In this interview with Katie, Sara Kohler talks about the Meisner Summer Intensive at the Maggie Flanigan Studio.
The Meisner Intensive provides students together with the chance to experience what it means to train as an expert actor. In this interview, Sara talks about her expertise in the six-week summer intensive and how it was different than what she formerly believed the professional training was like.
Q: What did you think acting training was the Six Week Summer Intensive, before you started?
A: I though that acting training was a lot of what I did in school. I didnt believe it was essential for me personally. I didnt know what training actually meant and so coming here, and learning the beginning of the Meisner technique, I began to realize that training was nothing that I believed it was. I ‘d no technique and I didnt understand what I was doing. Coming here Ive started to learn the way to work and I learned so much.
Q: What occurred during the Meisner Summer Intensive that changed your perspective on training?
A: I had been merely always waiting for my cue and saying a line the way that I believed Id done homework on and that it had been rehearsed by me and actually I did know how to do assignments, which can be insane. Merely thinking back to the summertime, how far Ive come is astonishing and it really, truly altered my entire life.
Q: What happened throughout the Six Week Meisner Intensive that you learned about yourself that altered you or you surprised?
A: Things came easy for me personally and I was surprised to realize and come to the judgment that everything I had ever done was bad and perhaps in high school and college I was among the greater men and women in the program and I was always cast as the lead. I was surprised to think back on those characters that Ive realized and played that I ‘d no clue what I had been doing. With the Meisner technique you really start to understand what its like to craft and develop a situation and a character, I didnt have a technique, I didnt discover how to even prepare to get a role and I didnt have training and live through something. I had been so shocked and its laughable to look at the items that I did before this. Its difficult for me to believe that I have been seen by people and its embarrassing to be quite genuine.
This site post and interview with Sara first appeared on the studio site: http://ift.tt/1lL3aqs
The Meisner Summer Intensive West Philadelphia is a six-week, 18 class acting program that provides students the opportunity to get the beginning third of Meisner’s first year of Meisner Technique training. There are many summer intensive programs that actors can choose from in the Philadelphia Pa area. If you are in Philadelphia, you can sign up for a fun two months of theater games and pats on the back. You will finish not knowing a thing about the craft of acting, nor possess any understanding of the art form. If you are interested in truly doing something substantial with your summer, and want to spend your money wisely you must first know what you want, and then do your due diligence to seek it out the most qualified and reputable Meisner Summer Intensive.
To find a Six-Week Meisner Summer Intensive West Philadelphia that will accurately and passionately teach you the first two months of the Meisner Technique, you should be clear about what to look for. The complete progression of Meisner training, if taught properly, takes a full two years to implement. What starts with simple repetition evolves over first year into a very deep, and sophisticated improvisational exercise that encompasses all the fundamentals of acting. If you are seriously interested in becoming an exceptional actor, and are trying to discover what true professional actor training is, then finding a six-week Meisner summer intensive will answer many questions.
What distinguishes the Maggie Flanigan Studio is our belief that a brief summer course can actually teach and provide something of value. A great deal can be gained with six weeks of hard, dedicated work.
Our Meisner Technique summer session approaches class with the same high standards expected of our conservatory students. Twelve classes are dedicated to establishing a better understanding of the Meisner Technique fundamentals, while also teaching our students the importance of simple, specific, and personal crafting. The last two weeks will be spent applying this work to scenes. Although six weeks is an incredibly short time, we will still challenge our students to discover the freedom and originality that comes from truly breaking free from the issues that plague untrained, hack actors: adjusting to the text, general crafting, waiting for cues, line readings, and an inability to listen or work in a free and spontaneous way.
Who Should Apply For The Program?
Meisner Summer Intensive West Philadelphia PA – Students Observe Scenes
1. The program was created for students who have completed or are currently enrolled in an undergraduate program.
The summer program was created to provide currently enrolled, or those who have completed their undergraduate degree with an understanding about the real professional training necessary to be a serious actor and artist. Most undergraduates understand they still don’t yet possess the craft and technique necessary. This ultimately requires 2-3 years of immersive training. In our Meisner Summer Intensive, the student-actor will come away knowing what professional actor training is, why the Meisner Technique is the healthiest, most creative way to train organic actors.
2. Actors who thrive in small studio classes with other students who are serious and committed, should register for this program.
An undergraduate theater department is dominated by students who are merely curious about acting, trying to get an easy A, or just plain lazy. If you are passionate about acting and know that a life without it would be soul crushing, then you have been longing for a place that will surround you with like-minded people. We accept 14-18 students per class and there are only three classes. Charlie Sandlan interviews everyone personally and has built the studio’s reputation by only accepting passionate, hard working students.
3. Ambitious actors who want to spend their summer doing something substantial and challenging should attend this program.
It’s daunting to sift through the dozens and dozens of acting classes in NYC. So many claim to offer something of real value. If you are reading this, then you are trying not to make a bad choice. Our Six-Week Meisner Intensive is not for those looking to merely have some summer fun playing theater games and getting told that what you are doing is good. You had enough of that in high school and college. If you are serious, then you are craving constructive criticism, craving the challenge of artistic struggle, and hoping to find a place with an incredibly high standard for you to strive to meet. This studio and the training of Charlie Sandlan and his faculty will give that to you. What you attain from hard work, no one can ever take away.
Why Attend a Meisner Summer Intensive?
Understand that you cannot learn how to act in six weeks. It takes two to three years of immersive training. But an excellent Six-Week Meisner Summer Intensive should leave you with a true understanding of acting as an art form, the importance of artistry and hard work, a real understanding of what professional training and a serious studio is, and a deeper appreciation for the fundamentals of listening, crafting, and spontaneity with text.
Here are three things that any professional six-week meisner summer intensive should accomplish.
What Can I Learn in Six Weeks?
Meisner Summer Intensive West Philadelphia – most students thrive n small studio classes
1. Listening And Personal Point Of View
Most amateur and untrained actors do not listen. They wait for their cues, ready to “act their lines” at whoever happens to be on stage or camera with them. The core fundamental of good acting, the bedrock upon which technique is built, is the ability to truly listen. The beginning third of Meisner training addresses this immediately. You will learn how to be truly present, out of your head, curious and open, beginning the process of chiseling away the defenses that keep you from true vulnerability. This will lead you towards something essential for any serious actor: discovering the organic, spontaneous impulse. The early repetition removes the anxiety of thinking of something to say, freeing the student to function from their spontaneity, rooting them in the present moment. In life we miss moments all the time, we can easily get lost in thought or distracted. If that happens on stage or on camera, it can derail an entire scene. A professional six-week Meisner intensive will help you better understand and function from these fundamental principles.
Another essential aspect of any true artist is their ability to create from their personal point of view. It’s what separates one artist from the next, in any medium. For the actor, this means possessing the ability to respond personally, sacrificing politeness for truth. That is incredibly difficult, because we are rarely truthful in life, except for our very intimate relationships where trust has been established. The actor however must respond personally in every moment. The beginning of the Meisner technique teaches the actor to find the courage to be truthful. It is the goal of any real artist.
2. Crafting And The Imagination
Constantin Stanislavski, who founded the Moscow Art Theater in the 1920’s, is credited as the father of organic acting. Prior to his work, acting was very presentational and stylized. His work was rooted in the belief that good acting was truly living and breathing the part. Meisner’s definition of acting is rooted in this principle: acting is the ability to do truthfully under an imaginary circumstance. Most untrained actors indicate or pretend. The first two months of the Meisner Technique teach the student a very important thing called actors faith. It’s the ability to accept as real what you have crafted. In this first two months of the work, you will learn how to begin crafting. How to use your imagination to pin down a previous circumstance that compels you to do something, is a fundamental skill. The simplicity, specificity, and personal meaning with which you craft are what will allow you to create vivid behavior.
3. Freedom And Sponteneity With Text
When Meisner taught his acting classes, he knew that his exercise work would only have true value if his students could take what they were learning and apply it to scenes. Any true six-week Meisner intensive should end with scene work. In First Year, students do three rounds of scenes, each round challenging students to apply everything they are learning to text. After four weeks of getting out of your head, onto your spontaneous impulses, responding personally in every moment, and crafting simply and personally, the last two weeks of the intensive culminates in first round scenes. Actors have misconceptions about acting based on the film, TV, and theater they have consumed. Bad habits form: line readings, adjusting to the text, waiting for your cues, not going from unanticipated moment to unanticipated moment, or subverting your inner life to fit a line. These are marks of a hack actor. You will discover how to use your instincts and your spontaneous organic impulses to truly improvise with freedom and authenticity. It is the beginning of becoming an actor who works in a truly original and vivid way; an artist dedicated to craft.
