The Working Actor's Journey

🏁 In our second week, highlights include: Themes of power, authority, temptation, and morality The idea that those in authority often act oppressively Isabella's use of bribery and prayer to persuade Angelo, and Angelo's internal struggle and attraction to Isabella Session released from the Rehearsal Room ARCHIVE - August 2023. ----- 🛑 Subscribe to get notified of our next rehearsal session! And...

Session released from the Rehearsal Room ARCHIVE - August 2023 🏁 In our first week, some highlights include the participants: speaking about their locations, past experiences in theater, and the current state of the industry sharing their excitement about working on scenes from the play and discussed the purpose of the project, which is to provide learning opportunities for young professionals ex...

🏁 In our final session, the group: discussed the idea of a bookish, nerdy Beatrice and how age can influence the portrayal of the role. refined the dynamics of key scenes, considering Beatrice's quick wit and the layers of meaning in her dialogue with Benedick. evaluated Beatrice as the fool of the house and contemplated her growth from defensive barb-thrower to a woman discovering love. delved i...

🏁 This week, the group discussed Beatrice's emotional state, and the play's thematic elements like gender roles, public perception, and the use of wit. They also explored the historical and cultural context of the play, and theorized about its inspiration. ----- 🛑 Subscribe to get notified of our next rehearsal session! 🤗 Support The Rehearsal Room on Patreon - get early access to sessions (bef...

🏁 This week, the group watched a few different versions of the opening scene and discussed the various takes on performances by Catherine Tate and David Tennant (Wyndham's), Emma Thompson and Kenneth Branagh (Branagh's film), Danielle Brooks and Grantham Coleman (Public Theatre), and Dame Maggie Smith and Robert Stephens (Zeffirelli's film). They discussed the significance of food references and...

🏁 We dive into the first week of work on the character BEATRICE: exploring the dynamics between Beatrice and Benedict; the concept of wit as a form of communication; and addressing themes such as gender roles, societal expectations, and love. You'll see the group analyze key scenes, including the gulling of Beatrice and Benedict, the wedding scene, and the pivotal confrontation where Beatrice dem...

In our final week of looking at the scenes of Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, the group used "Italian run-thrus" (rapid line delivery) and continued to work on the scenes switching roles. The group discussed the benefits and challenges of role-sharing and switching between the language styles of Shakespeare and Stoppard. During the Q&A, a number of artists mentioned their growth in understan...

This week, the actors practiced delivering lines from Shakespeare's "Hamlet" using a technique that involved looking at the camera when speaking and looking at the screen when listening to capture the feeling of direct engagement. Emphasis was placed on understanding the meaning behind the words, which sometimes led to emotional revelations. They worked on specific lines to bring out operative wor...

Subscribe to get notified of our next rehearsal session! Support The Rehearsal Room on Patreon - get early access to sessions (before they go public on YouTube and the podcast), priority with asking questions, and more:  https://www.patreon.com/wajpodcast Watch the session on  YouTube : https://youtu.be/MYuYgB7GRFw   About the Scene Our group is working on sections of Act 2, Scene 2 and Act 3, Sce...

Subscribe to get notified of our next rehearsal session! Support The Rehearsal Room on Patreon - get early access to sessions (before they go public on YouTube and the podcast), priority with asking questions, and more: https://www.patreon.com/wajpodcast Watch the session on YouTube : https://youtu.be/Lv9Rs26SJRw About the Scene Our group is working on sections of Act 2, Scene 2 and Act 3, Scene 2...

The Rehearsal Room has been our successful workshop series beginning in June 2020 - and now it's time for something different! For the first time, I'll be releasing the weekly rehearsal sessions on YouTube for ALL to enjoy. The goal here is to reach more actors, artists, and theatre lovers who would benefit from: a deeper examination of material insight into how the collaborative process brings a...

Reed Birney played Uncle Vanya at SoHo Rep in 2012 in a translation by Annie Baker, with a cast that also included Michael Shannon. He joined us in December 2021 to discuss the character in depth. You'll hear Reed and I talk about: his ideas going into Chekhov what he discovered and connected with about the role trusting the script challenges in the production and playing trapped characters We als...

