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Conservatory | | | Why Choose The Conservatory |
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First YearScheduleCore ActingMeisnerMovementVoice and SpeechImprovisationYoga Click on the tabs above to see: -Descriptions of the Classes -Bios of the Instructors -Video Clips of Actual Classroom Work |
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About The ClassAbout The Instructor
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.
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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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About The ClassAbout The InstructorVideo Clip 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
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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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About The ClassAbout The InstructorVideo Clip 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)
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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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About This ClassAbout This Instructor 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. |
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 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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About The ClassAbout The Instructor
video Clip 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. |
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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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About The ClassAbout The Instructor
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.
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Guest Instructors & Speakers
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GuestsAustin PendletonRondi ReedK. Todd FreemanAnnabel ArmourSteve Scott To read about past Guest Artists, click above tabs
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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 |
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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.
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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 |
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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).
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 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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