Apply for the Meisner Summer Intensive West Philadelphia
Meisner Summer Intensive West Philadelphia PA – Apply (215) 600-1669
Actors and students who are interested in the Meisner Summer Intensive West Philadelphia program should contact the studio to get started with their application. Admission to the studio is based on your interview with the Executive director, Charlie Sandlan. For more information about the Meisner Summer Intensive West Philadelphia, call the studio today at (215) 600-1669.
Meisner Summer Intensive West Philadelphia 2017 Maggie Flanigan
Meisner Summer Intensive Training West Philadelphia PA
Meisner Studio Philadelphia provides Meisner Technique training for actors and students in the Philadelphia area: West Philadelphia, Avenue of the Arts, Callowhill, Chinatown, Elfreth’s Alley, French Quarter, Logan Square, Naval Square, Jewelers’ Row, Market East, Old City, Museum District, Penn Center, Rittenhouse Square, Fitler Square, Penn’s Landing, Society Hill, South Street, Washington Square West, Midtown Village, South Philadelphia, Bella Vista, Central South Philadelphia, Devil’s Pocket, East Passyunk, East Passyunk Crossing, Franklin Delano Roosevelt Park, Girard Estate, Greenwich, Grays Ferry, Hawthorne, Italian Market, Little Saigon, Lower Moyamensing, Marconi Plaza, Moyamensing, Newbold, Packer Park, Passyunk Square, Pennsport, Two Street, Point Breeze, Queen Village, Schuylkill, Sports Complex, Tasker, Wharton, Whitman, Wilson Park, West Passyunk, Southwark, Graduate Hospital, West Philadelphia, Angora, Bartram Village, Clearview, Kingsessing, Eastwick, Elmwood Park, Hedgerow, Mount Moriah, Paschall, Penrose, Southwest Schuylkill, West Philadelphia, West Philly, Belmont Village, Carroll Park, Cathedral Park, Cedar Park, Centennial District, Dunlap, Garden Court, Haddington, Haverford North, Mantua, Mill Creek, Overbrook, Overbrook Park, Overbrook Farms, Parkside, Powelton Village, Saunders Park, Spruce Hill, Squirrel Hill, University City, Walnut Hill, Woodland Terrace, Wynnefield Heights, Lower North Philadelphia, Brewerytown, Cecil B. Moore, Hartranft, Ludlow, Poplar, Sharswood, Spring Garden, Stanton, Strawberry Mansion, Yorktown, Fairmount, Northern Liberties, Upper North Philadelphia, Allegheny West, Fairhill, Glenwood, Hunting Park, Nicetown-Tioga, Bridesburg, Fishtown, Harrowgate, Kensington, Port Richmond, Andorra, East Falls, Wissahickon, Roxborough, Manayunk, Chestnut Hill, Mount Airy, Germantown, Morton, Wister, Cedarbrook, East Oak Lane, Feltonville, Fern Rock, Koreatown, Logan, Melrose Park, Ogontz, Olney, West Oak Lane, Northeast Philadelphia, Burholme, Castor Garden, Crescentville, Fox Chase, Frankford, Holmesburg, Juniata, Lawncrest, Lawndale, Lexington Park, Mayfair, Northwood, Oxford Circle, Rhawnhurst, Ryers, Tacony, Wissinoming, Academy Gardens, Ashton-Woodenbridge, Bustleton, Byberry, Crestmont Farms, Krewstown, Millbrook, Modena Park, Morrell Park, Normandy, Parkwood, Pennypack, Somerton, Torresdale, Upper Holmesburg, Winchester Park
Learn more about the Meisner Summer Intensive West Philadelphia, acting classes and acting programs at Meisner Studio Philadelphia by clicking here: http://ift.tt/2r9PVFp
Acting Studio Southwest Philadelphia – Meisner Studio Phildelphia
The Acting Studio Southwest Philadelphia was founded to fill a substantial gap in American actor training. The studio is rooted in the belief that a rigorous and inspiring conservatory-based training program should remain small, intimate, and nurturing while challenging students to meet the highest professional expectations. The Maggie Flanigan Studio was started with Maggie’s reputation as the clearest and most definitive teacher of Sanford Meisner’s technique, and has evolved over the last 15 years into the most respected professional actor training program in the United States.
Professional Training Includes Integrity
Lead now by Charlie Sandlan, the Maggie Flanigan Studio has assembled an exceptional faculty with the experience and integrity to carry Maggie’s vision and high standards to a new generation of aspiring artists. Our conservatory program has one goal: to produce a complete artist; actors who possess the skill, craft, and education necessary to work well into their 40’s, 50’s and 60’s. We accomplish this with a curriculum that goes beyond the acting class. Movement, Voice & Speech, Theater History, Film History, Anatomy For Actors, Script Analysis, Film & TV, Monologue, Shakespeare, and Cold Reading develop actors who can compete with those graduating from the top MFA programs in the country. And our Business Class, led by Emmy-nominated producer (HBO documentary Casting By), casting director, and actor Kate Lacey prepare our actors for the professional expectations of the business.
Talented Actors Need Technique
Acting Studio Southwest Philadelphia – Meisner Studio Phildelphia 215-600-1669
Talent is important, but it is not nearly enough. To build a successful career, the best artists in all mediums have a solid technique that becomes second nature and serves as the floorboard for their talent. It’s this belief that has given the Maggie Flanigan Studio the reputation for producing well-trained, professional actors who can craft a role. Trained actors know how to create rich, organic, and experiential behavior, consistently. But equally important, our actors also possess a strong work ethic, an inviolate sense of truth, and a passion for the art of acting: qualities we believe to be essential for a successful and respected acting career.
Maggie Flanigan:
Artistic Director, Founder of the Studio
Acting Studio Southwest Philadelphia – Maggie Flanigan
Maggie trained as an actor and teacher of the Meisner work with William Esper and quickly became one of the most revered teachers at his studio. At Rutgers University, she served with particular distinction on the faculty of the Professional Actor Training Program at Mason Gross School of the Arts for eighteen years. There, she co-taught the acting classes in the MFA Acting Program and worked with the University/Resident Theatre Association auditions. She also co-directed the NYC & L.A. industry showcases.
“Acting at its best is a creative, transformational art. Actors must work incredibly hard in order to master their acting instrument. I opened this studio determined to provide what was lacking in American actor training: a small, intimate, and nurturing home for serious actors to sharpen their skills and solidify their craft. The work at my studio is rooted in the technique of Sanford Meisner combined with my experience teaching the work for over thirty-five years. If you want to be taken seriously as an actor, dedicate yourself to mastering the craft.”
Charlie Sandlan:
Executive Director, Head of Acting
Acting Studio Southwest Philadelphia – Charlie Sandlan
Charlie’s unique relationship with Maggie Flanigan began nearly twenty years ago. He received his MFA in acting from Rutgers University, Mason Gross School Of The Arts where Maggie and Bill Esper trained him in the Meisner technique. In 2005, after acting and teaching in LA, Charlie returned to NYC, deciding to commit himself to mastering the teaching of Meisner’s work. For the next decade at Maggie’s side, Charlie immersed himself in the art of teaching, mentored by the most respected Meisner teacher in the United States.
“I believe in the actor as artist. I am not interested in pop-culture superficiality. Art is about truth, and this must be the pursuit of any serious actor. It takes incredible courage to function from the human heart. Our goal is to train and nurture actors who value artistry, understand the importance of a developed body and voice, embrace work-ethic and self-discipline, and possess a desire to illuminate humanity in all its aspects. This requires craft. The job of the actor is to create behavior, and the Maggie Flanigan Studio believes the best actors do this organically and truthfully from genuine experience. We are a home for serious actors who want to play full out with themselves and seize the opportunity to live up to their fullest artistic potential.”
