“You never know what you’re going to do until you do it.” – Meryl Streep

Thanks for stopping by.  It has been a long time coming, but the timing seems perfect for my blog and workshop.  I started studying the craft of acting 20 years ago.  From the beginning I was horrified by how many “teachers” of acting were doing nothing of the sort.  Some would argue that acting is an ego driven art.  I think it is often the ego of the instructor that undermines many acting classes.

It is no secret that early MFA Acting programs, which were limited to a handful of esteemed institutions, took their talented young actors and spent at least the first year of instruction tearing them down before building them into “proper” actors.  I have friends today who still comment on spending the first several years after receiving their MFAs “unlearning” what was now getting in the way of their talent.  I firmly believe structure in the study of acting is utter rubbish if it prevents creativity from flourishing.

Today, I see acting teachers exploiting the insecurity of young actors and taking their hard earned dollars under the guise of sharing some secret process that all the stars use.  It makes me sad and it makes me angry.  It is Bullshit.

As in any art form, there is no right way.  Anyone who tells you that will take more than your money.  There is however a wrong way.  Any way that doesn’t get you to where you need to be is the wrong way.  Overwhelmingly, most great actors have trained, and they have trained hard.  Most can’t put a finger on how they get from point A to point B.  They may be able to talk about how they prepare, but once the curtain goes up or the director yells action they are no longer thinking about how to do it.  The great ones let go and become awash in imagination, emotion and instinct.

This is what I teach.  How to let go.  How to trust your training and your talent.  How to truthfully take responsibility for every line, and every moment between them.