Know something about lighting design, about set design, about stage management, about writing. The actors get most of the praise—but there are all these other artists. Acting is important and you have to work hard at it, but you’re not working any harder than anyone else. — Alan Mandell On the show today is Alan […]
Ep #18: Tony Amendola (Regional Theatre, Berkeley Rep, Stargate SG-1) on Stamping Your Own Passport and Following the Work
Being an actor in Los Angeles can be—if you’re not careful—living off the interest of your talent and experience. And every so often, you need to make a deposit, and that can be doing theatre in LA, New York, in the regions, or it can be a self-generated project, but you do need to do […]
Ep #17: Robert Goldsby (Columbia/ACT/UC Berkeley; Directed 150+ plays, 60+ years in theatre) on the Aliveness of Molière, Clear Transitions, and Being Blissfully Happy
Plays are intensely personal to the writers—when they write them, they’re imagining something that’s very vivid to them. You have to get into their head and try to find another vividness that’s truthful to the original. I’m all for the playwright; that’s where you go to study. — Robert Goldsby On the show today is […]
Ep #16: Ray Porter (Oregon Shakespeare Festival, 300+ Audiobooks) on Delivering the Mail, Being Your Advocate, and Good-Natured Arrogance
So don't be surprised!
The biggest downfall of actors is when they start to get very pleased with themselves because they’re actors; having something else that will keep you a bit humble is a good thing. — Ray Porter On the show today is Ray Porter, an actor who spent 18 seasons with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival playing all sorts […]
A Tribute to Philip Bosco, with Armin Shimerman and Peter Van Norden
A lot of actors my age thought of Phil Bosco as a god. ~ Armin Shimerman No one spoke better than Phil Bosco. ~ Peter Van Norden We have a special episode today. It’s a tribute to the actor Philip Bosco. In this, you’ll hear the voices of Armin Shimerman, Peter Van Norden, and Phil […]
Ep #15: Dawn Didawick (Regional Theatre, Erin Brockovich, Pretty Little Liars) on Being a Sponge, No Credentials, and Daring to Fail
If you do your work, people will want to work with you again, if they can, if they have the power to do it—and they’ll want to work with you years later. — Dawn Didawick On the show today is Dawn Didawick, an LA-based actor who has worked at numerous regional theatres, has lived and worked […]
Ep #14: Francis Guinan (30 years with Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre, Boss with Kelsey Grammar) on Being Blue Collar and Slightly Undisciplined
You don’t have to act so much. Over the course of [August: Osage County], I ended up doing less and less and less, and ended up revealing more and more and more about the character. — Francis Guinan We continue with season two and today on the show is Francis Guinan, a Chicago-based actor who has […]
Ep #13: Tony-Winner Reed Birney (The Humans, Casa Valentina, House of Cards, The Blacklist) on Actor Despair and Roles That Scare You
Always tell the truth, but in the most interesting way possible. The range of human experience and expression is vast. There are many ways to react to a situation and still have it be utterly and deeply truthful. — Reed Birney Welcome back to season 2 and I’m excited to have actor and teacher Reed Birney […]
Ep #12: Dakin Matthews (Shakespeare scholar/actor/teacher, Broadway plays/musicals) on Acting the Classics and Your Artistic Family
Actors are challenged to bring their instrument to the highest level of availability—their voice, their movement, their psyche, their understanding, their emotional life—so that if they are doing a great play that deals with great issues and great emotions, they can fill that greatness with their instrument. — Dakin Matthews I’m thrilled to welcome Dakin […]
Ep #11: Ben Whitehair (Z Nation, Tweetup, NextGen Performers) on Building Relationships and Intelligent Rule-Breaking
So don't be surprised!
When I stopped measuring my progress and success by what I booked, and measured it by the quantity and quality of relationships I was making, everything changed. — Ben Whitehair I’m thrilled to welcome Ben to the show! As you’ve already guessed, he is a younger actor and has been pursuing acting professionally for about 10 […]