Extraordinary Acting Classes in Seattle this Summer at Freehold Theatre Lab/Studio

Outstanding acting and playwriting classes are now open for registration at Freehold Theatre in Seattle. Freehold Theatre is a Seattle acting studio and theatre that for 20 years has been providing extraordinary theatre and fantastic classes. We are privileged to have highly acclaimed artists as faculty including John Jacobsen, Amy Thone, George Lewis, Darragh Kennan, Elizabeth Heffron and many more.

We offer beginning acting classes as well as classes for the advanced acting student. There is truly something for everyone at Freehold. While many of our classes do not begin until July 2012, be sure and sign up before May 29th and get a 5% early bird discount and secure your spot in a class as our classes fill quickly.

Here is the complete list of our great Summer 2012 offerings ...

Step I: Intro to Acting with Meg McLynn
Step I: Intro to Acting with Stefan Enriquez
Step II: Acting with Text with Meg McLynn
Step III: Basic Scene Study with Dan Tierney
Rehearsal and Performance with Darragh Kennan
Personal Clown with George Lewis
Movement Intensive with George Lewis
Shakespeare Intensive with Amy Thone
Acting for the Camera with John Jacobsen
New Play Lab with Elizabeth Heffron
Public Speaking with Gin Hammond

Registration is available online at:
http://www.freeholdtheatre.org/summer-acting-classes-seattle-are-now-open-registration
or by calling us at (206) 323-7499

If you are looking for outstanding training in a supportive atmosphere, Freehold is the place.

Freehold Theatre
2222 2nd Avenue, Suite 200
Seattle, WA 98121
(206) 323-7499

The Perfect Place to Have a Mid-life Crisis by Lori Stein

“When the class was over, she walked through the city, feeling a single emotion in her whole body and mind. At first she couldn’t identify what it was: then she realized it was fear. Oh, she thought, I must be afraid that I can’t do it - that I won’t be able to do a forward roll, that I’ll be thrown too hard and break a bone, that I’ll fail. But that didn’t feel like the truth, and she began to realize that what she was afraid of was that she would be able to do it, that it would become a passion, and it would change her in ways she couldn’t predict or understand.”
- Dave and Bush, Compassion in Action

I came across this passage about two years before I found the lump in my breast. That morning in the shower, when I made the discovery, I realized that I had to face the truth. I was afraid of the lump, but my fear was not of the lump alone — I could go the rest of my life without being faithful to my desires. The truth was, I wanted to be an actor. In fact, I had wanted this since high school, but put the desire aside. This brush with mortality woke me up. I wasn’t afraid of dying; I was afraid of living and not being true to myself.

After a series of tests, I found out the lump was benign. Now I had no excuse to hold back, but once again, fear and self-doubt crept in. I wanted to take a class in acting, but I had a picture in my mind of what the actors would look like: Young, hip, beautiful— they probably would wear berets and chain smoke. I was 41, lived in the suburbs, drove a mini-van, and had never even considered owning a beret. I was happily married, with two kids, two dogs, and a cat. I was a freaking cliché. But I was armed with my sense of a new lease on life. “Fuck it,” I thought.

I found Freehold through a Google search and was encouraged by their mission statement: “We at Freehold believe that theatre should inspire people to embrace the full range of human experience and connect us all more deeply to ourselves and to each other. In order for theatre to accomplish this, it must be truthful, illuminate the unseen, and articulate the unspoken. To realize this potential, there must be a place dedicated to research and experimentation in training and performance for working artists, inspired novices, and willing audiences.”

I was relieved to read that their training was for inspired novices as well as working artists. Embracing the full range of human experience, cool. Freehold’s mission statement was an invitation, an extended hand. So, I saved them in my favorites.

A week later I was sitting on a bleacher watching my son’s Little League game in Redmond, and my husband and I struck up a conversation with another couple. We decided to have dinner together, and in the car I told them that I was thinking of taking an acting class. Cris, told me he was also considering a class. It turned out that he used to do quite a bit of acting and had been researching schools. He said that he had heard really great things about Freehold and told me about their upcoming Open House. I couldn’t imagine that just a few years later, we would be performing together. That we’d be working in the same theater company, more than once playing the unhappily married couple.

I decided to attend the Open House.

