The following is the text work session taken from the full episode with Francis. In this excerpt we discuss performing a speech from Jessica Dickey’s The Rembrandt, which premiered at Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago in 2017 with Francis in the cast, alongside John Mahoney (known by many as the dad on Frasier), and who was also another longtime ensemble […]
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 […]
Text Work: Mini-Shakespeare Master Class with Dakin Matthews
A great speech is like an aria: it has a musical structure, and it is normally clearly marked where the emotional climaxes are, if you know how to read the rhetoric. — Dakin Matthews We have a BONUS episode today with a mini-Shakespeare master class with Dakin! This “class” is taken from the full conversation with […]
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 […]
