It's All About the Process Podcast

The last interview of Season 1 is with one of my former students, Michelle E. Carter. She is an extraordinary performer who has toured with Cats as Jennyanydots (her tap skills are out of this world!) and is currently on tour with Hadestown as a swing, understudy for Persephone and the Fates, and is also Dance Captain! Michelle shares her journey from undergrad to her first professional gig, and h...

Bryce and I have been meaning to connect for years. I’d never had him as a student, but we’ve admired each other’s work from afar. When thinking about who to bring onto the first season, especially swings whose careers had breadth, he was one of the first people I thought of. He is an old soul and passionate about artists and their processes. Me too! I hope you enjoy this episode. If you want to b...

In today’s solo talk episode of It’s All About the Process , I look back at how my undergrad actor training didn’t prepare me for building an artistic practice and what I did in grad school (and beyond) to change that. Utilizing the research of psychologist K. Anders Ericsson on deliberate practice , I unpack why repetition doesn’t equate to growth. A more intentional approach to actor training is...

I was so happy to reconnect with Meridien Terrell. She was my student when she was in undergrad at MMC and since she graduated we’ve worked together on monologues, text analysis, prepping sides, and dialect work. She has many skills and is one of the hardest working actors I know. Watch the episode to learn more about her journey from undergrad to her Broadway debut to her current gig on the natio...

Sam shares his journey from undergrad to his first national tour to his Broadway debut. Some of my favorite moments include: * hearing about the fails and wins in the audition room and how that propelled him forward * how embracing one’s own versatility makes for an ideal swing * what he’d teach if there was a class for learning how to swing * what being able to “make strong choices” really means...

I think “talent” is one of the most stifling narratives artists believe. We look at successful actors, writers, musicians, and creators and assume they possess something we don’t: “natural” talent . But what we don’t see are the years of invisible work through rejections, experimentation, failure, feedback, persistence, and practice…everything that shaped their skills . In this solo talk episode o...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit thepkmethod.substack.com In this episode, your host, Melissa "PK" Tonning-Kollwitz, interviews long-time collaborator and mentor, Jason Sirois, to hear about his journey as a multi-hyphenate. They cover everything from what it was like to to be embraced into the Theatre department in college as a non-major, to booking a national tour, a...

In this series premiere episode, your host, Melissa "PK" Tonning-Kollwitz, explores a common obstacle artists face after training: isolation. They share actionable strategies to reconnect to your creative practice through community and shared accountability. If you're feeling stuck or disconnected, this episode offers practical steps to reignite your artistic journey. KEY TOPICS: Misconceptions ab...