Our Meisner Acting Studio provides professional acting classes Philadelphia for actors and students from all areas of Philadelphia including: Southwest Philadelphia, Avenue of the Arts, Callowhill, Chinatown, Elfreth’s Alley, French Quarter, Logan Square, Naval Square, Jewelers’ Row, Market East, Old City, Museum District, Penn Center, Rittenhouse Square, Fitler Square, Penn’s Landing, Society Hill, South Street, Washington Square West, Midtown Village, South Philadelphia, Bella Vista, Central South Philadelphia, Devil’s Pocket, East Passyunk, East Passyunk Crossing, Franklin Delano Roosevelt Park, Girard Estate, Greenwich, Grays Ferry, Hawthorne, Italian Market, Little Saigon, Lower Moyamensing, Marconi Plaza, Moyamensing, Newbold, Packer Park, Passyunk Square, Pennsport, Two Street, Point Breeze, Queen Village, Schuylkill, Sports Complex, Tasker, Wharton, Whitman, Wilson Park, West Passyunk, Southwark, Graduate Hospital, Southwest Philadelphia, Angora, Bartram Village, Clearview, Kingsessing, Eastwick, Elmwood Park, Hedgerow, Mount Moriah, Paschall, Penrose, Southwest Schuylkill, West Philadelphia, West Philly, Belmont Village, Carroll Park, Cathedral Park, Cedar Park, Centennial District, Dunlap, Garden Court, Haddington, Haverford North, Mantua, Mill Creek, Overbrook, Overbrook Park, Overbrook Farms, Parkside, Powelton Village, Saunders Park, Spruce Hill, Squirrel Hill, University City, Walnut Hill, Woodland Terrace, Wynnefield Heights, Lower North Philadelphia, Brewerytown, Cecil B. Moore, Hartranft, Ludlow, Poplar, Sharswood, Spring Garden, Stanton, Strawberry Mansion, Yorktown, Fairmount, Northern Liberties, Upper North Philadelphia, Allegheny West, Fairhill, Glenwood, Hunting Park, Nicetown-Tioga, Bridesburg, Fishtown, Harrowgate, Kensington, Port Richmond, Andorra, East Falls, Wissahickon, Roxborough, Manayunk, Chestnut Hill, Mount Airy, Germantown, Morton, Wister, Cedarbrook, East Oak Lane, Feltonville, Fern Rock, Koreatown, Logan, Melrose Park, Ogontz, Olney, West Oak Lane, Northeast Philadelphia, Burholme, Castor Garden, Crescentville, Fox Chase, Frankford, Holmesburg, Juniata, Lawncrest, Lawndale, Lexington Park, Mayfair, Northwood, Oxford Circle, Rhawnhurst, Ryers, Tacony, Wissinoming, Academy Gardens, Ashton-Woodenbridge, Bustleton, Byberry, Crestmont Farms, Krewstown, Millbrook, Modena Park, Morrell Park, Normandy, Parkwood, Pennypack, Somerton, Torresdale, Upper Holmesburg, Winchester Park
Actors can benefit a great deal from an acting coach Southwest Philadelphia, as long as they are open to the process. Receiving more individualized attention from an acting teacher or private acting coach can be a rigorous process that strips away many of an actor’s preconceived notions of their skills. Even more challenging, the job of an acting coach is to get to the the very bottom of the actor as a person, look into and listen for their deepest notions of who they are as a human being and begin to draw this out to use in the development of a character.
The Best Acting Coach Southwest Philadelphia Instills Trust and Security
Acting Coach Southwest Philadelphia – Maggie Flanigan Call 215-600-1669
An actor’s innermost thoughts and feelings can be difficult to expose to a larger class of actors. A good acting instructor and coach should create a safe space and know how to create a sense of trust so deep that the actor can risk the vulnerability needed to become a better actor. Serving as psychologist, part parent and coach, the definition of the word coach-to instruct or to train-is too limiting. When we think of coach or teacher we imagine a person talking, imparting knowledge, when in fact a good acting coach first will be an excellent “receiver.” They will be able to quickly assess body language, pick up cues in conversation, make accurate predictions about what an actor truly feels about many things.
A great acting coach will get a growing sense of who an actor is, determine set goals for how the actor can improve and then formulate a method for getting them there. They are masters of manipulation, pushing, guiding, breaking down and building up a student by twists and turns in a way that may sometimes seem brutal. This is one field where manipulation is not only accepted it is encouraged as long as the manipulation guides the actor to deeper more complex performances. An acting coach ultimately should be working constantly, every step of the way, to help the actor develop their unique voice and a successful method for getting to a deeper sense of a character more quickly.
A Private Acting Coach Knows How To Listen Deeply
Acting Coach Southwest Philadelphia – Maggie Flanigan with Sam Rockwell
The first sign that a coach is good is their ability to listen and assess. They must begin by listening to what an actor says about their goals, and look for clues about what the actor feels about their own ability. The next step is to assess the skills the student has and be completely honest about what it would take to achieve those goals. The coach may agree or disagree with the student’s self assessment but, their obligation is to be honest about that opinion. Then they should be willing and able to formulate a plan moving forward.
When the work begins, they must establish a bond with the student. Acting students, however, must also be careful not to simply choose someone they “like,” but, rather someone willing to push them into potentially uncomfortable places emotionally, while still feeling safe. A good acting coach and instructor should also be able to offer very specific methods, such as the Meisner technique, to build up an actor’s areas of weakness. An actor is very much like an athlete, needing to practice and continually grow throughout their entire career. Any actor who thinks they have “arrived” and no longer needs to learn something new is on a path to irrelevance. If they are not growing, they will not be able to successfully portray a character with any real sense of authenticity.
The Right Acting Coach is a Master Teacher
Best Acting Coach Southwest Philadelphia – Maggie Flanigan Call 215-600-1669
Finally, a necessary quality for any acting coach Philadelphia is an ability to encourage. An acting coach must be one part cheerleader, establishing for their client a belief that the hard work will pay off. That the work being done has an ultimate goal and that working together, they will get there. As they continue to move the goal posts, change up the expectations, set the bar higher, they should also be communicating in subtle ways that you will get there.
To learn more about the studio and how it can help you land your next part, call the studio and speak with Katie or Charlie. 215-600-1669. A private acting coach can help you prepare for your next role or audition.
Our Meisner Studio faculty includes acting coaches Southwest Philadelphia for serious students and working actors from all Philadelphia metro areas including: Southwest Philadelphia, Avenue of the Arts, Callowhill, Chinatown, Elfreth’s Alley, French Quarter, Logan Square, Naval Square, Jewelers’ Row, Market East, Old City, Museum District, Penn Center, Rittenhouse Square, Fitler Square, Penn’s Landing, Society Hill, South Street, Washington Square West, Midtown Village, South Philadelphia, Bella Vista, Central South Philadelphia, Devil’s Pocket, East Passyunk, East Passyunk Crossing, Franklin Delano Roosevelt Park, Girard Estate, Greenwich, Grays Ferry, Hawthorne, Italian Market, Little Saigon, Lower Moyamensing, Marconi Plaza, Moyamensing, Newbold, Packer Park, Passyunk Square, Pennsport, Two Street, Point Breeze, Queen Village, Schuylkill, Sports Complex, Tasker, Wharton, Whitman, Wilson Park, West Passyunk, Southwark, Graduate Hospital, Southwest Philadelphia, Angora, Bartram Village, Clearview, Kingsessing, Eastwick, Elmwood Park, Hedgerow, Mount Moriah, Paschall, Penrose, Southwest Schuylkill, West Philadelphia, West Philly, Belmont Village, Carroll Park, Cathedral Park, Cedar Park, Centennial District, Dunlap, Garden Court, Haddington, Haverford North, Mantua, Mill Creek, Overbrook, Overbrook Park, Overbrook Farms, Parkside, Powelton Village, Saunders Park, Spruce Hill, Squirrel Hill, University City, Walnut Hill, Woodland Terrace, Wynnefield Heights, Lower North Philadelphia, Brewerytown, Cecil B. Moore, Hartranft, Ludlow, Poplar, Sharswood, Spring Garden, Stanton, Strawberry Mansion, Yorktown, Fairmount, Northern Liberties, Upper North Philadelphia, Allegheny West, Fairhill, Glenwood, Hunting Park, Nicetown-Tioga, Bridesburg, Fishtown, Harrowgate, Kensington, Port Richmond, Andorra, East Falls, Wissahickon, Roxborough, Manayunk, Chestnut Hill, Mount Airy, Germantown, Morton, Wister, Cedarbrook, East Oak Lane, Feltonville, Fern Rock, Koreatown, Logan, Melrose Park, Ogontz, Olney, West Oak Lane, Northeast Philadelphia, Burholme, Castor Garden, Crescentville, Fox Chase, Frankford, Holmesburg, Juniata, Lawncrest, Lawndale, Lexington Park, Mayfair, Northwood, Oxford Circle, Rhawnhurst, Ryers, Tacony, Wissinoming, Academy Gardens, Ashton-Woodenbridge, Bustleton, Byberry, Crestmont Farms, Krewstown, Millbrook, Modena Park, Morrell Park, Normandy, Parkwood, Pennypack, Somerton, Torresdale, Upper Holmesburg, Winchester Park
When many actors hear the words Meisner Training Southwest Philadelphia, most refer back to the hodge-podge of repetition exercises from their college theater classes. Meisner training and repetition are indelibly linked, but unfortunately most teachers and actors have no clue about how the truly sophisticated technique that Sandy Meisner created should be taught.
