>From: Isabelle Bracamonte <ibracamonte@y...> > Must you go to >one of Balk's seminars (although I'm sure they're >fabulous) to get the full benefit of his teachings? >Are there private acting coaches out there anymore? Does acting in straight >theater help >(and is Shakespeare better than modern theater)? What >can we actually do, as actors, to improve? > >Perhaps all the answers are in the pages ahead. But I >look forward to advice from those who have actively >sought this skill as well. > >Isabelle B. >
From my own experience, I would say that acting is DEFINITELY something learned best by doing, and in particular by working with others.
Last spring, I took a workshop in "Bardic Theater" given in San Francisco by The Independent Eye, a Philadelphia-area company which relocated to Sebastopol, CA two years ago. The exercises involved spontaneous, instinctive actions and creating life stories-- your own AND other people's. The techniques I learned have really helped in my subsequent performances.
As far as book-learning goes, I can recommend Uta Hagen's book "Respect for Acting," which includes a chapter on acting in musicals and other non-naturalistic theater (i.e. Shakespeare). Simon Callow's book "Being an Actor" is also invaluable in its addressing of practical aspects of the actor's life, such as unemployment and working with less-conscientious colleagues.
Straight theater acting may not help (I'm terribly self-conscious of my speaking voice), but taking a part in a good musical or operetta production will help one's acting, if only because those genres *require* a certain amount of personality and character from the performer.
And, if you've got the $$$$ and think it's the way to go, you can find some private coaches in the back pages of "Callboard" and other magazines for theater professionals. (Bonus for Isabelle: You will also find audition notices for some California opera companies in Callboard, more than you'll find in that OTHER magazine.)
Me, I needed to learn things like "how to maneuver through a dark backstage without getting a concussion" and "how to keep the show going when stuff goes wrong" and "how to work and play well with people who drive you nuts." Technique ain't everything!
Incidentally (responding to another Vocalister on this subject), I couldn't do much of anything with my performing until I'd gotten my neuroses fairly well under control. In fact, I find the fashionably neurotic (including my own company) a bit of a bore.
Liz "I need another role NOW!" in Sunnyvale
Elizabeth Finkler http://home.earthlink.net/~mightymezzo/ mightymezzo@h...
I think gasoline should cost 49 cents a gallon. No, darn it, make that 29 cents a gallon! Also the gas-station attendants should pump it for you. And when you get home, you should be able to watch Milton Berle on your Philco TV. --Dave Barry
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