So, yes, I got in my mini-van and began my adventure. Well, I was late. The presentations were over and people were standing around talking. I told the nice woman working the reception table about my interest in taking a class and asked her who I could talk with. She pointed me in the direction of a young man surrounded by many other young men and women. I swear he was wearing a beret, but over the years this has been disputed, as he said he never owned one. I was so shy I just stood on the outside of the circle as more cool young men and women surrounded him. Slowly making my way further from the center, I decided to leave. It was true: Acting was just for these people—cool, young, dressed in berets and scarves. I was almost to the door when the nice woman asked me if I got to talk to someone. I said, "It’s okay, I think he’s really busy." I began to walk, but she stopped me again and said, I have someone who can talk to you. She led me back into the building and pointed to the farthest corner of the room. There was a grey-haired man, alone by the radiator. She said that this man was George Lewis and he taught one of the beginning acting classes. I said to him, Is this a good place to have my mid-life crisis? He looked at me, straight in the eyes, with so much intensity and honesty -- "This is the perfect place to have a mid-life crisis." So, I took that first class, Intro to Acting on a Sunday evening, and the course of my life changed forever.

In one of my first classes we had to prepare an activity, a task which should be difficult, with high stakes, while living truthfully in the imaginary circumstance. I prepared to make a pineapple boat. I worked for hours on this plan. George watched me as I crashed and burned. I was disconnected and working hard, my face was flushed and my pineapple boat sucked. The painful few minutes ended. I waited for applause, but only heard- Next?

The next time, I prepared a new circumstance: my brilliant stolen diamond ring caper; my activity: cutting lemons. I was convinced that this was going to be better than the pineapple boat. George said, you are using a sledgehammer when you only need to apply a tap. Relax.

Later in my Rehearsal and Performance I started crying during one of the warm-up games, like word ball or something. I couldn’t remember the words and got really frustrated and left the Circle. My teacher with the disputed beret found me in the hall. I can tell you really want this, Lori: trust yourself and relax.

I was trying so hard to be perfect. I was reminded to let go, trust myself, stay in the moment, listen.

I continued into The Meisner Progression where there were many opportunities to practice all of the above. I continued on and graduated from the 2005-06 Ensemble Training Intensive program. I felt a sense of community and purpose. The experiences I gained fed into my home life. My daughter’s life was influenced; she’s a writer, studying in New York; after seeing me in a show adapted from Raymond Carver’s writings, she was inspired to delve more deeply into the philosophy of the short story. My friends who rarely saw live theatre began to come to my performances. My husband, whose day job is in computer technology, now also does stage photography for theatre companies. My own life was so enriched, but I never expected the incredible richness it would add to others.

As for me, I am continually working on letting go, trusting myself, staying in the moment, and listening. I believe I am more real and grounded than ever. I care less and less about my perceived mid-life crisis, and more about other people. Acting has become my passion, and it has changed my life in ways I could never have imagined.


Photo above: Lori performing in "It's a Wonderful Life" - A live radio play.

Freehold's Annual Auction 2012 - Look at Our Great Auction Items!

FREEHOLD'S ANNUAL DINNER & AUCTION
Monday, May 7, 2012
Doors open & Silent Auction: 5:30 pm
Dinner & Live Auction: 7:00 pm

Tom Douglas' Palace Ballroom
2100 5th Avenue, Seattle
Business and festive attire welcome!
Auction table for 8: $400
Auction table for 10: $500
To purchase a table, contact us at (206) 323-7499
Individual tickets: purchase via Freehold's office.

Here are just some of our SPECTACULAR Auction items you'll get to bid on ...

Sunset Sailing Dinner Cruise - up to 4 guests are invited to join the Weatbrooks on their sailboat for dinner and a sunset cruise on Lake Union, Puget Sound, or through the Lake Washington ship canal. Includes full dinner and beverages.

Freehold Board Member and trained pilot David Friedt will take a lucky person and 3 of their guests through a flight simulator session. This is one of 5 full motion simulators and each simulator is a specific make and model of aircraft. You will be in the Dash 8-300 simulator. The session planning allows for 3 people plus the instructor and will include take-offs, landings and flight training airwork, plus a flight to another destination.

One week at Casa Lora, Monterosso Calabro, Italy - Explore and relax in this small town in Italy, high in the hills of Calabria. Casa Lora is a small house, with sleeping accommodations for four adults. It's a little over 200 years old, rehabilitated and newly furnished in the last five years. Monterosso is best visited in the spring or the fall, avoiding the intense heat of high summer and the chilly winds of midwinter. The purchase of a week at Casa Lora will include a gourmet dinner and orientation at the home of owners Mick Gamache and Lora Robertson in the Magnolia neighborhood of Seattle. Package does not include airfare.

Chelsea Station Inn, one night stay in an 800 square foot suite - suite can accompany 2-4 people. Enjoy a night away at a lovely Bed & Breakfast in the Woodland Park neighborhood.