The Truth About Meisner Training
Meisner Training Southwest Philadelphia – Meisner Studio Philadelphia – Call (215) 600-1669
The Meisner Technique, when taught as Sandy intended over two years, is the best way to not only ground actors with the fundamentals of the craft, but also instill the ability to break down a script, producing an actor who can create organic, vivid, human behavior consistently. When I see studio’s offering “Meisner Classes”, it’s often no more than two students standing across from each other for months on end, repeating mindlessly. I can’t tell you how many times I interview students who say they’ve had Meisner training. They haven’t.
The First Year of Meisner Training Southwest Philadelphia
Meisner Training Southwest Philadelphia – Students During the First Year of Meisner Training Program
Meisner’s first year teaches the student actor how to listen, how to respond personally from unanticipated moment to unanticipated moment, how to get out of your head and onto your spontaneous impulses, how to craft a previous circumstance, an acting relationship, a shared circumstance, how to emotionally prepare offstage, and how to be comfortable expressing the gamut of human experience: your rage, heartbreak, joy, silliness, humiliation, and embarrassment. And most importantly, since text is in fact the actor’s playground, first year Meisner training teaches you how to improvise with a script, how to avoid line readings, adjusting to the text, and the many other bad habits that prevent an actor from being authentic and original.
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Meisner Training Southwest Philadelphia and Character Development
Once the actor has developed a truthful instrument, grounded with an inviolate sense of truth and solid fundamental skill, the second year of the Meisner Technique focuses on character. How should a professional actor read a script for the first time? How do you prepare for rehearsal? How do you rehearse? How do you break down a script in order to catch the character and the unfolding of moments the way the playwright or screenwriter intended? This is not easy, and Meisner created a number of exercises for second year, including work with nursery rhymes and Edgar Lee Masters Spoon River Anthology, to help actors create impulses, justify text, and do actions. Reducing this incredible approach to training as mere Meisner classes is an insult to what he created and gave to the art form.
Learn More About Professional Meisner Training
If you are indeed serious about the craft of acting, and curious about the artistry required to be truly transformational, then I believe deeply that proper Meisner training is an incredible way to begin the journey.
Contact the Maggie Flanigan Studio today to learn more about the professional Meisner training at the studio, call (215) 600-1669.
Meisner Studio Philadelphia provides professional Meisner training and instruction for students and actors from these areas of Philadelphia: Southwest Philadelphia, Avenue of the Arts, Callowhill, Chinatown, Elfreth’s Alley, French Quarter, Logan Square, Naval Square, Jewelers’ Row, Market East, Old City, Museum District, Penn Center, Rittenhouse Square, Fitler Square, Penn’s Landing, Society Hill, South Street, Washington Square West, Midtown Village, South Philadelphia, Bella Vista, Central South Philadelphia, Devil’s Pocket, East Passyunk, East Passyunk Crossing, Franklin Delano Roosevelt Park, Girard Estate, Greenwich, Grays Ferry, Hawthorne, Italian Market, Little Saigon, Lower Moyamensing, Marconi Plaza, Moyamensing, Newbold, Packer Park, Passyunk Square, Pennsport, Two Street, Point Breeze, Queen Village, Schuylkill, Sports Complex, Tasker, Wharton, Whitman, Wilson Park, West Passyunk, Southwark, Graduate Hospital, Southwest Philadelphia, Angora, Bartram Village, Clearview, Kingsessing, Eastwick, Elmwood Park, Hedgerow, Mount Moriah, Paschall, Penrose, Southwest Schuylkill, West Philadelphia, West Philly, Belmont Village, Carroll Park, Cathedral Park, Cedar Park, Centennial District, Dunlap, Garden Court, Haddington, Haverford North, Mantua, Mill Creek, Overbrook, Overbrook Park, Overbrook Farms, Parkside, Powelton Village, Saunders Park, Spruce Hill, Squirrel Hill, University City, Walnut Hill, Woodland Terrace, Wynnefield Heights, Lower North Philadelphia, Brewerytown, Cecil B. Moore, Hartranft, Ludlow, Poplar, Sharswood, Spring Garden, Stanton, Strawberry Mansion, Yorktown, Fairmount, Northern Liberties, Upper North Philadelphia, Allegheny West, Fairhill, Glenwood, Hunting Park, Nicetown-Tioga, Bridesburg, Fishtown, Harrowgate, Kensington, Port Richmond, Andorra, East Falls, Wissahickon, Roxborough, Manayunk, Chestnut Hill, Mount Airy, Germantown, Morton, Wister, Cedarbrook, East Oak Lane, Feltonville, Fern Rock, Koreatown, Logan, Melrose Park, Ogontz, Olney, West Oak Lane, Northeast Philadelphia, Burholme, Castor Garden, Crescentville, Fox Chase, Frankford, Holmesburg, Juniata, Lawncrest, Lawndale, Lexington Park, Mayfair, Northwood, Oxford Circle, Rhawnhurst, Ryers, Tacony, Wissinoming, Academy Gardens, Ashton-Woodenbridge, Bustleton, Byberry, Crestmont Farms, Krewstown, Millbrook, Modena Park, Morrell Park, Normandy, Parkwood, Pennypack, Somerton, Torresdale, Upper Holmesburg, Winchester Park
3 Reasons: Why Study the Meisner Technique Southwest Philadelphia?
1. Meisner Trained Actors Create Fully Realized Human Behavior
In 1935, Sanford Meisner began his teaching career at the Neighborhood Playhouse and developed over many decades one of the most fool-proof ways of instilling actors with fundamental skill and technique. When taught accurately, the full two-year actor training should accomplish two things; year one creates a truthful acting instrument rooted in fundamentals, and year two teaches the actor how to read and interpret a script, break it down, and create a character.
Meisner Technique Southwest Philadelphia – Maggie Flanigan Teaching at the Studio
Most actors pretend and indicate. They do not listen; they wait for their cues, ready to “act” their line readings. The most important reason to immerse yourself in the Meisner technique is to develop your ability to truthfully do under an imaginary circumstance. That is where acting takes place. This means you must develop for yourself an inviolate sense of truth, and acquire the ability to respond personally from unanticipated moment to unanticipated moment.
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An actor must be able to listen truly. It is the bedrock of acting and is the seed for a truthful reality. Of all the characteristics of the Meisner actor, the ability to truly listen is the most significant. This requires the actor to have their attention off of themselves, out of their head, and onto their instinctive impulses, with the capacity to respond personally in every moment. This takes an acting instrument that is vulnerable and sensitized. This is another wonderful quality of a Meisner trained actor. We are all parented, socialized and educated, and have developed many ways to protect ourselves from being hurt or embarrassed. Those defenses must be chiseled away if you want to be an exceptional actor, one who can truly create vivid, organic human behavior. The Meisner Technique accomplishes this, but it cannot happen in six weeks or even six months.
The brilliance of the Meisner Technique is it instills these important fundamentals so that they are second nature. Meisner training, which begins as simple repetition, evolves into a very profound and sophisticated improvisational exercise that hones an actor’s ability to do truthfully.
2. Meisner Training Creates A Vulnerable And Emotionally Deep Actor
Many untrained actors can be confused or misinformed about the place of emotion in acting. Most amateurs or those poorly trained believe that the more emotion you have, the more talented you must be. This causes actors to be self-indulgent, with a compulsion to show an audience that they are alive, or strain and squeeze every last drop that is inside of them. The Meisner Technique, and particularly the first year work teaches the actor how to truly come to life in three different ways: through truly listening and taking personally what is being said to you, through truthfully doing, and finally through emotionally preparing off-stage to connect to a previous circumstance.
Meisner Technique Southwest Philadelphia – Meisner Studio Philadelphia (215) 600-1669
This is where Meisner made the biggest departure from the training created by Lee Strasberg, known as The Method. Meisner did not believe that actors needed to use literal past life experiences (sense memory or emotional recall), to manipulate themselves emotionally. He and many actors found it uncreative and unhealthy. The Meisner Technique teaches the actor how to prepare off-stage through the power of imagination and daydreaming emotionally. Harnessing what we already do in life spontaneously to craft is a very powerful part of the Meisner actor’s skill. Throughout the nine months of first-year work, and actor becomes keenly aware of the difference between quality vs. quantity when it comes to emotion. The fluidity of emotion is the mark of a well-trained Meisner actor; one who understands that inner life must ebb and flow from moment to moment.
