The core acting class meets twice a week. Here is where you put it all together. Where you learn to simply and honestly communicate with your partner - using your voice - your body - your imagination - your emotional instrument - and getting them to work together as a whole. Scene study utilizing a variety of techniques from the work of Uta Hagen, Michael Shurtleff and others, to develop truthful, spontaneous work. This class requires weekly play reading. A focus on text analysis encourages clear objectives, active choices, and exploring playwright's intent & the characters' world.

Scott Olson has been teaching at Act One for the last few years and has also been a faculty member at Columbia College for the last eight years. Scott has been an actor in Chicago for the last sixteen years. His most recent credits include Alex in THE COCKTAIL PARTY with Caffeine Theatre and Edmund in WINTERTIME at Reverie Theatre. Scott is also a director and has directed at many theatres in Chicago including Bailiwick, Boxer Rebellion, Synergy Theatre, The Shakespeare Project and numerous Act One Student Theatre Festival productions including GOODNIGHT TEXAS, SPITTIN' IMAGE, HIDDEN IN THIS PICTURE, MISADVENTURE, and YOU CAN'T TRUST THE MALE. His most recent
directing project was COTTON PATCH GOSPEL at Columbia.

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Meisner with Ted Hoerl meets Tuesday and Thursday at 9:30.

Think of actors who make acting look effortless. Think of performers whose work is compelling and smart. On television, think of Allison Janney (West Wing), Dylan McDermott (The Practice), Paul Sorvino (Law and Order); in film, think of Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton, Ashley Judd, Jeff Goldblum, Jon Voight, Halle Barry. Believability and intensity define their work - you don’t “see” them work. Their acting draws on training developed by actor/director/teacher Sanford Meisner.

His technique gives you a way of working, a process you can rely on to attack any role – film, television, theatre – even commercial.
Step-by-step exercises lead you to:
    •Truthful expressive behavior
    •Harness the power of instinct
    •Discover your emotional truth
    •Real connection to your scene partner
    •Listening, sharing, responding & living
         IN THE MOMENT!

The Meisner Technique is not in opposition to any other technique, but leads actors to deeper and more specific work - and - you will learn a system of “what-to-do” the moment you are handed a script!

...the ability to live truthfully under
imaginary circumstances ”- Sanford Meisner

Ted was a casting director for Rabedeau Casting for ten years, where he cast over 1,000 commercials, as well as industrials and feature films. Originally trained in the Stanislavski method, he studied the Meisner Technique at The Actors’ Center for four years before starting to teach here in 1996. He has appeared in more than 50 plays, and directed more than 20, including the long running, Charlie’s Oasis Museum & Bar at the Theatre Building, Cobalt’s recent Alarms and Excursions, and Red HenÕs Twilight Serenade. Ted appeared in Next Theatre’s A Doll’s House, The Millionairess, and their acclaimed production of Are You Now or Have You Ever Been...? (Jeff Award for Best Ensemble, After Dark Award for Best Production). He appeared as Harlan in Dreamboy (Jeff Nomination for Best Ensemble, Citation for Best Production), and also in Fascination, at About Face Theatre, where he is a company member. He also played Osric and Marcellus in Hamlet for Streetsigns, Merlin in Knights of the Round Table at Eclipse Theatre (directed by Jay Paul Skelton), James in Belinda Bremner’s Mrs. Coney, Daddy in the Sandbox & Irvin in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom at the Goodman Theatre, Perry in Organic Touchstone’s Production of Love! Valor! Compassion! and Marchand in Incident at Vichy at Writer’s Theatre of Chicago (After Dark Award for Best Ensemble). Most recently Ted performed as Peter Shirley and Morrison in Major Barbara for Remy Bumpro. Ted is also a professor at Roosevelt University.

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Students start their day on Monday, Wednesday & Friday with a movement class. It meets from 9:30 til 11:00. The class is a mixture of inspired techniques: Viewpoint, Growtowski, Suzuki, etc.

