Syllabus - Conservatory

CONSERVATORY

PHILOSOPHY AND PROTOCOL

Welcome!  The adventure begins…

1.   THE WORK - "DISCIPLINE AND WILLINGNESS"

Our code of conduct is based on four deceptively simple yet powerful agreements, as per “The Four Agreements” by Don Miguel Ruiz, they are:

• Be impeccable with your word
• Don’t take anything personally
• Don’t make assumptions
• Always do your best

This philosophy promotes joy and freedom and avoids needless suffering.  This syllabus is updated often.  Refer to it continually and learn the contents herein. 

Developing your voice and speech is essential to your growth as an actor.  We recommend performing vocal floor exercises daily (in the AM and PM).  You'll learn many different exercises in Conservatory training, but here is a basic routine we recommend doing every day from now until the start of classes:

Fifteen minutes on your back with your hands on the lowest part of your abdomen, your shoulders are free, your neck is relaxed, moving back and up:

    a) Release a voiceless hissing sound, as in the consonant "S" for 5 minutes.

    b) Release a voiced humming sound, as in the consonant "M" for 5 minutes.

    c) Release a voiced sighing sound, as in the vowel "AH" for 5 minutes and allow your free voice to reach the ceiling.

 

Study the TODOROFF TECHNIQUE tools & concepts:

The 15 GUIDEPOSTS  (12 Original Guideposts can be found in Michael Shurtleff’s “Audition”, plus the final three Guideposts, created by Tom Todoroff and sanctioned by Shurtleff)

1. RELATIONSHIP
2. CONFLICT   (What am I fighting for?  How am I meddling?)
3. THE MOMENT BEFORE
4. HUMOR
5. OPPOSITES
6. DISCOVERIES
7. COMMUNICATION & COMPETITION
8. IMPORTANCE
9. FIND THE EVENTS
10. PLACE
11. ROLE PLAYING & GAME PLAYING
12. MYSTERY & SECRET
13. MISCHIEF
14. VULNERABILITY   (Am I revealing?  Or am I concealing?)
15. ARCHITECTURE

The 6 VIEWPOINTS  (the perceptual landscape of the audience and the inner field of focus of the performer)

TIME – SPACE – SHAPE – MOVEMENT – STORY – EMOTION

The 4 VARIABLES OF VOICE & SPEECH are:

RATE – INFLECTION – PITCH - DYNAMICS

The 3 basic TENETS OF ACTING are:

RELAXATION – CONCENTRATION – IMAGINATION

The 3 basic TECHNIQUES OF ACTING are:

AUDITION - REHEARSAL - PERFORMANCE

 

2.   COURSE OUTLINE – ACTING I & II

Semester 1:

• Prologue to “Romeo & Juliet” & "Hamlet's Advice to the Players"
• Contemporary & Classical Monologues

Semester 2:

• Scene-Study from Classical Plays
• On-Camera Auditioning - ongoing practice

 

Monologues you work on in class must be one to two minutes in length and scenes must run no longer than four minutes.  

When searching for monologue or scene material the first time, please choose a piece by one of over 250 authors in the list below.  This list took years to compile and it’s divided into eras for your convenience.  Working on writing by any of these authors will ensure your growth.  “If it ain’t on the page, it ain’t on the stage”!

Please note:  the point of this acting class is to learn to act, not to get through your scene or monologue.  So please know that if Tom stops you before you’ve reached the end of your performance it’s because he’s more interested in ensuring you know how to work specifically, truthfully and with relaxation from moment to moment under the given imaginary circumstances.

Constructive comments:  If invited to comment on someone's work, please be sure that your remarks are brief and limited to positive (non-directorial) observations.  Your words must be an addition to what's just been said, not a reiteration. As this is your artistic home, pick up after yourself when class concludes.

Chatting - in person or on zoom - during a performance in class is rude!  Please don't!  It's fine to use the zoom chat function to ask questions, share resources or cheer each other on - but please wait until a performance is over and we are in 'coaching' mode before you write anything because the zoom pop up chat bubble can be distracting.

Take notes:  Come prepared with materials for taking notes.  When you're performing in class, have one of your ensemble members take notes for you during the critique of your work. 

Photos and footage may be taken during the course of the class by the TT Team.  All zoom classes are recorded for educational purposes only (so current students may watch the work later if necessary).  Recordings are only made available to enrolled Conservatory members and Faculty / Staff.  Photographs or brief clips of footage may be used for TT Studio promotional purposes, but no recording of a student's full work session would ever be made public without the student's express permission.   Our intention and priority is to maintain a safe, creative space where students feel free to take risks and explore!  That's paramount.  Thank you for doing your part to support this practice.

