Acting Classes should you spend tons of money?

Money

 You don’t need to spend $20,000 to learn great acting skils

One of the best values I have ever found was an acting class at a community college that I took for the sum total cost of $3. True, the class was actually held in a senior center in Tustin, California, but for a deal like that I can overlook quite a bit. Also, I am glad that I overlooked the fact that I was one of two students in the class under the age of 60. I am convinced that the experience has made me a better stage actor because I am now in the habit of delivering my lines at a volume that being in a class of “cochlear-challenged” students requires, but I digress. This class did more than increase the volume of my delivery, it helped me overcome internal prejudices and obstacles I never even knew I had.

Having grown up in the Midwest, I had the notion of respect for my elders ingrained into me very deeply, so being in the class also helped me become fearless in my choices. I think any person who goes to high school in this country has learned that sometimes conforming to the norm and “going along to get along” is an effective tactic to remain safe against unnecessary antagonizing. If high school didn’t force you into this habit, working in a corporate environment requires it because everyone has bills to pay and you have to eat.

Hell, even the “Maverick” lost the presidential election this year.

Pretty soon habit becomes lifestyle. Thank God for my choice to take the class in what I at first considered an absurd environment. At first, the choices I made in my acting were timid because I was afraid to upset the delicate sensibilities of my classmates. And then something great happened… the other students were critical of me. Of course, being the diva that I am, I bristled a bit (only internally, I could never openly disrespect someone older than me). When I got home I bitched and complained about how these people couldn’t recognize my genius. I ranted and raved how I was being set up for failure by the powers that be… and then I started to act my age and began considering the criticism I received in class as a learning moment that I would be foolish to discount.

And so I started to take the class seriously. I worked harder to understand the subtext of the lines I was determined to deliver with more accuracy. I took better notes and tried harder to block my scenes according to the rules of theater. I feverishly studied and practiced. And practiced. And practiced.

The result? More criticism… sigh. But I was getting better, and more importantly, less timid. According to one of the texts recommended for the course, Audition by Micheal Shurtleff, “when you are on stage, there is no time for being shy”. I have had two prior experiences on stage before this class, and I am increasingly thankful that they were both on a very small, very local stage because the only value I added to those productions was that I was a good person to have backstage to keep everyone loose. Having an athletic background has taught me a lot about being a team player and I do well when I know my role. However, I really didn’t do much for the show whenever I was on stage, because I was shy. I was timid. I was afraid.

Now, I am feeling a lot of those walls being broken down. I let my imagination take hold of me and visualize different ways to effectively portray a character not just by delivering lines in a technically accurate manner, but by also inhabiting that character’s life and surroundings. The intimidation of being watched and judged by not only my peers, but socially significant people in the audience has begun to melt away because it is no longer about me and my performance, but about the life of the character and the drama inherent within the play.

Intellectually I understood all of this, but there is no substitute for failing to execute it in front of the audience. Then again, the feeling of accomplishment when you are able to break through and perform well makes all of the failure worthwhile. Before the character can go through his arc, the actor must do the same. Life imitating art? I wouldn’t have it any other way.

As far as my class goes, we are all plugging away with the end of the semester in sight and the growth in everybody’s abilities has been a delight to behold. Even I have garnered some good reviews lately, which is nice if not a little tardy! Finally, my genius is being recognized!

Fred