For example, Viewpoints is a physical approach to the acting process (created and adapted by Anne Bogart) which has been sweeping the country. "In a culture where the best acting is done from the neck up, Anne's work is an obvious antidote. In a theatre where we've wrung every drop from naturalism, Anne's work takes us into new territory. Objects and furniture find new use, space becomes a character... It's rife with visual composition. Actors love Anne Bogart... She puts them back in charge of their own process." (Jon Jory, past Artistic Director of the Actors Theatre of Louisville)

Stuart Carden - Movement - is a free-lance director, instructor and Viewpoints specialist. In Chicago he has worked with Victory Gardens, Steppenwolf, Silk Road Theatre Project, Chicago Dramatist and Strawdog Theatre Company. Outside of Chicago his credits include Actors Theatre of Louisville, The City Theatre, SITI Company, Open Stage Theatre, Shurin Theatre (NYC) and Pittsburgh Irish and Classical Theatre. Stuart studied Viewpoints with Anne Bogart and the SITI Company, Grotowski with the Mossoviet Theatre in Moscow and received his MFA in directing at Carnegie Mellon University. He has taught or served as guest director at Carnegie Mellon University, Loyola University, the College of DuPage, Northeastern Illinois University, Beloit College and University of Wisconsin. Recently named Artistic Associate with Pittsburgh Irish and Classical Theatre Stuart has made the questionable decision to summer in Pittsburgh and winter in Chicago

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Voice and Speech with Laura Fisher meets Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 11:00 to 12:30.

Free the voice through proper breathing and support to develop a strong, flexible instrument, and understand how your voice can be one of the most important tools an actor has. Exercises of Lessac, Linklater, Rodenburg, Berry, and others, address the student’s individual voice needs, create a warm-up specified to those needs. You will also learn the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) in preparation for dialect and accent study in the second year.

Laura T. Fisher is a Chicago native and a proud member of Actor’s Equity. After receiving a degree in theater from Loyola University and a certificate from the London Shakespeare Studio, Laura has been acting on stages (mostly in Chicago) and teaching for almost twenty years. Some of Laura’s stage credits include: The Shawl, Home, Finishing The Picture and The Trojan Women at The Goodman Theatre, Jim Sherman’s Half and Half at Victory Gardens Theater, Accomplice with Nobel Fool Theatricals, Kabuki Lady Macbeth with Chicago Shakespeare Theatre and Arcadia at Indiana Repertory Theater. Laura was a long-time ensemble member of Famous Door Theatre with whom she performed in Cider House Rules Parts I and II, Prides Crossing, A Mislaid Heaven, The Living, and Hellcab in both Chicago and Singapore. Laura received a Jeff Award for Best Supporting Actress and an After Dark award for her performance as Norma Collins in Famous Door’s premiere hit comedy Early and Often and is the recipient of three additional Jeff Award nominations for performances as Joan in Famous Door’s Remembrance, Beryl in Famous Door’s Hushabye Mountain and Marion in Remy Bumppo’s The Secret Rapture. Other favorite performances include creating the role of Babette in Roadwork’s [sic], Joanne in Pegasus Players’ production of Company under the direction of Gary Griffin and Roadworks’ production of David Sedaris’ Season’s Greetings to our Friends and Family. Laura has collaborated to create and perform works with Plasticene (doorslam and Refuge) and Cardiff Giant (LBJFKKK, Love Me and After Taste). Laura has been teaching voice for over ten years in various locations throughout the country, at Columbia College of Chicago and at Act One Studios. At Act One, Laura offers a powerful, challenging Voice and Speech classes, and has also brought her considerable skills to Advanced Scene Study and Monologues.

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On Monday & Wednesday afternoons, it's Improv with Michael Gellman.

Improvisation for Actors augments the work done in other acting classes to free the body
and imagination for more responsive work. Includes work with and without text.