Give up addictions.  Avoid anesthetizing your sensitivity and intuition (i.e. your talent)!

There are several reading lists below – only one is required.  The required reading must be done before your first day of class.  The lists of recommended playwrights (Appendix A) and recommended reading (Appendix B) are a gift to you.  This information took years to compile and it’s divided into eras for your convenience.

3.   REQUIRED READING LIST (in order):

• AUDITION by Michael Shurtleff
• THE FOUR AGREEMENTS by Don Miguel Ruiz

4.   RECOMMENDED PLAYWRIGHTS

(See APPENDIX A)

5.   RECOMMENDED READING LIST

         (See APPENDIX B)

6.   ATTENDANCE

Attendance is mandatory.  It is not acceptable to arrive late to class or leave early without express permission from the TTC admin team.  Students are considered absent if they are not in the classroom when the instructor closes the door at the beginning of class.  In case of emergencies or to request an absence due to extreme circumstances - please email ttcattendance@gmail.com.

7.   SCHEDULE & COMMUNICATION

Your monthly calendar will be emailed to you at least one week before the beginning of the month.

You are responsible for checking the following daily for important updates, opportunities and information:

• Your TTC email account 
• Your Student Dashboard
• Your Ensemble’s Facebook Group

8.   SMOKING

Smoking is not allowed anywhere on the premises.  We do so much work every day to build up your voice and your breath.  Smoking does the opposite.  Please don't sabotage the work we're all here to do.

9.   VISITING

No outside visitors are allowed to attend Conservatory classes during the day.  We'd love your friends to visit the weekly Saturday Workshop though!  This is the best way for a complete newcomer to be introduced to this training.  If you have a friend who is curious to visit a class / learn more about the Studio, please refer them to Emily at emoulton@tomtodoroff.com or send them the www.TomTodoroff.com website and tell them to click on "Visit a class" on the homepage.

10. QUESTIONS?

Raise your hand.  The only “dumb” question is the one that remains unasked!

See APPENDIX C for contact information.  The TT Team is happy to help you with any questions or concerns that may arise.  Please do not hesitate to reach out.

Please keep Tom apprised of your breakthroughs, concerns, triumphs, etc. by emailing him directly at tomtodoroff@mac.com.

YOU MUST KNOW:

• The 15 Guideposts
• The 6 Viewpoints
• The 4 Variables of Voice and Speech
• The 4 Agreements
• The 3 basic Tenets and the 3 Techniques before you take the stage

PRIOR TO YOUR PERFORMANCE:

• You must have done voice and speech work for 14 consecutive days
• Created flash cards and used them to learn the fundamentals above
• Rehearsed your text at least 250 times aloud (use a “clicker”)
• Dressed for your role (no general street clothes)
• And be prepared to create “place” SPECIFICALLY with furniture and props.  Always keep your costumes and props in your car, as I may request a given piece at any time. 

To  “try” is a lie, it makes you cry and then you die!

If you “try” to do it, you’ve already departed from it…

Thank you for your passion, your commitment and your contribution.   We’re glad you’re here!  You are not alone on your journey to your true self.  Your authentic self is also searching for you.  Burn bright.  Revel in your time.  The adventure continues…

Love to you,

TOM TODOROFF & the TT Team

www.tomtodoroff.com

APPENDIX A -  RECOMMENDED PLAYWRIGHTS

THE GREEKS (463 BC- 400 BC) “Poets of the world’s grief”

AESCHYLUS
Agamemnon, Oresteia

EURIPIDES
Medea, Electra, Trojan Women

SOPHOCLES
Oedipus, Antigone

17^th CENTURY: RESTORATION AND JACOBEAN TRAGEDY

CONGREVE, William
The Mourning Bride

FORD, John
Tis Pity She’s a Whore

JONSON, Ben

MARLOWE, Christopher Tamburlaine

MIDDLETON, Thomas & ROWLEY, William
The Changeling

MOLIÈRE (aka Jean-Baptiste Poquelin)

PYLE, Howard

SHAKESPEARE, William
Romeo and Juliet, Othello, etc.

