REJOICE THE
BIRTH OF A NEW THEATRE IN MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA!
I am delighted and honored to encourage all of my Bay Area
friends to visit and support the new Pear Avenue Theatre in
Mountain View. Diane Tasca, a long time associate and former
student, is the Artistic Director, and several other talented
actors I know personally are organizationally involved. This
is an exciting day! Pear Avenue Theatre's first production
will be George Bernard Shaw's "Mrs. Warren's Profession",
directed by Jeannie Forte. It runs Oct. 25th through November
10th. Diane and her associates will also be offering acting
classes of various kinds at Pear Avenue Theatre, and I have
no doubt their reputation will quickly soar. A new theatre
company is the kind of kick in the pants that is very good
for the too-staid Silicon Valley, and I wish Diane et al very
much success. For info about upcoming shows, casting procedures
and classes, call 650-254-1148, or send Diane an e-mail at
aceastar@pacbell.net.
The theatre is located at 1220 Pear Avenue, Mountain View,
CA. 94043, just across the street from the Shoreline movie
theatre complex. The theatre web site is http://www.thepear.org.
CHECK OUT ROBERT
PASENKO PHOTOGRAPHY (CHICAGO)
Robert Pasenko walked into my studio about nine months ago
and wound up taking my new head shots. They landed me an agent.
He has recently launched a web site that hosts an impressive
gallery of his work. Take a look. I recommend him. http://www.pasenko.com
(My headshot is in Gallery One)
HOOKS ACTORS WORKING
MARCELO TUBERT, a personal friend and former
LA student, has been cast prominently in "Menocchio"
by Lillian Groag, running at Berkeley Repertory Theatre Nov.
1st through Dec. 22. For info, go to: http://www.berkeleyrep.org/.
MELANIE CURRY (s.stdy -'01) appears in "Julius Caesar"
through Oct 12 at La Val's Subterranean Theatre in Berkeley.
Info: 510-234-6046. T.J.PIERCE (scene study, film acting,
2000-01) has been cast in the leading role of Joe in MET’s
production of "The Time of Your Life" by Williams
Saroyan, playing November 13 through December 15 at THE NEXT
STAGE, 1620 Gough Street, in San Francisco. PAUL MCKINNEY
(s.stdy -'97) co-starred on "Power Rangers: Time Force"
recently. ERIC SWARTZ (comml & s.stdy-'99) appeared last
month in "Cheaper By The Dozen" at the Hillbarn
in Foster City. JOSEPHINE ZEITLIN (f/tv '01) booked roles
in two indie films, "The Right to Remain" and "September
Son". DIANA LEATHERS (comml '01) shot an NBC3 promo.
ALAN QUISMORIO (s.stdy '01) appeared recently in "The
Ugly Month of September" for Shotgun Players Lab. RAY
RENATI (s.stdy '99) shot an industrial for World Savings.
DAN ROCHA (s.stdy-'02) has been cast in "The Devil Vet"
at Chicago's Bailiwick Studio from September 27th to November
2nd. BILL HAMLIN (s.stdy '00) appears in an indie entitled
"I.A".
ILLINOIS INSTITUTE
OF THE ARTS
I'm pleased to announce that I'll be serving on the board
of advisors for the Illinois Institute of the Arts, Shaumburg.
This is one of the few schools to offer a degree program in
video game design, and I'm honored to have this opportunity.
LOOKING FORWARD
TO AUSTRALIA DEC. 4-14!
Wearing my Acting for Animators hat, I'll be teaching acting
for Disney Animation and for Rising Sun Pictures in Sydney,
followed by a one-day open-to-the-public class in Brisbane.
CHICAGO CLASS SCHEDULE
ONGOING SCENE STUDY
We have two classes of scene study, which is where we work
on acting as an art form. Monday night or Wednesday night,
7-10:30. On-going, start at any time, free audit, 16-week
commitment.
COMMERCIALS WORKSHOP NOV. 2-3
Excellent on-camera class for anybody that wants to get into
commercials or to improve her batting averages. 9-4 Saturday
and 10-5 Sunday. $250 ($175 for current scene study students)
FILM DEMO WORKSHOP STARTS OCT. 22ND
Tuesday nights, 7-10:30, four-week session, work on your own
demo scene. Shoot and edit digital video. $250
PRIVATE COACHING
Hooks is generally available for coaching, $75 per hour.
CRAFT NOTES
TECHNIQUE - WHAT IS IT?
You've been cast in a show and handed a script.
Now what? How do you prepare for performance? Where do you
start? Once you begin rehearsal, what do you do if you run
into trouble? After the show opens, what do you do if the
actor co-starring with you can't remember her lines or gets
replaced? The answer to all of these questions is contained
in a single word: "Technique". Technique is an actor's
blueprint, a set of operating procedures.
It amuses me that a lot of people evidently
think that "Technique" is Meisner's last name. It's
not true. Meisner Technique, popular though it may be, is
simply the approach to things that Sanford Meisner recommended.
Uta Hagen offers other techniques and approaches, as did Stella
Adler and Lee Strasberg. In my acting classes, I teach my
own suggested technique.
If your current acting teacher is not teaching
you technique, then it would be a good idea to check out other
classes. Technique is what acting is all about.
Here are eleven basic acting principles that
are at the core of the technique I teach:
1. Thinking tends to lead to conclusions;
emotion tends to lead to action.
2. Acting is reacting. Acting is doing.
3. Find the conflict in a scene. Conflict = Obstacle = Negotiation
4. Theatrical reality is not the same thing as regular reality.
It is compressed in time and space, enriched and oxygenated.
5. Your character needs an objective. An action should be
in pursuit of an objective. Activity is not the same thing
as a theatrical action.
6. Play an action until something happens to make you play
a different action. When on stage, you should be playing an
action 100 percent of the time.
7. All action begins with movement.
8. Empathy is the magic key to acting. Audiences empathize
with emotion. Emotion is an automatic value response.
9. Play off the reality of whatever your scene partner is
doing.
10. All humans -- even the most vile -- act to survive. From
birth to death, every waking moment, we act to survive. The
audience's empathic reaction depends upon the actor finding
his character's survival mechanisms.
11. Acting is a shamanistic activity. When you act, you are
stepping into the circle to talk to the tribe. It is an honorable
thing to do with your life.
At the end of the day, every actor develops
his own technique. He takes a little from here and a little
from there and does what works best for him. Neither Meisner
nor Strasberg nor Hagen nor Hooks have the only single answer
or approach. Some roles work best if you approach them internally
and others work best if you work very externally.
I have been fortunate to act opposite some
very excellent actors, and I can report that no two of them
use the same technique. I have seen actors show up at the
first rehearsal with their entire role committed to memory
already, and I have seen others that are still clinging to
the script at dress rehearsal. I've seen actors work improvisationally,
and I've seen others stick to the scripted word like glue.
Whatever works for them is okay with me. I have my own technique.
