One or two full days of personalized coaching on scene, monologue and/or audition technique with Tom Todoroff. Intensives are held one to four times per year in select cities in the U.S., Canada and abroad. Each day of training begins approximately 9-10am and runs until approximately 5-7pm. Participants may observe the Intensive or come prepared with a scene/monologue/audition piece.
Things to know:
- All correspondence pertaining to the Intensive will be done by email. No phone calls please except in the case of a true emergency.
- It is your responsibility to check your email regularly. If you have not heard back from us, please resend the email.
- Please include your phone number and email address in all correspondence.
- Those who apply to Perform, if accepted, will be emailed their Acceptance Letter which will contain payment information.
- Performers will receive personalized coaching from Tom on their prepared piece of material.
- Observers and Newcomer Observers may enroll directly on the website – they do not need to wait on an acceptance letter.
- Observers and Newcomer Observers will not be coached by Tom personally (enroll as a Performer if you want to get coached by Tom!)
- Walk-ins are not guaranteed a spot at the Intensive. To guarantee your spot, you must enroll ahead of time and receive confirmation of your enrollment before attending.
- Intensives fill up QUICKLY. Don’t wait to apply.
- Should you require further information, please email Intensive@TomTodoroff.com and make sure to specify the city & date of the Intensive in question.
What to expect:
Performing Actors:
- Upon acceptance, Performers will be emailed a Welcome Package which includes our Syllabus and tools for the training.
- Performers may choose to work on a 1-2 minute monologue, a 3-4 minute scene with a scene partner, or work on their cold read audition technique.
- First Time Performers (those who have not yet been coached by Tom) – we recommend you work on a monologue or an audition rather than a scene, as the work is diagnostic your first time. If you are admitted within one week of the Intensive, you will be working on an audition piece (we will issue you the sides), unless you have a 1-2 minute monologue that you feel is fully prepared.
- Scene Options: Enroll with a friend, or request to be assigned a scene partner (dependent on actor availability). Prepare a 3-4 minute scene of your choosing. Your material must be approved by the TT Team BEFORE you start rehearsing. We’re happy to give you suggestions!
- Monologue Options: Prepare a 1-2 minute monologue of your choosing. Your material choice must be approved by the TT Team BEFORE you start rehearsing. We’re happy to give you suggestions!
- Cold Read Audition Option: Receive your “audition” sides the day before the Intensive. You will be performing your audition opposite a reader who will be seated in the audience.
- Back up material – Performers working on a scene or a monologue, please always come prepared with an additional 1-2 minute monologue if coaching requires it. Ideally you know this second piece off-book, but if you don’t, it’s fine to bring the script and read this second piece if necessary.
- You may choose a piece from our Suggested Scenes & Suggested Monologues Lists which will be in your Welcome Package email.
- You may choose a piece by one of the 250+ authors within our Syllabus found in your Welcome Package email.
- Stay away from famous plays and blockbuster films
- Do not watch a version of the text you want to perform
- Read the entire play and understand the play.
- Choose age appropriate material.
- Appropriate dialect for the text. Please only work on a piece that requires a dialect if you are well-rehearsed and completely comfortable working in that dialect.
- Wear appropriate clothes for the period.
- Basic furniture (chairs and a table) will be provided by the theater.
- Any additional props or furniture must be supplied by the actor. These must be taken home each night.
Observers & Newcomer Observers:
- Commitment to learn and take notes.
- Respect for actors and their performances.
- Please no walking in and out while the work is taking place.
- NOTE: Observers watch the work – they do not perform.
The Work:
INCREASE YOUR VITALITY, SELF-EXPRESSION, AND CAPACITY FOR JOY
Actors of all levels, students, artists, musicians , and professionals, etc. are warmly welcomed to join this supportive environment.
The work is all encompassing and prescriptive, based on each individual’s specific needs. It is designed to help the actor shed “competitive defense mechanisms,” facilitating access to one’s unique vulnerability, which is the cornerstone of all great acting.
THE RATE OF PROGRESS AND TRANSFORMATION IS BREATHTAKING
Individual will is powerful. Like-minded group support is omnipotent. The moment you believe that you are too overwhelmed “to show up” is usually a mysterious gift, as it is the moment of your breakthrough. Don’t miss it, walk through this perceived fire, rather than be consumed by it – THE ART OF SHOWING UP.
YOUR MOST DIRECT ROUTE TO BEING A WORKING ACTOR IS TO STUDY AND TRAIN WITH THOSE WHO HAVE MANIFESTED PROFESSIONAL WORK THEMSELVES.
All participants will share in an unforgettable experience full of insight, humor, spontaneity and surprise. Those who choose the performance option will present the work of their choice onstage, receiving personal direction from Tom as he teaches by example. As strong writing creates strong actors, challenging scrips are desireable, upon enrollment performers are given a class syllabus and personalized guidance regarding their choice of material.
You will learn how to:
- strengthen and find your true voice
- seek your own good opinion
- be a text detective
- change the molecules in the room
- have talent for your talent
- think like a producer
- be the acting “CEO” of your own corporation
- dare us not to cast you
- know when you’re ready to get an agent
- be truly free by remaining unattached to the outcome
- de-mystify the process and become an acting athlete
- transform nervousness into intense excitement
- act moment to moment and find the need for every line
- harness the power of the outer casting office
- be expressive rather than impressive
- personalize a role and work from yourself
- vanquish the unspoken pact
- and much more!
Your will learn why:
- the moment before can get you the job
- there are no “characters” in your script
- the words “random” and “whatever” are dangerous
- two hundred and fifty is a magic number
- your acting has little to do with why we cast you
- and much more!
Tom has been coaching and directing actors in New York, Hollywood and around the world for over thirty-five years.