SHERIDAN, Richard Brinsley
The School For Scandal

TOURNEUR, Cyril
The Revenger’s Tragedy

WEBSTER, John
The White Devil, The Duchess of Malfi

WYCHERLEY, William
The Country Wife

19^th CENTURY: VICTORIAN ERA AND THE BIRTH OF REALISM

SCANDINAVIA

IBSEN, Henrik
A Doll’s House, Hedda Gabler

STRINDBERG, Johan August
Miss Julie

GREAT BRITAIN

COWARD, Noel
Private Lives, Design for Living

DICKENS, Charles
The Frozen Deep, Great Expectations

SYNGE, John Millington
The Playboy of the Western World

WILDE, Oscar
The Importance of Being Earnest
An Ideal Husband

RUSSIA

BULGAKOV, Mikhail
Peace Plays: Adam and Eve, Zoya’s Apartment

CHEKHOV
The Seagull, The Cherry Orchard

DOSTOYEVSKY, Fyodor
Crime and Punishment

GOGOL, Nikolai
The Inspector General

GORKY, Maxim
The Lower Depths

OSTROVSKY, Aleksandr
The Tempest, The Poor Bride

TOLSTOY, Leo
War and Peace

TURGENEY, Ivan
A Month in the Country

FRANCE

DUMAS fils, Alexandre
Camille, The Natural Son

SARDOU, Victorien
Fedora, Les Merveilleuses

SCRIBE, Eugene
Night of the National Guard

GERMANY/AUSTRIA

GOETHE, Johann Wolfgang Von – Faust I

MOLNAR, Ferenc
The Devil
Liliom-became the musical Carousel

SCHILLER, Friedrich
Mary Stuart, William Tell

SCHNITZLER, Arthur, The Comedy of Seduction
Professor Bernhardi

WEDEKIND, Frank
The Awakening of Spring, Pandora’s Box

Note:  Example plays are included to intrigue and inform you of a playwright’s more famous work.  It is not in any way a restriction, but rather a starting point to investigate their texts and discover what speaks to you.

20^TH CENTURY – PRESENT: A NEW WORLD  (C=Canadian authors)

Not DOUBT by John Patrick Shanley

02/02/18

Note: New or original texts (or works by writers that don't appear above) are acceptable and encouraged, providing you submit the material to Tom for review before you begin working on it. Work on scenes and monologues that are derived from entire play scripts or screenplays (as opposed to anonymous speeches from monologue books).

APPENDIX B - RECOMMENDED READING LIST

 1.  Anne BOGART & Tina LANDAU     The Viewpoints Book

 2.  Cicely BERRY                                Voice and the Actor & The Actor and the Text

 3.  Peter BISKIND                              Easy Riders, Raging Bulls

 4.  Richard BOLESLAVSKY                The First Six Lessons

 5.  Bernie BRILLSTEIN                       Where Did I Go Right?

 6.  Linda BUZZELL                             How to Make it in Hollywood

 7.  Simon CALLOW                            Being an Actor

 8.  Deepak CHOPRA                          The Seven Spiritual Laws Of Success

 9.  Robert EVANS                              The Kid Stays in the Picture (audio version)

10.  William GOLDMAN                      Adventures In The Screen Trade

11.  Uta HAGEN                                  Respect for Acting

12.  Judy KEFF                                   Acting Is Everything

13.  Larry LANGE                               The Beatles Way

14.  Kristin LINKLATER                      Freeing the Natural Voice

15.  Art LINSON                                 A Pound of Flesh, What Just Happened?

16.  David MAMET                             True and False

17.  C.T. ONIONS                               A Shakespeare Glossary

18.  Barbara & Alan PEASE                Why Men Don't Listen And Women Can't Read Maps

19.  M. Scott PECK                            The Road Less Traveled

20.  Anthony SHER                             The Year of the King

21.  Edith SKINNER                           Speak With Distinction (know the Seven Points of Good Speech for Classic Plays)

22.  Eckhart TOLLE                             The Power of Now (audio version)

23.  Ruiz DON MIGUEL.                      The Mastery of Love

APPENDIX C - CONTACT INFORMATION

 

NEW YORK STUDIO & CONSERVATORY

212-362-8141

The Conservatory (online & in person)

conservatory@tomtodoroff.com

The Summer Intensive (online & in person)

nycsummer@tomtodoroff.com

The Saturday Workshop (online)

workshop@tomtodoroff.com

REGIONAL STUDIOS

For information on upcoming intensives offered in any of our regional studios in the USA, Canada or abroad,

please email intensive@tomtodoroff.com

 

 

last update 8/23/21