3. The Meisner Technique Teaches Actors How To Be Spontaneous
When Meisner was teaching the Meisner Technique, he understood that his exercise work had no value if it could not be applied to scenes. Most actors, if they train at all, put together a hodge podge of workshops and scene study classes, which leave many feeling like they still don’t know what they are doing. Crafting is everything for an actor, and to consistently create truly vivid, organic, human behavior, it must happen in a simple, precise, and personal way. Any serious actor should know how to craft a previous circumstance, an acting relationship, shared circumstances, objective, and then pin down their actions. Meisner training instills this ability so that it is second nature, and then teaches you how to bring this to text with instincts, spontaneity, and freedom. Bad actors wait for their cues, and “act” at the other people on stage or camera. There is no real experience taking place.
Meisner Technique Philadelphia – Students Observing Scene Work
A trained Meisner actor knows how to be fully present, out of their head, connected personally to the issues of the character, with the capacity to respond personally in every moment. A Meisner actor does not adjust to the text, do line readings, or manipulate themselves emotionally to fit a line. They have the skill to subvert the text to their inner life rather than the other way around. Meisner actors do not practice how they say their lines, figuring out the best way to indicate what the character is doing or feeling. They possess one of the most important qualities to any outstanding actor, spontaneity. That is where your uniqueness resides, in your spontaneous response. Ultimately, the ability to break down and interpret a script, with insight into psychology and character issues, and then allow the moments to unfold inevitably yet spontaneously, is the mark of a trained Meisner actor. This is when an actor becomes an artist, capable of illuminating the human condition in all its aspects.
Meisner Technique Southwest Philadelphia: Learn More About the Studio
Students who are serious about professional training, and who are interested in the classes and programs that the studio provides should contact the studio to find out how to get started with their application.
Meisner Technique Southwest Philadelphia: Map
Meisner Technique Southwest Philadelphia: Areas We Serve
Meisner Studio Philadelphia provides professional Meisner Technique Southwest Philadelphia training and instruction for students and actors from these areas of Philadelphia: Southwest Philadelphia, Avenue of the Arts, Callowhill, Chinatown, Elfreth’s Alley, French Quarter, Logan Square, Naval Square, Jewelers’ Row, Market East, Old City, Museum District, Penn Center, Rittenhouse Square, Fitler Square, Penn’s Landing, Society Hill, South Street, Washington Square West, Midtown Village, South Philadelphia, Bella Vista, Central South Philadelphia, Devil’s Pocket, East Passyunk, East Passyunk Crossing, Franklin Delano Roosevelt Park, Girard Estate, Greenwich, Grays Ferry, Hawthorne, Italian Market, Little Saigon, Lower Moyamensing, Marconi Plaza, Moyamensing, Newbold, Packer Park, Passyunk Square, Pennsport, Two Street, Point Breeze, Queen Village, Schuylkill, Sports Complex, Tasker, Wharton, Whitman, Wilson Park, West Passyunk, Southwark, Graduate Hospital, Southwest Philadelphia, Angora, Bartram Village, Clearview, Kingsessing, Eastwick, Elmwood Park, Hedgerow, Mount Moriah, Paschall, Penrose, Southwest Schuylkill, West Philadelphia, West Philly, Belmont Village, Carroll Park, Cathedral Park, Cedar Park, Centennial District, Dunlap, Garden Court, Haddington, Haverford North, Mantua, Mill Creek, Overbrook, Overbrook Park, Overbrook Farms, Parkside, Powelton Village, Saunders Park, Spruce Hill, Squirrel Hill, University City, Walnut Hill, Woodland Terrace, Wynnefield Heights, Lower North Philadelphia, Brewerytown, Cecil B. Moore, Hartranft, Ludlow, Poplar, Sharswood, Spring Garden, Stanton, Strawberry Mansion, Yorktown, Fairmount, Northern Liberties, Upper North Philadelphia, Allegheny West, Fairhill, Glenwood, Hunting Park, Nicetown-Tioga, Bridesburg, Fishtown, Harrowgate, Kensington, Port Richmond, Andorra, East Falls, Wissahickon, Roxborough, Manayunk, Chestnut Hill, Mount Airy, Germantown, Morton, Wister, Cedarbrook, East Oak Lane, Feltonville, Fern Rock, Koreatown, Logan, Melrose Park, Ogontz, Olney, West Oak Lane, Northeast Philadelphia, Burholme, Castor Garden, Crescentville, Fox Chase, Frankford, Holmesburg, Juniata, Lawncrest, Lawndale, Lexington Park, Mayfair, Northwood, Oxford Circle, Rhawnhurst, Ryers, Tacony, Wissinoming, Academy Gardens, Ashton-Woodenbridge, Bustleton, Byberry, Crestmont Farms, Krewstown, Millbrook, Modena Park, Morrell Park, Normandy, Parkwood, Pennypack, Somerton, Torresdale, Upper Holmesburg, Winchester Park
When it comes to Acting Classes Southwest Philadelphia, the Maggie Flanigan Studio is highly respected and considered by many to be the studio where serious actors receive the best professional actor training. The studio was created to provide a unique conservatory based acting program for talented young artists to receive the highest quality Meisner technique instruction and Meisner training. As an acting studio, we are committed to the belief that acting, at its best, is a creative art. However, excellence can only be achieved through mastery of the actor’s craft.
Since 2001, the Studio has grown into a community of dedicated and talented teachers along with serious actors working together in a challenging and supportive professional environment. More generally the Studio has also become a magnet for talented theater artists, playwrights, cinematographers, working actors, graduates and directors interested in Meisner work, meisner acting and Meisner acting classes.
Professional Acting Classes Southwest Philadelphia for Committed Actors
Acting Classes Southwest Philadelphia – Meisner Studio Philadelphia Pa
Maggie Flanigan is considered, by many professional artists in the film and theater community, to have a brilliant eye for an actor’s process and to be the clearest teacher of the Meisner technique. In fact, Maggie and the entire staff at the studio are considered to be the top acting teachers and acting coaches in the country.
During the past ten years Maggie has chosen and nurtured a highly professional faculty that understands the Meisner work deeply and can teach it with clarity and inspiration. Each faculty member possesses the clarity in teaching that the Meisner work demands and that Maggie inspires. All the teachers have a solid sense of truth and a passion for training actors. Because acting is hard enough as it is; we believe it is vital to provide students with faculty who can clarify all the fundamental issues of acting. Led by Maggie’s insight and commitment to hands-on, integrated training, all our teachers speak the same language and confer frequently about the progress of each student.
Acting Classes Southwest Philadelphia: The Core Classes
Our studio is rooted in the belief that a rigorous and inspiring conservatory-based training program should remain small, intimate, and nurturing while challenging students to meet the highest professional expectations. the Maggie Flanigan Studio has assembled an exceptional faculty with the experience and integrity to carry Maggie’s vision and high standards to a new generation of aspiring artists. Our conservatory program has one goal: to produce a complete artist; actors who possess the skill, craft, and education necessary to work well into their 40’s, 50’s and 60’s. We accomplish this with a curriculum that goes beyond the acting class. Movement, Voice & Speech, Theater History, Film History, Anatomy For Actors, Script Analysis, Film & TV, Monologue, Shakespeare, and Cold Reading develop actors who can compete with those graduating from the top MFA programs in the country.
Meisner Acting Classes
Acting Classes Southwest Philadelphia – Meisner Studio Phila Pa
The core acting classes at the studio are comprised of two years of professional training based on the work of Sanford Meisner and the Meisner technique. The goal of the first year of the Meisner training is to develop a truthful acting instrument, where all fundamentals of the art form are second nature to the actor. Beginning with a simple repetition exercise, Meisner’s brilliant technique, when taught properly, evolves over nine months into a very deep, rich, and sophisticated, improvisational exercise. Untrained actors are bad and not respected professionally for a number of reasons: their attention is on themselves, they wait for their cues, cannot respond spontaneously from moment to moment, think squeezing out emotion is a good thing, are riddled with physical and vocal tension, indicate behavior, don’t listen, and can’t craft. Meisner’s first year solves these problems along with many others.
