The New 6 Weeks and Upcoming Spring Break

Well, welcome back from the 3 day weekend.

Last week, we finished up looking at Objectives and Obstacles. Today, we looked at setting the stage with designing a basic set to accentuate our obstacles and help us "liven" up the scene and create tension and make it interesting. Now, the pitfalls that we looked at today: sitting, stand still, and low-intensity scenes.

With the addition of creating a set, we began to talk about movement and making sure that we are motivating all movements by tying them to our objectives and make sure that we are overcoming obstacles.

In the next class, we are going to look at solidifying these ideas of motivated movement, and we are going to look at different ways of overcoming obstacles with different tactics. We will look at extending that "I want to..." phrase of the objective into doing something with it...active verbs, and playable actions!

See you in the next class, get those play summaries done, due before Spring Break!

Recap of Week 5

We got through all of our scenes this week. Next week, we are going to begin to plow through the "work" or acting with each other. We got all sorts of information over the two authors that we are going to be working with this unit.

Remember, there will be a quiz on Tuesday over the Neil Simon and Beth Henley. Click on their names to see the class notes over the authors. Please make sure that you are looking at these to get the information that you will be quizzed over.

This week, we are going to begin looking at Objectives/Goals, Obstacles and Tactics. We will be picking them out of our scenes and look at assigning different tactics.

Remember that Thursday is supposed to be your first "off book" day, you should be roughly memorized by that time, able to act a bit without the book in your hand. Read, read, read, have someone read with you, and read again to start that memorization process.

Good luck and I'll see you on Tuesday!

Scene Work

So today we began our scene study! I know that you guys were super excited to begin this portion of the class because this means that we are going to start real acting, right? Well, I'm really excited to see you guys begin the journey too! I think the scenes and partnerships are going to work well. I put some time into the picking and I really hope the work is going to be fun for all.

As we move forward, we are going to be exploring some more of Robert Cohen's exploration of GOTE (Goal, Obstacle, Tactics & Expectation). I hope you have fun reading your scenes over the next few days!

In the next class, we are going to continue the read through of our scenes and we are going to begin to explore Goals.

Wednesday's Class

Today we recapped the weekend and talked about our observations. I enjoyed hearing all the stories that went along with the people that you observed speaking. Talking further about why we do activities like that as actors, we discovered that observing makes us more creative with the characters that we play. If we were given a character that was not exactly us (as most characters are not like us), then we can draw from our world in both speech and mannerism when speaking.

"Acting is a question of absorbing other people's personalities and adding some of your own experience." - Paul Newman

We are getting close to performing our Dr. Seuss books in class. Only one more class period for rehearsing. Keep in mind this is a Vocal performance! This doesn't have to be an acted or memorized piece, focus on the voice!

In our next class on Friday, we are going to wrap up our mini-lessons about voice and we will demonstrate good and bad diction, we will work with a few more lines from Shakespeare that can be emphasized and we will hear from Robert Cohen about Tone and Pitch.

Remember to speak with conviction everyday! See you in class on Friday!

What's next!

So, we've officially made it through two weeks of classes and I'm pleased to say that we are all making good progress!

This last week, we discussed some basics of voice. The concepts that we talked about and the theorists that I introduced have entire courses of study dedicated to their contributions to theater. We are just touching on the basics.

We are going to continue to work on voice coming up as well as continue to work on the Dr. Seuss projects, and we are going to continue to work on the voice as well! Next week we are going to look at emphasis and learn more about diction: essential skills for the actor.

This weekend, I hope you all enjoy the three days off! This is your reminder of the HOMEWORK for the weekend! *gasp*

Due on Wednesday: One page writing about your observations of two different people talking.

• Let me know what they're doing when they speak
• What qualities do their voices take on?
• How do they behave when they are speaking with different emotions?

The world is your greatest source inspiration as an actor, begin observing and recording!

February 10 Class

Today we learned a little bit about breath and breath support. The importance of these to an actor are second to none. Without breath, there is no voice.

Tommaso Salvini, a famous 19th century actor, said the three most important aspects of acting are "Voice, voice, and more voice."

This unit is about voice, and most theater teachers will tell you that Voice cannot be taught in one day, and cannot be taught in a few weeks. We are just going to be brushing over some of the bigger concepts in voice over the next few lessons so that you can have an idea and begin to expand your acting toolbox with voice work.

We talked briefly about Kristin Linklater today in class. She is one of the foremost vocal acting teachers in the country. Actors study her technique for years and continue to refine and use it over their whole careers. There is a tiny video on her website that you can click here to watch. It is small and poor quality, but the audio is great and you can get a feel for how a Vocal Coach teaches voice...hint, it involves the whole body.

We also hit the formal assignment of Dr. Seuss today, class time will be given next class to begin to work on this project. Performances for Dr. Seuss will happen February 23 & 25.

Next class, we will be working on differing inflection, tongue twisters & diction exercises. See you then!

First Week Down!

So, today, we finished the week off strong!

I wanted to say thanks for the excellent participation in today's activities and for creating an awesome syllabus performance as a class. You all did wonderful!

This weekend, make sure that you are watching people. Begin observing the world around you...the actor is always thinking about drawing on the world around them.

"Acting is a question of absorbing other people's personalities and adding some of your own experience." - Paul Newman

Have a great weekend!