Michael Gellman - Improvisation - (Head of The Second City's IFA, Special Workshops and New York Programs) was a Resident Company member of The Second City Chicago for three years and he has directed at The Second City since 1980. He was nominated for Outstanding Director for the national Dora Mavor Moore Award in Canada and the Joseph Jefferson Award in Chicago, and he won the Detroit Free Press Award for Best Comedy. Michael served as Artistic Director of Chicago Theatre Works and Wavelength and as an Artistic Associate of Organic Theater. In addition to The Second City Training Center, Michael has taught at Columbia College, Northern Illinois University and Artistic New Directions.

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Yoga with Gretchen Sonstroem meets Tuesday and Thursday at 11:30am.

Yoga work encourages health, balance, and focus, while also strengthening the body. Class meets on days alternating with Movement class to provide daily body work.

Gretchen Sonstroem is a highly experienced teacher known for her passionate, dynamic and inspirational style of teaching that includes a sincere respect for both the creative and technical aspects of the acting process. She brings a vast knowledge of acting styles to her teaching from her classwork at Circle-In-The-Square Theatre School in New York City (including Uta Hagen's and Mira Rostova's systems), as well as that of Frank Galati's textwork and Mary Zimmerman's movement techniques which Gretchen studied while receiving her master's degree in Performance Studies at Northwestern University. Gretchen's Midwest theatre credits include work at Madison Repertory, Strawdog, Bailiwick and Writers' Theatre - Chicago, where her favorite portrayals include George Sand and Anne Sexton. In addition, Gretchen enjoys creative forays into playwriting (including her production "the Psalm of Levi Yoder" with Annabel Armour and Jane Heitz at Northwestern University), memoir writing, and the adaptation of oral histories for the stage. Most recently, Gretchen honors the physical aspects of the performer through her study and teaching of Yoga, having received her teacher certification through N.U. Yoga in Chicago in 1990.

Guest Instructors & Speakers

GuestsAustin PendletonRondi ReedK. Todd FreemanAnnabel ArmourSteve Scott

To read about past Guest Artists, click above tabs

Austin Pendelton is a member of the Steppenwolf Company and an adjunct professor with The Conservatory. His feature film credits include: The Civilization of Maxwell Bright, Dirty Work, Christmas with the Kranks, Piccadilly Jim, Finding Nemo, A Beautiful Mind, 2 Days in the Valley & My Cousing Vinny. Television credits include: Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Joan of Arcadia, Touched by an Angel, Oz, The West Wing, The Practice & Homicide: Life on the Streets. Stage credits include: Numerous On & Off Broadway productions, such as The Diary of Anne Frank, Hail Strawdyke, & Hamlet; numerous Steppenwolf productions such as Uncle Vanya & Valparaiso. Awards & nominations include: Tony Nomination for Direction of The Little Foxes Off-Broadway, LA Drama Critics Award - Best Writing for Orson's Shadow

Nationally and internationally respected, award-winning actress, Rondi Reed, has had great success across all media. A long time Steppenwolf Ensemble member, (most recently "August: Osage County") (after a long Chicago run in "Wicked"), she received a Joseph Jefferson award for "The Fall to Earth," and took the company's "Side Man" to Australia & Ireland, "Picasso at the Lapin Agile" Off-Broadway and to Los Angeles & San Francisco and "The Rise and Fall of Little Voice" to Broadway.

Rondi has also directed at Steppenwolf, including "Lydie Breeze" which was also performed in Australia at the Festivals of Sydney and Perth. Her acting includes film ("The Astronaut's Wife:, "Eye for an Eye"), and TV (Fargo, Seinfeld, Normal, Grace Under Fire and many more). A stimulating and dedicated teacher, her students are always wowed by her generosity of spirit and depth of knowledge.