If first year is laying the foundation, second year is building the house. Now that the fundamentals are in place, we begin to look at character, and script interpretation. First year teaches, among other things, how an actor finds their own spontaneous, personal, and emotional line of a scene. But what does an actor do when their straight response does not fit the character? Second year is about learning the tools to organically shift an actor’s impulses to fit the character and the script.
Students begin the year learning how to craft a point of view that is not their own. This is the beginning of character work. We also spend time on impediments. Actors need to be able to craft drugs and pain. Learning how to do a flawless drunk along with various pain impediments is very important. It will come up many times in an actor’s career.
Movement Classes for Actors
Acting Classes Southwest Philadelphia – Movement Classes Philadelphia
Movement training at the studio focuses on releasing the constrictions of the actor’s body and freeing the actor’s emotional life. In order to process the particularly emotional demands placed upon actors, it is imperative that their bodies be released, responsive, and free. Though helpful at any stage of training, the correlation between what happens in Level 1 of movement and the work of the first year actor is significant. Using the fundamentals of the Williamson Technique, this class functions as a physical guide to help begin to identify your own unique habits of tension and to begin to let go of extraneous physical behavior. In doing so, the actor will become less physically cluttered and more capable of creating expansive, unapologetic behavior with ease.
Special care is given to creating a safe and nurturing environment where actors can begin to give themselves permission to move away from pedestrian, socialized behavior and to embody a more authentic and unbridled state of expression. Acting is a collaborative art, and a great deal of an actor’s deals with human contact, and Level 1 students are consistently challenged to be physically released during simple, truthful exchanges with their ensemble. Students will learn the foundation of the Williamson Technique, the open choreography. They will also gain basic alignment and release vocabulary and learn exercises that will be immediately applicable in their acting work and training. Students will begin to understand themselves and their bodies in a vivid, authentic way.
Voice and Speech Classes for Actors
Voice and Speech Class Southwest Philadelphia – Meisner Studio Philadelphia
Voice and Speech classes at the studio are dedicated to the voice and speech development necessary for any serious actor, and is based on the brilliant vocal training created by the world’s foremost voice teacher Kristin Linklater.
Work in this class follows the Linklater approach to voice, wherein the actor nurtures an ongoing curiosity about their vocal instrument, which is inseparable from the person behind it. The work begins with identifying and releasing physical tension that can inhibit a spontaneous connection to the voice. Through physical release, the breath moves deeper into the body. When this happens, the voice follows, and with it a deeper personal connection.
Special attention in Voice I is paid to common areas of tension that can act as censors to authentic communication: the tongue, the jaw, the soft palate, and the throat. This allows the student to isolate resonating chambers in the body, which strengthens the corresponding parts of the speaking voice. By the end of the course, students will have a full physical/vocal warm-up to use in preparation for rehearsals, auditions, and performance, invaluable for working actors who know how important it is to keep their instrument in excellent shape.
Meisner Summer Intensive
Acting Classes Southwest Philadelphia – Meisner Summer Intensive
For most students, professional training at the studio begins with the six-week Meisner Summer Intensive. Actors who are seriously interested in becoming exceptional actors, and are trying to discover what true professional actor training is, then this six-week Meisner summer intensive will answer many questions. Understand that acting cannot learned in any six week program, in Philadelphia or any other city. It takes two to three years of immersive training. An excellent summer intensive will leave you with a true understanding of acting as an art form, the importance of artistry and hard work, a real understanding of what professional training and a serious studio is, and a deeper appreciation for the fundamentals of listening, crafting, and spontaneity with text.
Most students have misconceptions about acting based on the film, TV, and theater they have consumed. Bad habits form: line readings, adjusting to the text, waiting for your cues, not going from unanticipated moment to unanticipated moment, or subverting your inner life to fit a line. These are marks of a hack actor. You will discover how to use your instincts and your spontaneous organic impulses to truly improvise with freedom and authenticity. It is the beginning of becoming an actor who works in a truly original and vivid way; an artist dedicated to craft.
The summer program was created to provide currently enrolled, or those who have completed their undergraduate degree with an understanding about the real professional training necessary to be a serious actor and artist. In our Meisner Summer Intensive, the student-actor will come away knowing what professional actor training is, why the Meisner Technique is the healthiest, most creative way to train organic actors.
How To Apply for Admission to the Studio
Acting Classes Southwest Philadelphia – Meisner Studio Philadelphia Admissions
Admission to the studio is based on an interview with the Executive Director and Head of Acting, Charlie Sandlan. To learn more about the professional trying and acting classes we prove for students and actors from the Philadelphia area, contact the studio directly by calling 215-600-1669.
Our Meisner Studio provides professional acting classes Philadelphia for students and actors from all areas of Philadelphia including: Southwest Philadelphia, Avenue of the Arts, Callowhill, Chinatown, Elfreth’s Alley, French Quarter, Logan Square, Naval Square, Jewelers’ Row, Market East, Old City, Museum District, Penn Center, Rittenhouse Square, Fitler Square, Penn’s Landing, Society Hill, South Street, Washington Square West, Midtown Village, South Philadelphia, Bella Vista, Central South Philadelphia, Devil’s Pocket, East Passyunk, East Passyunk Crossing, Franklin Delano Roosevelt Park, Girard Estate, Greenwich, Grays Ferry, Hawthorne, Italian Market, Little Saigon, Lower Moyamensing, Marconi Plaza, Moyamensing, Newbold, Packer Park, Passyunk Square, Pennsport, Two Street, Point Breeze, Queen Village, Schuylkill, Sports Complex, Tasker, Wharton, Whitman, Wilson Park, West Passyunk, Southwark, Graduate Hospital, Southwest Philadelphia, Angora, Bartram Village, Clearview, Kingsessing, Eastwick, Elmwood Park, Hedgerow, Mount Moriah, Paschall, Penrose, Southwest Schuylkill, West Philadelphia, West Philly, Belmont Village, Carroll Park, Cathedral Park, Cedar Park, Centennial District, Dunlap, Garden Court, Haddington, Haverford North, Mantua, Mill Creek, Overbrook, Overbrook Park, Overbrook Farms, Parkside, Powelton Village, Saunders Park, Spruce Hill, Squirrel Hill, University City, Walnut Hill, Woodland Terrace, Wynnefield Heights, Lower North Philadelphia, Brewerytown, Cecil B. Moore, Hartranft, Ludlow, Poplar, Sharswood, Spring Garden, Stanton, Strawberry Mansion, Yorktown, Fairmount, Northern Liberties, Upper North Philadelphia, Allegheny West, Fairhill, Glenwood, Hunting Park, Nicetown-Tioga, Bridesburg, Fishtown, Harrowgate, Kensington, Port Richmond, Andorra, East Falls, Wissahickon, Roxborough, Manayunk, Chestnut Hill, Mount Airy, Germantown, Morton, Wister, Cedarbrook, East Oak Lane, Feltonville, Fern Rock, Koreatown, Logan, Melrose Park, Ogontz, Olney, West Oak Lane, Northeast Philadelphia, Burholme, Castor Garden, Crescentville, Fox Chase, Frankford, Holmesburg, Juniata, Lawncrest, Lawndale, Lexington Park, Mayfair, Northwood, Oxford Circle, Rhawnhurst, Ryers, Tacony, Wissinoming, Academy Gardens, Ashton-Woodenbridge, Bustleton, Byberry, Crestmont Farms, Krewstown, Millbrook, Modena Park, Morrell Park, Normandy, Parkwood, Pennypack, Somerton, Torresdale, Upper Holmesburg, Winchester Park
Voice and Speech Class for Actors Southwest Philadelphia includes four separate 24-class, 12-week semesters dedicated to the voice and speech development necessary for any serious actor. The training is based on the brilliant vocal training created by the world’s foremost voice teacher Kristin Linklater.
Voice and Speech Class for Actors Southwest Philadelphia – Meisner Studio Philadelphia
A resonant voice and clear speech are defining characteristics of a well-trained professional actor. The Maggie Flanigan Studio strives to produce actors with range and nuance. The human voice is an incredibly intimate and revealing part of our individuality. If the goal is to create fully realized human behavior, then developing the voice is a core requirement to serious professional actor training.
Voice and Speech Class for Actors Southwest Philadelphia – Four Semesters
Voice and Speech Class for Actors Southwest Philadelphia – Meisner Studio Philadelphia
Voice I is the first of four 24-class, 12-week semesters dedicated to the voice and speech development necessary for any serious actor, and is based on the brilliant vocal training created by the world’s foremost voice teacher Kristin Linklater.
