January 31, 2021
Major Tom to Ground Control
Our Weekly Recap, Resources & Recommendations for Actors, Directors & Creatives
"Release 'I guess? Embrace 'YES!"
Thanks to those of you who joined us yesterday for the Saturday Workshop featuring Master Voice & Speech Coach, Andrew Wade!
Go here to learn about the Saturday Workshop!
The Work
Cold Read Audition
with Danielle Johnson, Sylvia Stewart, Lars Classington
COLD READ AUDITION
with Kathryn Schneider, Carolyn Kennedy, Lars Classington
COLD READ AUDITION
with Gina Beretta, Hillary Mazer, Lars Classington
Loose Knit
by Theresa Rebeck
with Jereen Ignatious
Sonnets for an Old Century
by José Rivera
for the The Kennedy Center Association Theatre Festival
with Gina Marie Erickson
Hey Members!
Login below to access your Membership Dashboard!
Here are the latest additions to your video library:
- Coaching Sessions from last Saturday (Jan 23rd): "The Women" by Clare Boothe Luce; "Death of a Salesman" by Arthur Miller; "King John" by Shakespeare
- Lessons from Tom: from last Saturday (Jan 23rd): "Fighting and Fleeing vs. Reading"; "Your imagination is unlimited, your past is finite"; "Your rehearsal is discovery, always looking forward"; "Raise your joy tolerance"
- Voice & Speech Lessons: from last Saturday (Jan 23rd): Julia Lenardon's Voice & Breath Workout for releasing tension.
FRIENDLY REMINDER
Our next Monthly Member Meeting (aka our Fireside Chat) is coming up this Thursday February 4th at 5:00pm EST!
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 Beatles "Tomorrow Never Knows" & "Good Day Sunshine"
OUTRO People's Choice "Do It Any Way You Wanna"
Recommended This Week
This week, our recommendations honor the pioneering actors, Cloris Leachman and Cicely Tyson.
It's hard to overstate the impact these two artists had on female and black actors for generations to come - if not humanity as a whole.
In the words of Wesley Morris of the New York Times, "[Cicely Tyson was] a vessel through whom an entire grotesque entertainment history ceased to pass because she dammed it off; so that — in her loveliness, grace, rectitude and resolve — she could dare to forge an alternative."
WATCH
“The Last Picture Show”
In 1951, a group of high schoolers come of age in a bleak, isolated, atrophied North Texas town that is slowly dying, both culturally and economically.
Directed by Peter Bogdanovich. Written by Larry McMurtry (screenplay), Peter Bogdanovich (screenplay). Starring Timothy Bottoms, Jeff Bridges, Cybill Shepherd.
After [Cloris Leachman's] emotional Oscar-winning performance in “The Last Picture Show,” Director, Peter Bogdanovich says he was blown away when she demonstrated her range in Mel Brooks’ “Young Frankenstein” a few years later. “I had never seen that kind of exaggerated comedy from her.”
Available on YouTube and Amazon Prime
“Young Frankenstein”
An American grandson of the infamous scientist, struggling to prove that his grandfather was not as insane as people believe, is invited to Transylvania, where he discovers the process that reanimates a dead body.
Directed by Mel Brooks. Written by Gene Wilder (screen story and screenplay). Starring Gene Wilder, Madeline Kahn, Cloris Leachman and Marty Feldman.
Available on Hulu, YouTube and Amazon Prime
"Sounder"
The oldest son of a loving and strong family of black sharecroppers comes of age in the Depression-era South after his father is imprisoned for stealing food.
Directed by Martin Ritt, Writen by Lonne Elder III (screenplay), William H. Armstrong (novel) Starring Cicely Tyson, Paul Winfield, Kevin Hooks
Available on Amazon
WATCH
"The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman"
Story of a black woman in the South who was born into slavery in the 1850s and lives to become a part of the civil rights movement in the 1960s.
Directed by John Korty. Writen by Tracy Keenan Wynn (screenplay), Ernest J. Gaines (novel) Starring Cicely Tyson, Eric Brown, Richard Dysart
Available on Hulu, HBO Max, YouTube and Amazon prime
WATCH
"Trip to Bountiful"
In 1940s Texas, an elderly woman is determined to visit her childhood home for one last time.
Directed by Peter Masterson. Writen by Horton Foote (screenplay) and Horton Foote (play). Starring Geraldine Page, John Heard & Carlin Glynn
Available only on Amazon prime
SEE YOU JANUARY 23RD!
New York Professional Actor Training comes to your home next Saturday!
Your First Class is Free!
Our International, Intergalactic Acting Jam continues next Saturday, featuring Voice & Speech Master Teacher - Paul D'Agostino!
Paul D’Agostino is a highly accomplished instructor and theater artist! D'Agostino is currently on Faculty at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee where he teaches Theater, Voice & Speech and The Alexander Technique.
Trained by and designated to teach The Linklater Method (also known as “Freeing the Natural Voice”) by the world-renowned voice pedagogue and theater artist Kristin Linklater, D'Agostino has also served on the faculties of Emerson College, Gordon College, Shakespeare & Company, and Boston University – where he taught for the Boston University Summer Theatre Institute for seven years.
Since 2013, D’Agostino has been the resident voice instructor for Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, which has afforded him the opportunity to teach in the Summer Apprentice Program, coach mainstage actors, and offer workshops on the intersection of actor training and public speaking for M.B.A. candidates at Babson College.
A longtime member of Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, Massachusetts, he ran the youth training program Riotous Youth (2011-2012), taught in the Month-long Intensive (2020), and acted in numerous productions on the main stage and on tour.
He’s also facilitated workshops at Brandeis University, Boston Arts Academy, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Extension School, Wheelock Family Theatre, the Tom Todoroff Acting Studio, and the ReachArts Center in Swampscott, Massachusetts. His acting credits include work with acclaimed director Irina Brook, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, The Hanover Theatre, North Shore Music Theatre, SpeakEasy Stage Company, Gloucester Stage Company, The Devanaughn Theatre, and Boston Playwrights’ Theatre.
D'Agostino holds an M.F.A. in theater education (with a concentration in voice and speech) from Boston University, an M.M. in musical theater from The Boston Conservatory, and a B.A. in theater arts from Gordon College. Additional training includes seminars on vocal health and rehabilitation at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary; extensive study at Shakespeare & Company with Kevin Coleman, Tina Packer, and Dennis Krausnick; Alexander Technique with Debra Adams, Jamee Culbertson, Tommy Thompson, Bob Lada, and Betsy Polatin; and Linklater apprenticeship under master teacher Paula Langton at Boston University. In 2019, he graduated from The Boston Conservatory Alexander Technique Teacher Training Course — a three-year, 1600-hour teacher training program.
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
Paul D'Agostino and Tom Todoroff!
The Guidepost Card 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!
