leslie Becker founded Triple Threat Ventures in 1988. The purpose of the company is to inspire, entertain and educate others and to add value to their lives as performers and people. We are dedicated to helping others continue their quest for stardom in all areas of their lives through our books, seminars and live events.
Ever Read more:Action
, Goals
Class Notes: Word of Mouth @ A/C Studios 2006-11-25 00:18:49 Notes on voice and acting:
Thoughts go to the end of a phase, sentence or group of sentences -- "hold the thought" -- see The Actor Speaks, p.46-7, 55, 170, 173, 176, 193-7, 202-3.
A GREAT way to discover how I emotionally connect is to build up the line on Voice breathing one word at a time ("Breathing The Text" from The Actor Speaks, p. 170). Often the piece, sections of it, will become more clear to me.
If I can hear myself breathe, the palette is not lifted and I'm sitting on my voice. Always up, over, and out.
Don't wait for thoughts and feelings before I speak -- thoughts and feelings come with breathe.
Read more:Notes
, Studios
Class Notes: Word of Mouth @ A/C Studios 2006-10-31 00:17:44 Notes on how to work a scene:
Read through it thought by thought -- note how I feel, but don't try to figure out how the character must be feeling or how they might be saying something. Concentrate only on what they objectively say. Understand the thoughts and communicate them -- then and only then will the feelings follow, and I won't know how I'll feel until I'm actually feeling in the moment.
Listen, answer, top my partner -- take the energy and throw it back, with more energy if necessary.
Acting is NOT about saying something -- it's about discovering something. Read more:Notes
, Studios
Class Notes: Word of Mouth @ A/C Studios 2006-10-16 00:23:06 Capacity Exercises:
When breathing out on an "S" and "Z" (from The Actor Speaks, p. 47), smile and keep the upper palette up.
Monologue Work:
Gabe ("Dinner With Friends"). Clumping my way through it, falling off the end of each line (going down). Goal: Think my way through it, but 'hold it up.' Exercise -- intone each "thought," and then speak the thought, and then speak the entire piece. Don't punch or empathize certain words -- concentrate on being clear to Tom: make the meaning clear.
Do the Journey Of The Walk (from The Actor Speaks, p. 197) , and do the monologue again. Read more:Notes
, Studios
Insights from last monologue audition 2007-06-03 17:26:41 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 think the basis of a good monologue is a attention and concentration: if you're not paying attention to the correct things and/or if you're not fully concentrating for whatever reason, the audition will just not be what it could be. Specifically:
Breathing -- usually during a monologue that's not going as well as I know it could, my attention is often automatically dr Read more:Insights
General audition notes 2007-06-01 00:36:35 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.
Read more:General
P.I.T. Intro Impro Notes 2007-05-14 00:12:42 3 critical acting skills to acquire/strengthen in this class
Listen closely -- all attention on the other
Respond w/out "thinking/planning:" learn to trust my instincts, and what ever I'm giving, sending out, pay attention to them -- make sure they're getting it. Are they hearing me? Am I having the intended effect? Don't worry about being cleaver or funny.
Breathe, breathe, breathe. Catch myself ASAP if I stop breathing, and then just start again. Read more:Notes
More Monologue Notes 2007-05-13 23:59:23 Soliloquies - Vanya is a soliloquy, i.e., he's talking to himself, but don't do it as it's done in life: there's an audience out there, so put myself out there and talk to me out there.
Tips & Hints:
Always use lots of air, words have colors, let the passion and emotion in the words out
Goal of a monologue -- no overt/endogenous attention, at all, should be on what I'm feeling/experiencing. My attention should be fully on the other, making sure everything is crystal-bell clear. Make sure they understand me, every word.
Stop extraneous movements when they're correlated with "thinking between the lines." Practice/rehearse moving nothing except what I need to use to breathe. Practice/rehearse by lying on my back, lots of air under each phase. Let myself be overly dramatic. Read more:Monologue
, Notes
More Monologue-Audition Notes 2007-04-16 23:21:26 Audition Prep: 1st) physical voice warm up, intone, journal of the thought, etc. whatever I think I need to do 2nd) Review -- "breathe in" the vertical, the deep meaning, then let it all go.
Audition Notes
: Starting is still difficult for me -- the most important step is still the hardest. Rehearse a simple task, a simple way to start -- use that to center and focus me. Also, I'm still rushing the beginning, the moment before. Remember that great monologue audition with Vanya at The Impact -- remember how I just spontaneously, organically took me time? It was completely unplanned, as if the gods loved me that night and gave me a great gift, but I think I just focused and took my time without worrying about or being conscious of starting -- usually I feel awkward and self-conscious, and I tend to rush starting the monologue. This is so hard for me, yet it was perfect that night. Practice each day doing that, whatever that was ...
Audition death -- certain death: trying to r Read more:Audition
, Monologue
Class Notes: Word of Mouth @ A/C Studios, Patsy Rodenburg 2007-06-04 09:27:27 More notes on monologues in general and Richard II in particular:
When first approaching a monologue, or when reviewing it periodically, you want to pay attention to the characters thoughts -- for the simple reason is that verbal and written language exists to express "thoughts."
The goal in doing a monologue is NOT to get "ahead" of the text (see The Actor Speaks, exercise 51, p.176): my attention needs to be on only where I am, that one thought.
How do I stay only where I am? Focus on the other and on what I'm saying -- train myself to do that.
Acting is attention and concentration-based, not memory based (i.e., trying to do a pre-planned performance).
Fundamental acting errors:
Focusing on my feelings, on how I feel. If my attention and focus are there, then there's nothing to hang the words on: there's no real "meaning," the thoughts of the character are not clear, and it doesn't affect the other person (at least not as strongly as Read more:Notes
, Patsy
, Studios
Background and Extra work on "Damages" 2007-06-09 02:14:08 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) . . .
First, check out Bob Frasers great advice article all about being an 'extra' in film and television.
Second, leave in plenty of time to get to holding early -- I mean 10 to 15 or even 20mins early. 20 is good, because it's likely, in big cities like L.A., N.Y.C., or Chicago, you've never been to where they're shooting, so your gonna get lost -- count on it. This isn't pessimism -- it's realism.
Third, usually you'll work on the set for less than 50% of the time your hired, sometimes a lot less. Unless you're up for chit-chat to your fellow background actors for 10+ hours, bring things you want to read, educate yourself; it's a great opportunity to catch up -- think of it like this: they're Read more:Extra
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