The Working Actor's Journey

For today's episode, we're bringing you the second half of the Repertory workshop featuring Shakespeare's Twelfth Night The first scene includes almost everyone at Olivia's house, some great exchanges with the Fool, and then the meeting of Olivia and Viola, who is disguised as Orsino's servant Cesario. Then the following scene has Orsino with Viola (disguised) who expresses her love for Orsino thr...

OK, there is a lot going on with this scene, so let's attempt to summarize! Queen Elizabeth and the Duchess of York (Richard's mother) are grieving over their children and grandchildren. Former Queen Margaret secretly watches, and then comes forward to share they are not the only ones who've suffered. King Richard is passing by with his army, and the Duchess gives him a piece of her mind. Finally...

In this scene, Hamlet's friends from school, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, have just arrived and the King and Queen ask them to find out what's going on with Hamlet. A short while later, Hamlet enter reading and is greeted by Polonius before Ros and Guil join us. DIRECTOR: Gigi Bermingham DRAMATURG: Gideon Rappaport HAMLET: Kwana Martinez POLONIUS: Seth David Mitchell ROSENCRANTZ: Max Herzfeld GUI...

This is the final section of the play right to the end. As Bassanio, Gratiano, and Antonio all return home after the trial with Shylock, Portia and Nerissa decide to play one final trick on their partners. And it's important to remember this is actually the first time Antonio—who is such close friends with Bassanio—meets Portia (as herself, not the disguised lawyer). DIRECTOR: Brendon Fox DRAMATUR...

A fantastic scene workshop from Shakespeare's  As You Like It from April 2021. After only a few weeks of work, the cast and director continue to work on and discuss the process. Part of The Rehearsal Room series. In this scene, we first meet Rosalind and Celia, and have only recently learned that Rosalind's father has been banished by Celia's father, the Duke. The two women attempt to dissuade Orl...

A fantastic scene workshop from Shakespeare's  King John  from February 2021. After only a few weeks of work, the cast and director continue to work on and discuss the process. Part of The Rehearsal Room series. This is the very opening of the play—where we learn of the conflict over the throne between England and France, and then there is a dispute between two brothers brought before the King. On...

A fantastic scene workshop from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar from February 2021. After only a few weeks of work, the cast and director continue to work on and discuss the process. Part of The Rehearsal Room series. DIRECTOR: Geoffrey Wade DRAMATURG: Gideon Rappaport BRUTUS: Peter Van Norden CASSIUS: Elizabeth Dennehy CASCA: Howard Leder Prefer to watch the session?  Find it here on YouTube! -- Clic...

A fantastic workshop of two scenes from Shakespeare's As You Like It . Enjoy the scene after only a few weeks of work and then the cast and director discuss the process! DIRECTOR: Elizabeth Swain ROSALIND: Aubrey Saverino CELIA: Meaghan Boeing Prefer to watch the session?  Find it here on YouTube! -- Click here to grab an audience spot  for our upcoming  CHEKHOV session  in The Rehearsal Room with...

A fantastic workshop of the lover's quarrel from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream . Enjoy the scene after a month of work and then the cast, director, and dramaturg discuss the process! DIRECTOR: James Newcomb DRAMATURG: Gideon Rappaport HELENA: Anne Gee Byrd HERMIA: Maggi Veltre DEMETRIUS: Michael Kirby LYSANDER: Garrett Botts Prefer to watch the session?  Find it here on YouTube! -- Click...

A fantastic workshop of two scenes from Shakespeare's King Lear , featuring Tony Amendola as Lear (he played the part @ Utah Shakes) and Elizabeth Dennehy (yup, Brian's daughter!) as Goneril in Act 1, scene 4 (Lear curses) and Act 2, scene 4 (Lear is broken down). Director: Geoffrey Wade Dramaturg: Gideon Rappaport Lear: Tony Amendola Goneril: Elizabeth Dennehy Regan: Maggi Veltre Prefer to watch...

It's our very first workshop presentation—from June 2020, featuring Tony Amendola as Richard and Anne Gee Byrd as Margaret in Act 1, scene 1 ("Now is the winter...") and Act 4, scene 4 (curses everywhere)! This is where our virtual workshops all began, and the work is still fantastic. Don't miss it and our wonderful additional artists: Directors: Geoffrey Wade and Gigi Bermingham Dramaturg: Gideon...

Today I'm excited to share a "vocal clinic" we did as part of The Rehearsal Room with certified Fitzmaurice Voicework teacher, Scott Ferrara! This is something very new to me, so I was excited to learn directly from a teacher, and as you hear, this work can be very different (and still quite beneficial) to the "traditional" voice warm-ups you may know. There are also many personal applications to...

