• What is Good Writing?

    Updated: 2011-01-31 10:00:57
    There are plays that I love and plays that I hate. The plays that I love engage me with their storytelling and affect me in a personal way. The plays that I hate have little story, and are best described as ‘intellectual’. I don’t mean intelligent, I mean intellectual. Actors have to deal with all [...]

  • A wee bit of criticism

    Updated: 2011-01-29 18:23:04
    Never let it be said that I don’t give my critics a voice, I thought I would have some fun and publish some of the flak I’ve received over the past two years from internet critics: “you know nothing about acting man, nothing” – Anonymous. “this guy is an idiot, you have to feel real [...]

  • Acting: A Comprehensive Summary – The Final Part

    Updated: 2011-01-28 10:00:05
    Well, after much discussion of the role of directors, it’s back to our retrospective or ‘best of the blogs’ and the final part.  So here goes: The Type of Acting Teacher You Should Probably Avoid A Very Quick Recap of Practical Aesthetics Does an Actor Need Talent? How Repetition Helps the Actor Part 1 How [...]

  • What SHOULD Directors Do?

    Updated: 2011-01-27 09:00:01
    This is the second part of my exploration of what directors do/should do. Yesterday’s blog seems to have upset some and rallied others.  I am myself a director, and am planning to direct   My issue is not really whether directors should exist or not, but instead whether they are useful or not.  If they are [...]

  • What IS it that Directors DO?

    Updated: 2011-01-26 11:00:11
    I would apologise for what I’m about to write if I didn’t think it were true… The title of today’s blog is a serious if provocative one.  I wonder and care about what directors do in rehearsal and I worry about the little useful training they receive and even when they receive plentiful training, just [...]

  • Acting a Comprehensive Summary: Part 2

    Updated: 2011-01-25 11:00:50
    So this is the second part of our retrospective look at the best of the blogs, I’ve chosen stuff that I think will help you the most: An Explanation of the Literal The Difference Between Want and Action Beware of the Placebo Important Questions for Actors Why It’s Important to Break Convention and Tradition The [...]

  • A Certificate in Acting

    Updated: 2011-01-24 16:54:16
    I am asked a lot ‘Can I get a certificate as part of this course?’  I always reply the same way ‘What for?’.   The person invariably comes around to suggesting that it is a mark of their achievement.  I usually reply that their learning would surely represent a real achievement rather than a paper one.  [...]

  • Acting: A Comprehensive Summary Part 1

    Updated: 2011-01-23 00:53:15
    For those of you coming to the blog late, or those that would like a reminder, I’ve put together this blog which brings together links to the blogs that will help you to understand where I am coming from. Often it’s not clear because of the disjointed nature of a random selection of blogs that [...]

  • Got Nerves? How to work through audition jitters

    Updated: 2011-01-20 00:34:00
    Greetings anxious actors! Today I want to address audition nerves, which is something everyone experiences (if they’re being honest, anyway.) I know I certainly do. Here are a few tips I’ve found to help work through the butterflies and turn them into “acting energy” (in the words of the beautiful and very wise instructor Larry [...]

  • The 25th Mile

    Updated: 2011-01-17 16:55:02
    There’s a phenomena that I call the 25th Mile, it’s when a student that is making significant progress, suddenly stops training with us.  It’s an awful moment for a coach or teacher as you feel that if they had stayed around just a little longer they were ready to finally get where they needed to [...]

  • Leeann Dearing 2010 Update

    Updated: 2011-01-12 20:51:52
    A 2010 update from Studio Instructor Leeann Dearing! http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Update-from-Leeann-Dearing.html?soid=1101500125361&aid=F9IzfoDCCJE

  • How To Avoid An Acting Scam

    Updated: 2011-01-11 19:58:15
    An article published by Matthew Dearing. An oldie, but a goodie. How to Avoid an Acting “Scam” A Guide to the Arizona Film Market (PRWEB) October 8, 2007 — With the migration of Hollywood films to Arizona comes an influx of talent scams. Hopeful actors are often all too quick to buy into the promise [...]

  • Learning Your Cues

    Updated: 2011-01-09 16:45:59
    Since actors first took to the stage, they have learned a simple rule of their craft, do not speak your line until the other fellow has spoken their cue line first. Proud parents laugh to themselves when someone else’s child speaks out of turn in the nativity, breaking this well known, common sense law. It’s [...]

  • The Audience Can’t Tell Good Acting from Great Acting

    Updated: 2011-01-08 02:57:44
    It is my belief, controversial as it may be, that the audience cannot tell good acting from great acting.  In fact, I’d go as far as saying, they don’t really know the difference.  They know when something is too awful for words, like when the person can’t animate a sentence, but beyond that, when we [...]

  • Am I Too Old To Act?

    Updated: 2011-01-07 22:50:48
    Hello actors! Leeann Dearing here, with one of my very least favorite questions. Am I too old to act? No. No. No, no. No. No. Did I mention “No?” This is a questions we get asked. A lot. And hear our answer, world, once and for all: Your career can begin at any age! Where [...]

  • February Acting Classes

    Updated: 2011-01-07 21:36:14
    If you’ve ever watched a TV show and thought “I could do that…” If you’ve ever asked yourself “what if?” Don’t look back and wonder why you never tried! Our students are booking work in Phoenix, LA and all over the country. Come see us at our new location, right off of Shea and the [...]

  • Email Updates Now Available

    Updated: 2011-01-05 23:24:35
    You can now get updates for Dramatic Impact: Acting and Theatre in Alberta via email. This is a great option if you prefer to get your updates in your email inbox rather than through a feed reader. To sign up for email updates, visit the Dramatic Impact web site, enter your primary email address, and [...]

  • Acting Resources: Podcasts about Acting and Theatre

    Updated: 2011-01-05 21:41:46
    I have started to build a permanent page to entice you to check out other acting and theatre podcasts that I find inspiring. The new page on the Dramatic Impact: Acting and Theatre in Alberta web site includes links to each podcast on iTunes, the podcast web site, and to the rss feed. In some [...]

Current Feed Items | Previous Months Items

Dec 2010 | Nov 2010 | Oct 2010 | Sep 2010 | Aug 2010 | Jul 2010