The Working Actor's Journey

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Ep #24: Tony-Winner L. Scott Caldwell (Broadway, Regional Theatre, The Fugitive, Lost, A Million Little Things) on Self-Doubt, Pretending vs. Being, and Meeting Your Destiny

Published January 7, 2020 | Last Updated January 13, 2020 Leave your thoughts »

Scotty in Gem of the Ocean

The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step, but if you don’t even know the direction you’re going in, the step you’re taking may be away from your ultimate mission or destiny. — L. Scott Caldwell   If you’re looking for what it takes to be an actor long-term, over the course of […]



Filed Under: Episodes, Podcast Tagged With: auditions, august wilson, awards, broadway, california, chicago, film, los angeles, new york, rejection, theatre, tony award, tv, uta hagen

Ep #23: Simon Vance (1000+ Audiobooks: Millennium series, Sherlock Holmes, Jerusalem, The King’s Speech, The Tao of Pooh) on Feeding the Birds, Pushing Yourself, and Wanting More

Published December 10, 2019 | Last Updated November 22, 2020 Leave your thoughts »

I thought being an actor wasn’t for grown-up people, but it didn’t matter whether I considered it that—I discovered it was essential for my soul that I threw myself into this. — Simon Vance   If you’re looking for what it takes to be an actor long-term, over the course of your LIFE, then you’ve come […]



Filed Under: Episodes, Podcast Tagged With: audiobooks, auditions, awards, bay area, bbc, blind, brighton, california, film, london, los angeles, narrator, radio, san francisco, theatre, tv

Ep #20: Arye Gross (South Coast Rep, Regional Theatre, Minority Report, Castle, 100+ Film/TV credits) on Deep Curiosity, Inspiring Empathy, and Bringing Your Life into the Scene

Published May 14, 2019 | Last Updated November 22, 2020 Leave your thoughts »

Arye Gross as Uncle Vanya

There’s something that stirs in us when we watch a performance that has something authentic in it, and the best way I know to at least attempt to get to something authentic is showing up with what actually happened to me today. — Arye Gross   On the show today is Arye Gross, an actor […]



Filed Under: Episodes, Podcast Tagged With: antaeus, california, class, classical, dan aykroyd, daniel stern, ellen degeneres, film, los angeles, luis valdez, movies, regional theatre, roy london, sitcom, solo show, south coast repertory, teatro campesino, theatre, tv, uc irvine, wonder years

Ep #19: Alan Mandell (The Actor’s Workshop, Waiting for Godot/Endgame, Shortbus) on Samuel Beckett, Theatre Artists, and Always Working

Published April 9, 2019 | Last Updated December 30, 2020 Leave your thoughts »

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 […]



Filed Under: Episodes, Podcast Tagged With: beckett, california, canada, classical, directing, endgame, godot, mother courage, new york, prison, radio, san francisco, san quentin, success, theatre, toronto, tv, work

Text Work: Shakespeare’s Sonnet 130 with Tony Amendola

Published March 26, 2019 | Last Updated November 4, 2021 Leave your thoughts »

Tony Amendola Lear

The following is the text work session taken from the full episode with Tony. In this excerpt, Tony discusses Sonnet 130 by William Shakespeare. As Tony shares, it’s almost like an “anti-love” sonnet, that it makes fun of sonnets that are too flowery, as it has a very different tone and style with its message. You’ll hear […]



Filed Under: Podcast, Text Work Tagged With: antaeus, berkeley, california, classical, connecticut, directing, film, iago, lear, mfa, oregon, san francisco, shakespeare, sonnet, text work, theatre, tv

Ep #18: Tony Amendola (Regional Theatre, Berkeley Rep, Stargate SG-1) on Stamping Your Own Passport and Following the Work

Published March 12, 2019 | Last Updated May 11, 2019 2 Comments - add more!

Tony Amendola as Shylock

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 […]



Filed Under: Episodes, Podcast Tagged With: antaeus, berkeley, california, classical, connecticut, directing, film, iago, lear, mfa, oregon, san francisco, shakespeare, sonnet, text work, theatre, tv

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

Published February 12, 2019 | Last Updated January 30, 2021 4 Comments - add more!

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 […]



Filed Under: Episodes, Podcast Tagged With: ACT, antaeus, army, berkeley, california, classical, columbia, directing, moliere, new york, san francisco, shakespeare, text work, theatre, war

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UNCLE VANYA Final Session: “Echoes of the Past” – Chekhov – Act 2 – The Rehearsal Room [Video, Audio, and Transcript versions]

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Ep #10: Gigi Bermingham on Being a Misfit and Living Your Dream

Ep #10: Gigi Bermingham on Being a Misfit and Living Your Dream


Ep #5: Geoffrey Wade on People vs. Characters and Doing Your Job


Harry Groener

Ep #4: 3x Tony-Nominee Harry Groener on Versatility and Learning Lines Quickly

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