K. Todd Freeman - Steppenwolf Theatre ensemble member for over 12 years and adjunct professor with The conservatory. Broadway credits include: The Song of Jacob Zulu (1993, Tony Nomination and Outer Critics Circle nominations for Best Actor), One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (2001) Off-Broadway credits include: Drama Dept. (founding member): Uncle Tom’s Cabin; Public Theatre: Spunk; Lincoln Center: Ubu; Theatre Row Theatre: Freefall. Regional Theatre credits include: Alley Theatre - Topdog/Underdog, The Invention of Love, Of Mice and Men, A Christmas Carol, Art, Romeo and Juliet; Steppenwolf Theatre (Company member since 1993): Master Harold and the Boys (director - Steppenwolf for Young Adults), Topdog/Underdog (Black Theatre Alliance Award Best Actor), We All Went Down to Amsterdam, Libra, A Clockwork Orange; Mark Taper Forum: Angels in America; Baltimore Center Stage: Miss Evers’ Boys; Dallas Theatre Center & Hartford Stage: Topdog/Underdog

Annabel Armour makes time to share with student actors the depth of artistry and industry knowledge she has developed in her constantly busy career. She is a company member with Remy Bumpo Theatre (where she has appeared in "Heartbreak House", "Hapgood", "Top Girls", "A Delicate Balance", "Humble Boy", "Aren't We All", "Power", "Mrs. Warren's Profession" and others). In demand by other theatres some of her favorite work includes, "Angel's in America"(Journeymen), "Long Day's Journey" (Irish Rep and Galway Arts Festival), "Sunday in the Park with George" (Chicago Shakespeare),"Before My Eyes" (Victory Gardens), "Butcher of Baraboo " (Steppenwolf ), "Grapes of Wrath" (Ford's Theatre, DC), "The Suicide "(Goodman Theatre), "Glass Menagerie" (Cincinnati Playhouse), "Fallen Angels" (Writers Theatre).

This award-winning (multiple Jeff's, multiple After Darks) actress's film credits include "The Amityville Horror", "Lifelike", "Stolen Summer", "White Boyz", "Mercury Rising", and "Men Don't Leave," and on television you many have seen her in "Prison Break", "In the Company of Darkness", "Missing Persons", "The Untouchables", "What a Dummy" (series regular).

Steve Scott is arguably Chicago's busiest, award winning theatre director. We aren't sure how he does it all, but students at Act One are fortunate that his devotion to theatre also makes him a dedicated teacher, as well. Since 1987 he has been Associate Producer at the Goodman Theatre, where he has overseen over 90 productions, recently including "Wit" winning the After Dark Award for Outstanding Direction. Other recent directing credits include "Mirandolina" at the Noble Fool Theatre; "Childe Byron" and "The Eccentricities of a Nightingale" for the Eclipse Theatre; the world premiere of "The Gambit" at the Theatre Building; "Fit to be Tied" for Frump Tucker Theatre Company; "Class Enemy" for Red Hen Productions; "The Time of Your Life" and "Picnic" for Roosevelt University (where he is a faculty member); "Love! Valour!Compassion!" and "After Play" for Organic Touchstone; and "Orphans" for CT20 Ensemble (Jeff Citation Nomination). Steve is even an award winning actor, in the Next Theatre's production of "Are You Now or Have You Ever Been...?" (Jeff Award for Outstanding Ensemble).

Other Goodman productions: world premiere of Tom Mula's "Jacob Marley's Christmas Carol"; the 1989 through 1992 productions of "A Christmas Carol"; "A Midsummer Night's Dream," which he co-directed with Michael Maggio. And with other companies: "Rough for Theatre #1" for Splinter Group's "Buckets O' Beckett" Festival; "Club Soda" at the National Jewish Theatre; "Talking AIDS to Death" at Lifeline Theatre; "Die Fledermaus" for the Lyric Opera Center for American Artists; "A Change in the Heir" and "Nightingale" (Jeff Citation nomination) for New Tuners Theatre.

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