We have another special episode today from the vault of scene presentations! From our October 2020 workshop , it's the final evening of "Will you walk in, my lord?" from Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida . And if you enjoy this, know that registration is now OPEN for our next workshop series in April 2021! Plus, save 20% with our Early BARD discount through Sunday, March 21st . Learn more and joi...

Today we have a great discussion with another often overlooked role in the theatre: the voice coach! Similar to a dramaturg, one of the primary roles of this coach and teacher is to help make the text clear —that means both in how you deliver the words and also taking care of your instrument! Ursula Meyer  is currently the head of graduate acting at UCSD. She has had the privilege of studying voic...

Today I answer many of your questions about The Working Actor's Shakespeare virtual workshops; our next round happens Jan 18 - Feb 12, 2021, so this is the FINAL WEEK to register! I'll cover what to know, including experience, schedule, unlimited pass, union status, scholarships, and more! Grab your spot now » https://workingactorsjourney.com/virtual-workshops Deadline for ACTORS to register is TO...

Please enjoy this special episode from our vault! From August 2020, we're releasing the final workshop presentation of "Clarence's Dream and Murder" from Richard III . We're doing this for a couple reasons: 1) it's such fantastic work and I'm sure you'll learn something, and 2) registration is now OPEN for our next workshop in January 2021! Learn more and join The Working Actor's Shakespeare now!...

BEN WHITEHAIR RETURNS for a great discussion! I am thrilled to welcome Ben back to the show—we did this Q&A as part of the  October virtual workshops. We chat about the pandemic, social media trends, SAG-AFTRA, and more! Ben (@benwhitehair, who appeared on ep. 11) is the co-founder of Working. Actor, co-founder of The Social Media Advantage (TSMA), and Chair of the SAG-AFTRA NextGen Performers Com...

Today we have a great discussion with an often overlooked role in the theatre: the dramaturg! And if you're wondering exactly what that person does, you're in the right place! Gideon Rappaport is San Diego's premiere Shakespearean dramaturg and is the author of the forthcoming book A Shakespeare Companion for Students . For the October workshops, he's collaborating with the casts on two scenes, fr...

We're doing the virtual Shakespeare workshops again in October! Plus, hear an excerpt from the rehearsals of Richard III ! The future of Shakespeare scene study is here: we're running a 4-week accelerated online workshop with professional actors and directors from theatre, TV, and film! Join the ONLY Shakespeare Scene Study where professionals and lifelong veterans of the industry are your scene p...

What if your scene partner were a professional actor? How might that up your game and what might you learn from someone who has been working for decades? Now you can make that happen! We're opening up registration on Wednesday, July 22nd at 12 pm Pacific Time for a series of virtual Shakespeare Workshops to happen in August 2020. Learn more about the workshops! Our roster of professional actors in...

You're invited to sit in on a NEW online event happening LIVE on Thursday, June 18th : we're doing an open workshop of Shakespeare's Richard III, bringing together both veteran and rookie actors! There's limited space, so register for the workshop today: workingactorsjourney.com/virtualworkshop First up are a couple of scenes from Shakespeare's Richard III with Tony Amendola (Utah Shakespeare, Ber...

Today you'll hear the FULL production from our recent LIVESTREAM reading of Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor ( more info and watch the show here ). It's an all-star cast of past guests from the podcast, including Harry Groener, Dawn Didawick, Peter Van Norden, Anne Gee Byrd, Tony Amendola and many more! For this "Merry Wives" episode, you'll hear our introduction to the play, a great secti...

Things went very well with our first reading, so welcome to the "Much Ado About Something" series, as we all do our part to fight this pandemic and stay entertained at the same time. Next up is our online reading of William Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor with an all-star cast of past guests from this podcast. This is a wonderfully underrated comedy, with lots of great characters! The bro...

Today you'll hear some excerpted scenes from our recent LIVESTREAM reading of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing ( more info and watch the show here ). It's an all-star cast of past guests from the podcast, including Dakin Matthews, Robert Pine, Geoffrey Wade, Anne Gee Byrd, Alan Mandell and many more! And if you enjoy this, we're doing another LIVE reading you can WATCH on May 14th at 3 pm PT -...

In these times of much ado about SOMETHING, you're invited to an online Shakespeare reading of Much Ado About Nothing with an all-star cast of past podcast guests! The broadcast will be April 2nd at 3 pm Pacific / 6 pm Eastern , and yes, you can WATCH all of this too. Head over here to get all the details and to set a reminder for when we go live! We have an incredible cast, all with very deep the...