Missy | July 31, 2002
Final monologues were last night. They were performed for all of the Actors Process classes, plus Studio faculty (including Joy Zinomen). I was kind of in a panic, but when I got up there, I suddenly remembered how to channel my nervous energy, and I gave the best performance of my monologue to date. My whole class did great, and our teacher was very proud of and happy for us. Some of the other classes had some great monologues as well….one extremely funny one dealt with a woman at a funeral and she couldn’t cry for the deceased, but it prompted her to reminisce about her dead cat, and let me assure you, she was hilarious. I may even consider stealing that monologue–if I can find it–and using it sometime. I also recognized a couple of David Mamet monologues, one from Oleanna and another from American Buffalo.
Afterwards, the teachers consulted and our teacher gave us notes & recommendations. Because Studio is not a full-time conservatory, in that you don’t have say, a semester or two of voice & movement classes before you ever get to the “acting” classes, students are encouraged to take “tools” classes, like voice, movement, improv, and Alexander technique, the latter which was recommended to me, though I can also move on to the next level of acting class as well. It’s funny, I first heard of the Alexander technique in junior high and didn’t understand it (though I could’ve used some training in it. I play the flute–well, not so much anymore, but I used to very seriously, studying with college professors for several years and whatnot–and I have always had the tendency to essentially tense up while simultaneously losing some control over my body, so to speak. Anyone who knows me probably sees that I tend to overly gesticulate when I talk.) I figured it had something to do with posture, which is true, but it also teaches musicians, athletes, and actors how to use their bodies efficiently.
So here’s the thing: do I want to spend the money, and a lot of time (the next acting class, Principles of Realism, is a no bullshit class, and there’s probably a great deal of time spent outside of class in rehearsal), not to mention studying with a really tough teacher for the PoR class (I don’t know if my skin is that thick) and keep pursuing this? I don’t know. I do know I’ve had a lot of fun so far, and at the very least, the Alexander technique could be very beneficial to me. Hmm.
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