This is a wonderful follow up to our Chekhov workshop from last episode with an even deeper discussion with the director! You'll hear Libby and I talk about what she looks for in auditions , what she expects in rehearsals , her inspirations , what things went well, what scared her, and yes, we have another lighting round! Libby Appel is the author and translator of Five Chekhov Plays , the former...

We have our first workshop scene NOT from Shakespeare, and there's a great reason! From October 2021 , we present a deep dive into the first half of Act 2 from Chekhov's Uncle Vanya with director Libby Appel - who wrote the translation along with our dramaturg! Uncle Vanya - excerpt of Act 2 DIRECTOR: Libby Appel ( Q&A ) DRAMATURG: Allison Horsley VOICE: Ursula Meyer PROFESSOR: Alberto Isaac ( int...

Geoffrey has played Dogberry twice , at very different times in his life, and finds it's a fascinating character to dissect. He first performed it as a student at Amherst College and then again at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park. You'll hear Geoffrey and I talk about rehearsals, preconceived ideas, and discoveries . How to ground characters that seem eccentric, bizarre or over the top , and how t...

We have another "all pro" group—all the actors in the scene are professionals, so the work has been so fun and rich! Our dramaturg Philippa said that she found it so mind-blowingly good how fully the actors and director jumped into this scene, that it's not something she usually experiences—and I don't think I could have said it better myself. In the scene today, Silvius tries in vain to get an an...

Today's guest grew up on a tiny island in the Caribbean , studied fashion and dance in New York , often felt like she never had the right background or training , and yet found success in several careers. Veralyn Jones  is an award-winning actress who has been working professionally for over 30 years across theatre, film and TV. She has worked at The Denver Center, South Coast Repertory, Mark Tape...

Today's guest grew up in the Philippines , fell in love with movies as a kid, found validation through acting, pursued his master's degree, got fired from a big break , and still has been working for over five decades! Alberto Isaac  has been working for 50+ years across theatre, TV, and film. In addition to regional theatre gigs across the country, he has enjoyed a long association with East West...

Today's guest started in the theatre at a very young age ,  felt adrift and wasn't exactly sure  what he'd do as a young man, and ended up  working for years at some of the best theatres  in the country. Jamie Newcomb  has performed in over 60 Shakespeare plays and 75 other productions. He worked for 14 seasons at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, is a founding company member of Shakespeare & Compa...

Marcelo shares how he approaches a voiceover audition for a video game. We look at what direction and description is initially provided and then how to use your instincts to create your own performance rather than going for an impersonation. You'll hear the actual audition Marcelo sent in and we also get into dealing with rejection and booking jobs. Click here for full show notes and links.   More...

Marcelo was born in Argentina , moved to LA at a young age,  felt very lost with his career , almost  quit after his first TV role , and eventually booked a job that  changed his life . Plus, we get a quick look at Marcelo's process with a  voiceover audition for a video game , and you'll hear what he sent in! It was fascinating to hear about the many ups and downs, and all the relationships, ment...

Elizabeth shares her approach to working on Shakespeare, which includes what the number of syllables can tell you, the thought igniter exercise, the first question to ask, and more. Plus we chat about the difference in performing a monologue in an audition vs a show. Learn more about our April Shakespeare workshop with Randall Duk Kim and Annie Occhiogrosso Macbeth's dagger speech (Act 2, Sc 1) Is...

We discuss her very humble beginnings , her dad Brian Dennehy and his career struggles, deciding her family was a priority , working even more when she was pregnant , and helping other actors . Plus, we get another mini-Shakespeare class where Elizabeth dives into a piece from Macbeth ! She's been an audition coach for years, and has also helped many students with their college auditions, so you'l...

We're back for Season 5 of The Working Actor's Journey! We've got five more amazing interviews headed your way over the coming months; you'll hear: coming to America stories the realities and hardships of working in New York and LA and what it's like with parents who were in the biz. Professional actors speak about feeling adrift, lack of confidence, and full blown-panic attacks . These guests hav...

For today's episode, we're bringing you the second half of the Repertory workshop featuring Shakespeare's Twelfth Night In the fist scene: Viola (as Cesario), is on her way to see Olivia, and encounters first the Fool Feste and then Sir Toby and Sir Andrew. Olivia, meeting Cesario, sends the others away and declares her love. Then in our second scene - Malvolio, who (according to the mischievous l...