May 2, 2021
Major Tom to Ground Control
Our Weekly Recap, Resources & Recommendations for Actors, Directors & Creatives
"Fight for what you want!
Beware of picking up your partner's tone."
Thanks to those of you who joined us yesterday for the Saturday Workshop featuring Master Voice & Speech Coach, Andrew Wade!
What's the Saturday Workshop?
Watch a FREE CLASS then join the MEMBERSHIP
The Work
THE WOMEN
Screenplay by Anita Loos
based on play by Clare Boothe Loos
Pippa Winslow and Carolyn Kennedy
COLD READ AUDITION EXERCISE
Sam Rubin, Jereen Ignatious, Brandon Knox and Lorenza Aquilani
COLD READ AUDITION EXERCISE
Sam Rubin, Jereen Ignatious, Brandon Knox and Lorenza Aquilani
DOLL’S HOUSE PART 2
by Lucas Hnath
Krissy Richmond
Hey Members!
Login below to access your Membership Dashboard!
Here are the latest additions to your video library:
-
Coaching Sessions from last Saturday (April 24): Cold Read Exercise "Escape Route"; Take 2 - "Italian-American Reconciliation" by John Patrick Shanley
- Lessons from Tom: from last Saturday (April 24): "Our Primal Nature"; "You're Already Competitor!"; "Textual Improvisation To Find Dramatic Possibilities"; "Improv Is An Imagination Accelerator"; "Show The World Your Wheelhouse"
- Voice and Speech: from last Saturday (April 24): Paul D'Agostino Voice & Speech Workout
Need a brief intro to your dashboard?
TAKE A TOUR
Reminder, use the 'search' icon in the upper right to search your dashboard by titles, topics or dates, to quickly find your desired video!
Music This Week
INTRO: "Right back where we started from" by Maxine Nightingale;
"Owner of a Lonely Heart" by Yes
OUTRO: "Got to give it up" by Marvin Gaye
Recommended This Week
READ
Patti LuPone: A Memoir
The legendary Patti LuPone is one of the theatre’s most beloved leading ladies. Now she lays it all bare, sharing the intimate story of her life both onstage and off--through the dizzying highs and darkest lows--with the humor and outspokenness that have become her trademarks.
Patti LuPone was part of the first class at The Juilliard School along with fellow students, Kevin Kline and Mary Lou Rosato (TT Studio Faculty)! The Acting Company was created as result of their brilliant work.
Available on Amazon & Kindle
WATCH
An in-depth exploration of Frank Zappa's private life and his rich, often controversial musical career. Featuring unfettered access to the Zappa vault and a deep cache of archival footage.
Tom taught Diva Zappa (Frank Zappa's daughter) and was blessed with visits to their Laurel Canyon home, as featured in this documentary.
Director: Alex Winter
Stars: David Bowie, Arsenio Hall, Alice Cooper etc.
Available on Hulu, YouTube & Amazon Prime
WATCH
Straw Dogs is a 1971 psychological thriller film directed by Sam Peckinpah and starring Dustin Hoffman and Susan George. The screenplay, by Peckinpah and David Zelag Goodman, is based upon Gordon M. Williams's 1969 novel, The Siege of Trencher's Farm. The film's title derives from a discussion in the Tao Te Ching that likens people to the ancient Chinese ceremonial straw dog, being of ceremonial worth, but afterwards discarded with indifference.
The film is noted for its ultra violent sequences, which were subject to censorship by numerous film boards. Released theatrically in the same year as A Clockwork Orange, The French Connection, and Dirty Harry, the film sparked heated controversy over a perceived increase of violence in films generally
Before Roger Spottiswoode became a feature director, he was Sam Peckinpah's editor. Spottiswoode was a frequent attendee of the Tom Todoroff Studio weekly class in Los Angeles!
Tom later was a producer of Spottiswoode's Noriega for Showtime. The two became great friends.
Warning: Strong Subject Matter
Available on Amazon Prime, Vudu, YouTube
WATCH
Iconic filmmaker Spike Lee revisits his first feature film with this Netflix original series of the same name. Brooklyn-based artist Nola Darling struggles to stay true to herself and her dreams while dividing her time between her friends, her job and her lovers -- all three of them.
Director: Spike Lee
Writers: Spike Lee, Zora Neale Hurston (opening quotation)
Stars: Tracy Camilla Johns, Tommy Redmond Hicks, John Canada Terrell
Available on Netflix
WATCH
MARE OF EASTTOWN
A detective in a small Pennsylvania town investigates a local murder while trying to keep her life from falling apart.
This new series is further proof of Winslet's status as a transformational actor.Creator: Brad Ingelsby
Stars: Kate Winslet, Julianne Nicholson, Jean Smart
Available on HBO Max, Hulu and Amazon Prime
Want to be part of film history?
Study it.
Ongoing Recommendation:
THE CRITERION CHANNEL
We continually recommend this subscription service because it will give you access to an unparalleled library of films, from the the most obscure, unusual independent movies to the great classics of cinema history! Enjoy curated selections based on shared themes, actors or directors. An incredible resource for any cinephile or student of storytelling.
SEE YOU MAY 1ST!
New York Professional Actor Training comes to your home next Saturday!
Our International, Intergalactic Acting Jam continues next Saturday, featuring Master Voice & Speech Instructor, Julia Lenardon!
ABOUT JULIA LENARDON
Julia Lenardon is a professional actor and Voice/Speech/Dialect coach for film, TV and Broadway. She earned her M.F.A in Voice Teaching at York University with Master Voice Teacher, David Smukler and apprenticed at the Canadian National Voice Intensive and at The Denver Center Theatre Company.
As a theater arts educator, Julia has taught at ART/The Institute for Advanced Theatre Training at Harvard University, The National Theater School of Canada, The Banff-Citadel Professional Theatre Training Program, The American Academy of Dramatic Art and the Tom Todoroff Conservatory in NYC!
NYC Theatre coaching includes: Broadway: Associate Voice Coach "Matilda: The Musical"; Off Broadway Associate Voice Coach for "Tamburlaine" at Theatre for a New Audience; English Language coach for international comedian, Gad Elmleh’s production of "O My Gad" at Joe Papp’s Public Theater, Carnegie Hall, two International tours and 2018 Netflix Special; "Indecent", Oslo (Segal Theatre, Montreal); "Mother’s Daughter" (SoulPepper, Toronto).
Recent film/tv dialect coaching includes: Locke & Key, The Umbrella Academy 2; Transplant; X-Men Dark Phoenix and Apocalypse; The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair, Cardinal X-Men: Brooklyn, 12 Monkeys, Pacific Rim; Revenge, Immortals, and Assassins' Creed Series (Ubisoft).
And now YOU have the chance to learn from this incredible artist and coach without even leaving home!
Join us on Saturday to study with
Julia Lenardon and Tom Todoroff!
Todoroff Technique Flashcard Set
These beautiful cards were created by NYC Studio Director, Mark Guerette. An excellent way to learn and swiftly and joyfully integrate all elements of the Todoroff Technique!
