Typically I take classes as a way to maintain and improve my skills, and I look to the professor or instructor as the primary guiding influence. However, recently, a studio acting class I’m in regularly took an interesting turn.
This time around I was truly challenged to identify with my character in the scene I had been assigned, which is a good thing. If I’m not challenged in studio, then work in the real world is out of the question. It’s not that I didn’t understand the scene, but finding the inner crux of my character proved to be a larger hill to climb than I had anticipated. My primary hurdle was age-related. The character I played is at least 15 years my senior and identifying life experiences to utilize as affective memory tools proved difficult for me. Substitution is an instrument I could have used more effectively.
The acting dilemma I faced was nothing in comparison to the drama and turmoil … Read more »
One of my voice teachers, Helen Hodam, has died. This is what she looked like mid-life:
She was so cute. This is how I remember her:
She was still cute. She had a petite voice, a warm smile and a twinkle in her eye.
My first voice teacher, Darlene Wiley, warned me she was “persnickety” but a good teacher. And she was right. Ms. Hodam had a very clear goal in mind for each of her students and was persistently resolute in ensuring that goal was present in each lesson. She was also very outspoken and forthright, never hesitating to tell someone exactly what she thought. As a result, she produced some very amazing students.
She was one of the hardest-working and most independent people I’ve ever met, and I knew her in her 80s. At that time, she kept a full studio at New England Conservatory and would also teach privately on weekends at her home … Read more »
It’s been a busy weekend. I had to purchase and learn how to smoke a cigar. (Don’t worry–it was for an acting class.) I went to four hours of class on Saturday. Sunday morning I went to work at Old South Church and then another six hours of class after that. All-in-all I have to say I was rather mediocre in all things.
My first cigar store stop was a total bust. Only the bartender was present and she knew nothing. The knowledgeable owner would return in three hours–too late for me. So, she referred me to another store only a few blocks away. Conveniently, the salesman was kind and understanding, allowing me to ask as many naïve questions as necessary to make my scene believable. The scene called for a high-end, pre-Castro Cuban cigar which was entirely beyond my budget, but the character would mock it as though it were a low-end, Romeo & Julieta. So, that’s the one I bought–the $6.25 R&J. I should … Read more »
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