Work in this class follows the Linklater approach to voice, wherein the actor nurtures an ongoing curiosity about their vocal instrument, which is inseparable from the person behind it. The work begins with identifying and releasing physical tension that can inhibit a spontaneous connection to the voice. Through physical release, the breath moves deeper into the body. When this happens, the voice follows, and with it a deeper personal connection.
Special attention in Voice I is paid to common areas of tension that can act as censors to authentic communication: the tongue, the jaw, the soft palate, and the throat. This allows the student to isolate resonating chambers in the body, which strengthens the corresponding parts of the speaking voice. By the end of the course, students will have a full physical/vocal warm-up to use in preparation for rehearsals, auditions, and performance, invaluable for working actors who know how important it is to keep their instrument in excellent shape.
Voice 2 is the second of four 24-class, 12-week semesters dedicated to freeing the natural voice.
Using the freedom from habitual tension achieved in Voice I as a foundation, Voice II introduces increasingly extroverted and expansive demands on the voice. Always with an eye on maximum effect with minimal effort, students in this class tap into greater breath capacity and power, the fuel needed to access higher frequencies of energy in the voice without relying on unnecessary muscular force that can lead to vocal strain. The entire two to three octave speaking voice range is strengthened and liberated to respond to a range of impulses.
Learn More About Voice and Speech Class for Actors Southwest Philadelphia
Voice and Speech Class for Actors Southwest Philadelphia – Liz Eckert working in class with student
An actor’s instrument includes voice, body and temperament. Our studio is dedicated to developing all three in order to send out serious professional artists into the business. To learn more about the Voice and Speech Class for Actors Philadelphia, call the studio directly at 215-600-1669.
Apply for Admission Today
Voice and Speech Class for Actors Southwest Philadelphia – Students Warming-up Before class begins
Admission to the studio begins with applying online for the specific program or class that you are interested in, and then scheduling an appointment for an interview with Charlie Sandlan, the Executive Director. To learn more about the studio and the professional training that it provides, contact the studio directly by calling (215) 600-1669.
Voice and Speech Class for Actors Southwest Philadelphia PA
Meisner Studio Philadelphia provides professional Meisner Technique training for students and actors from these areas of Philadelphia: Southwest Philadelphia, Avenue of the Arts, Callowhill, Chinatown, Elfreth’s Alley, French Quarter, Logan Square, Naval Square, Jewelers’ Row, Market East, Old City, Museum District, Penn Center, Rittenhouse Square, Fitler Square, Penn’s Landing, Society Hill, South Street, Washington Square West, Midtown Village, South Philadelphia, Bella Vista, Central South Philadelphia, Devil’s Pocket, East Passyunk, East Passyunk Crossing, Franklin Delano Roosevelt Park, Girard Estate, Greenwich, Grays Ferry, Hawthorne, Italian Market, Little Saigon, Lower Moyamensing, Marconi Plaza, Moyamensing, Newbold, Packer Park, Passyunk Square, Pennsport, Two Street, Point Breeze, Queen Village, Schuylkill, Sports Complex, Tasker, Wharton, Whitman, Wilson Park, West Passyunk, Southwark, Graduate Hospital, Southwest Philadelphia, Angora, Bartram Village, Clearview, Kingsessing, Eastwick, Elmwood Park, Hedgerow, Mount Moriah, Paschall, Penrose, Southwest Schuylkill, West Philadelphia, West Philly, Belmont Village, Carroll Park, Cathedral Park, Cedar Park, Centennial District, Dunlap, Garden Court, Haddington, Haverford North, Mantua, Mill Creek, Overbrook, Overbrook Park, Overbrook Farms, Parkside, Powelton Village, Saunders Park, Spruce Hill, Squirrel Hill, University City, Walnut Hill, Woodland Terrace, Wynnefield Heights, Lower North Philadelphia, Brewerytown, Cecil B. Moore, Hartranft, Ludlow, Poplar, Sharswood, Spring Garden, Stanton, Strawberry Mansion, Yorktown, Fairmount, Northern Liberties, Upper North Philadelphia, Allegheny West, Fairhill, Glenwood, Hunting Park, Nicetown-Tioga, Bridesburg, Fishtown, Harrowgate, Kensington, Port Richmond, Andorra, East Falls, Wissahickon, Roxborough, Manayunk, Chestnut Hill, Mount Airy, Germantown, Morton, Wister, Cedarbrook, East Oak Lane, Feltonville, Fern Rock, Koreatown, Logan, Melrose Park, Ogontz, Olney, West Oak Lane, Northeast Philadelphia, Burholme, Castor Garden, Crescentville, Fox Chase, Frankford, Holmesburg, Juniata, Lawncrest, Lawndale, Lexington Park, Mayfair, Northwood, Oxford Circle, Rhawnhurst, Ryers, Tacony, Wissinoming, Academy Gardens, Ashton-Woodenbridge, Bustleton, Byberry, Crestmont Farms, Krewstown, Millbrook, Modena Park, Morrell Park, Normandy, Parkwood, Pennypack, Somerton, Torresdale, Upper Holmesburg, Winchester Park
Master Class for Actors Southwest Philadelphia is a ten week, 10 class scene study class taught by our Artistic Director and Master Teacher Maggie Flanigan. This class is filled through a personal interview with Maggie, and is geared toward well trained, professional actors who are looking to challenge themselves with rich, complicated material from the greatest playwrights of the theatrical canon.
Master Class for Actors Southwest Philadelphia – Maggie During Class at the Studio
Professional actors often find that years out of a classroom working and pursuing an artistic career can slowly corrupt the fundamentals necessary to creating a character. The majority of issues that come up for an actor can be traced to fundamentals. Maggie Flanigan’s Master Class will reconnect an actor to these important components of an actor’s technique; placement of concentration, listening from unanticipated moment to unanticipated moment, crafting in a specific, simple, and personal way, and breaking down beats into clear actions and line intentions. It can be very easy for actors to become general as the months and years of working on poorly written contemporary conversation erodes their craft. Over time, actors often take short cuts, gradually becoming lazy or forgetful when approaching a script. Master Class is a format for the experienced actor to isolate these problems, and work to eliminate generalities.
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The Master Class for Actors Southwest Philadelphia will present you with the challenge of working on a major part from great playwrights, an opportunity to rekindle the love of acting and the joy that comes from artistic process. You will be challenged to once again operate outside your comfort zone, tackling much better material than you have most likely been auditioning for. Actor’s can often get pigeonholed into types, whether comic or dramatic, and haven’t been given the opportunity to stretch their artistic muscle. The scenes chosen for you will be discussed and agreed upon by you and Maggie, and subsequently paired with another professional actor in class. You will be encouraged to look at style, period, and heightened language when looking at scripts. The requirement for class is attendance, and a willingness to rehearse at least twice between classes with your partner. Maggie founded her studio on the highest of standards, and her Master Class students will be expected to bring substantial work into each class.
Master Class for Actors Southwest Philadelphia – Advanced Scene Study with Maggie Flanigan
Maggie’s lifetime work is of course rooted in the Meisner Technique, and anyone considering interviewing for this class must have a strong technique rooted in fundamental skill and a working vocabulary that well trained professional actor’s possess. Maggie expects absolute seriousness and dedication to the ten-week class, with a true willingness to explore the human condition, a desire to function from a vulnerable and empathetic place, and a commitment to the work and to fellow classmates, which reflect the qualities of a serious, professional artist.
Register for Master Class for Actors Southwest Philadelphia
Students who are interested in registering for the Master Class with Maggie should contact the studio to get more information and detail about how to register. Call (215) 600-1669 to register for the Master Class for Actors.
Master Class for Actors Southwest Philadelphia – Meisner Studio Philadelphia
Meisner Studio Philadelphia provides the Master Class for Actors Philadelphia for students and actors from these areas of Philadelphia: Southwest Philadelphia, Avenue of the Arts, Callowhill, Chinatown, Elfreth’s Alley, French Quarter, Logan Square, Naval Square, Jewelers’ Row, Market East, Old City, Museum District, Penn Center, Rittenhouse Square, Fitler Square, Penn’s Landing, Society Hill, South Street, Washington Square West, Midtown Village, South Philadelphia, Bella Vista, Central South Philadelphia, Devil’s Pocket, East Passyunk, East Passyunk Crossing, Franklin Delano Roosevelt Park, Girard Estate, Greenwich, Grays Ferry, Hawthorne, Italian Market, Little Saigon, Lower Moyamensing, Marconi Plaza, Moyamensing, Newbold, Packer Park, Passyunk Square, Pennsport, Two Street, Point Breeze, Queen Village, Schuylkill, Sports Complex, Tasker, Wharton, Whitman, Wilson Park, West Passyunk, Southwark, Graduate Hospital, Southwest Philadelphia, Angora, Bartram Village, Clearview, Kingsessing, Eastwick, Elmwood Park, Hedgerow, Mount Moriah, Paschall, Penrose, Southwest Schuylkill, West Philadelphia, West Philly, Belmont Village, Carroll Park, Cathedral Park, Cedar Park, Centennial District, Dunlap, Garden Court, Haddington, Haverford North, Mantua, Mill Creek, Overbrook, Overbrook Park, Overbrook Farms, Parkside, Powelton Village, Saunders Park, Spruce Hill, Squirrel Hill, University City, Walnut Hill, Woodland Terrace, Wynnefield Heights, Lower North Philadelphia, Brewerytown, Cecil B. Moore, Hartranft, Ludlow, Poplar, Sharswood, Spring Garden, Stanton, Strawberry Mansion, Yorktown, Fairmount, Northern Liberties, Upper North Philadelphia, Allegheny West, Fairhill, Glenwood, Hunting Park, Nicetown-Tioga, Bridesburg, Fishtown, Harrowgate, Kensington, Port Richmond, Andorra, East Falls, Wissahickon, Roxborough, Manayunk, Chestnut Hill, Mount Airy, Germantown, Morton, Wister, Cedarbrook, East Oak Lane, Feltonville, Fern Rock, Koreatown, Logan, Melrose Park, Ogontz, Olney, West Oak Lane, Northeast Philadelphia, Burholme, Castor Garden, Crescentville, Fox Chase, Frankford, Holmesburg, Juniata, Lawncrest, Lawndale, Lexington Park, Mayfair, Northwood, Oxford Circle, Rhawnhurst, Ryers, Tacony, Wissinoming, Academy Gardens, Ashton-Woodenbridge, Bustleton, Byberry, Crestmont Farms, Krewstown, Millbrook, Modena Park, Morrell Park, Normandy, Parkwood, Pennypack, Somerton, Torresdale, Upper Holmesburg, Winchester Park
Meisner Studio Philadelphia provides professional acting classes and training programs for working actors and serious acting students from the Philadelphia area. Learn more about these classes here: Meisner Studio Southwest Philadelphia
The heart of the Two Year Acting Program Southwest Philadelphia at the Meisner Studio Philadelphia lies in the Meisner technique training developed by Sandy Meisner. A member of the legendary Group Theater of the 1930’s, Meisner created a way of training actors that is rooted in truth and the artist’s imagination. The work begins with a very basic repetition exercise that starts to hone the actor’s ability to really listen, answer, and respond.
The First Year: Core Fundamentals
Scene Study Class – Two Year Acting Program Southwest Philadelphia
Over the nine months that make up the first year of training, the work evolves into a deeply rich improvisational exercise encompassing all of the fundamentals of acting. The actor then brings this work to three rounds of scenes during the first year. The goal is to bring the exercise work to text. The exercise is of no value if the actor cannot bring the fundamentals to scene work. In addition, the actor will learn how to identify the previous circumstance of a scene, how to emotionally connect to it, and how to craft an acting relationship.
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The ability to act truthfully under imaginary circumstances is the standard that good actors strive to achieve. How an actor accomplishes this is the goal of First Year: learning to create a truthful reality, understanding how to craft personally and specifically, as well as harnessing your ability to daydream, in order to create organic, vivid behavior. Art is personal, and springs from the artist’s point of view. This is no different for the actor/artist. When given a script and a role, the actor’s job is to find his/her personal way into the material. If not, the work will be shallow and indicated. For this to be possible, to be an actor with true dimension, one must have an emotional temperament that is easily accessible. First year provides the actor the opportunity to lay the foundation for the character work that comes in second year.
The Second Year: The Script and the Character
Two Year Acting Program Southwest Philadelphia – Students Working in Class
If first year of the two year acting program is like putting money in the bank, Second Year is learning how to spend it. What does the actor do when her/his straight response is not the character’s? Second year gives her/him the tools to solve this problem organically. Character work is the highest form of acting; the ability to step into the shoes of another human being and illuminate the human condition in all its aspects. Script interpretation and character development is the core of second year work. Another important component is teaching the actor about the rehearsal process, and providing an understanding of what will be expected professionally.
While working on major roles from the best playwright’s, the actor puts all of his/her training together over a demanding nine months of work.
Students Rehearsing Scene – Two Year Acting Program Southwest Philadelphia
The goal of the two year acting program is to instill in the actor a craft, a way of working that will serve as the floorboard for their talent. A process that will support them for what is hopefully a long career. Martha Graham said “Technique will set you free.” This is our belief as well. Our hope is that you will emerge from this program with not only a craft, but an appreciation of acting as an art form, a solid work ethic, and an inviolate sense of truth.
The Maggie Flanigan Studio is open to all students who have a serious desire to develop their craft as professional actors. The studio has the highest professional standards and students must be able to work within a creative environment that is constantly demanding artistic excellence.
In this video James talks about his experience in the two year acting program
Apply to the Two Year Acting Program Southwest Philadelphia
Two Year Acting Program Southwest Philadelphia Includes Commercial Acting Classes
To complete your application for the two year acting program, go to our application page: Apply to the Two Year Acting Program. If you have questions or you want more information about the two year acting program, call the studio today at (215) 600-1669.
Two Year Acting Program Philadelphia Pa
Meisner Studio Philadelphia provides professional Meisner training and instruction for students and actors from these areas of Philadelphia: Southwest Philadelphia, Avenue of the Arts, Callowhill, Chinatown, Elfreth’s Alley, French Quarter, Logan Square, Naval Square, Jewelers’ Row, Market East, Old City, Museum District, Penn Center, Rittenhouse Square, Fitler Square, Penn’s Landing, Society Hill, South Street, Washington Square West, Midtown Village, South Philadelphia, Bella Vista, Central South Philadelphia, Devil’s Pocket, East Passyunk, East Passyunk Crossing, Franklin Delano Roosevelt Park, Girard Estate, Greenwich, Grays Ferry, Hawthorne, Italian Market, Little Saigon, Lower Moyamensing, Marconi Plaza, Moyamensing, Newbold, Packer Park, Passyunk Square, Pennsport, Two Street, Point Breeze, Queen Village, Schuylkill, Sports Complex, Tasker, Wharton, Whitman, Wilson Park, West Passyunk, Southwark, Graduate Hospital, Southwest Philadelphia, Angora, Bartram Village, Clearview, Kingsessing, Eastwick, Elmwood Park, Hedgerow, Mount Moriah, Paschall, Penrose, Southwest Schuylkill, West Philadelphia, West Philly, Belmont Village, Carroll Park, Cathedral Park, Cedar Park, Centennial District, Dunlap, Garden Court, Haddington, Haverford North, Mantua, Mill Creek, Overbrook, Overbrook Park, Overbrook Farms, Parkside, Powelton Village, Saunders Park, Spruce Hill, Squirrel Hill, University City, Walnut Hill, Woodland Terrace, Wynnefield Heights, Lower North Philadelphia, Brewerytown, Cecil B. Moore, Hartranft, Ludlow, Poplar, Sharswood, Spring Garden, Stanton, Strawberry Mansion, Yorktown, Fairmount, Northern Liberties, Upper North Philadelphia, Allegheny West, Fairhill, Glenwood, Hunting Park, Nicetown-Tioga, Bridesburg, Fishtown, Harrowgate, Kensington, Port Richmond, Andorra, East Falls, Wissahickon, Roxborough, Manayunk, Chestnut Hill, Mount Airy, Germantown, Morton, Wister, Cedarbrook, East Oak Lane, Feltonville, Fern Rock, Koreatown, Logan, Melrose Park, Ogontz, Olney, West Oak Lane, Northeast Philadelphia, Burholme, Castor Garden, Crescentville, Fox Chase, Frankford, Holmesburg, Juniata, Lawncrest, Lawndale, Lexington Park, Mayfair, Northwood, Oxford Circle, Rhawnhurst, Ryers, Tacony, Wissinoming, Academy Gardens, Ashton-Woodenbridge, Bustleton, Byberry, Crestmont Farms, Krewstown, Millbrook, Modena Park, Morrell Park, Normandy, Parkwood, Pennypack, Somerton, Torresdale, Upper Holmesburg, Winchester Park
To learn more about all the classes and programs that we provide for Philadelphia working actors and students visit this page: http://ift.tt/2r66Fxj