Adriatic Grill - $50 Gift Certificate. One yelp reviewer proclaimed this was this favorite restaurant to dine in in all of Tacoma!

Babeland - Gift Bag. The always popular goodie bag from the trendy, arty adult store Babeland aims to please.



Bellevue Arts Museum - 4 guest passes to a local treasure of a museum that presents contemporary art of the Washington state region and has programs that connect art, community and everyday life. Haven't checked in out yet? Here's your chance!

Bellevue Civic Theatre - Treat yourself to some theatre! 2 Season Tickets to Bellevue Civic Theatre



Bill Speidel's Underground Tour - Pass for 2 Underground Tour - Whether you're expecting some friends or relatives in town and want to show them a unique part of Seattle history or you haven't had a chance to check out this fun tour yourself, this is the one for you!

Book-It Repertory Theatre - Family Four Pack to Book-It Family Fun Day. "Literature Meet Theatre". Book-It's popular kid-focused family gatherings are a great chance to see the energetic productions that their education department tours to thousands of young people all over Washington State. This season's series features more great children's literature with book-themed craft projects and post-show workshops.

Cappy's Boxing Gym - 5 Boxing Fitness Classes. Cappy's Seattle boxing gym offers boxing lessons and fitness classes for all ages. One testimonial reported: "Cappy's is the real deal. I started boxing lessons two weeks ago, and this is by far the most amazing hour and a half workout I've ever endured, but it's so much more than just a workout. You learn real technique, practice with all the right equipment, and spar with the right kind of people."


Cedarbrook Lodge - Northwest Get Away Package, 1 night deluxe queen room and dinner for 2 (sustainable farm-to-table). Get away without the hassle of fighting traffic - relax in your own backyard at Cedarbrook. Eighteen lush acres of natural restored wetlands provide an optimal location with the ambiance of a discreet hideaway. Comfortable accommodations, unexpected amenities, contemporary event spaces, original works of art and seasoned service reflect Cedarbrook's quintessential Northwest style.

Dimitriou's Jazz Alley - Admission covers for 2. Voted 4 times in a row as Best Jazz Club in The Best of Western Washington Contest.

Doe Bay Village - $100 Gift Certificate for Resort. A relaxing waterfront resort on thirty-eight acres in the San Juan Islands, with rustic cabins, yurts, and campsites. Whether you enjoy getting out into the wilderness, or just relaxing waterside, Doe Bay has it all. The Doe Bay Café serves the finest gourmet meals in the islands, locally grown in the Doe Bay Garden or on neighboring farms along with locally harvested fresh seafood.

Interbay Golf Course - One Hour Group Lesson for 3 Students. Have you wanted to learn to play golf or perhaps improve your golf swing? Lessons can help! Health benefits have been reported with playing golf including staying fit, helping you to reduce stress or helping you develop a sense of community connectedness. Time to "tee off!"

John Howie Restaurants - $50 Gift Certificates for SeaStar (South Lake Union), John Howie Steak (Bellevue), and Sport (Seattle). Experience the Northwest’s premier dining experience. Comfortable surroundings, prime custom-aged steaks, side dishes that define culinary excellence and an award winning wine list featuring bottles from near and far.

K1 Speed - Electric Indoor Kart Racing - 2 gift cards for 14 lap race and license. Tap into your inner kid and do some laps!

Macrina Bakery & Café - 2 Macrina T-Shirts & Gift Certificate good for 1 loaf of bread a month for one year. There is nothing like freshly baked bread and Macrina is renowned for their amazing breads.

On The Boards - 2 tickets to any regular performance. OtB has become a leading center for the creation and presentation of contemporary performance.

Seattle International Film Festival - Two Full Series Passes to SIFF 2012. Fill up on SIFF's amazing films during their upcoming highly lauded Film Festival - May 17 - June 10.

Seattle Repertory Theatre - One pair of tickets to the Seattle Repertory Theatre's 50th Anniversary Season. One of the largest and most renowned regional theatres in the country, Seattle Repertory Theatre produces a mix of classics, recent Broadway hits and cutting-edge new works in two theatre spaces.

Smith Brothers Farms - Home Delivery Package. They deliver farm-fresh milk and dairy products right to your door once a week. What could be better?





Teatro Zinzanni - 2 admisions, 3 hour performance and five course gourmet meal. eatro ZinZanni's main event is part circus, part dinner theatre, and always magical. Described as "the Kit Kat Klub on acid" and "the hottest ticket in town" Teatro ZinZanni is a night out unlike any other.

The 5th Avenue Theatre - 2 Tickets to Rent. Jonathan Larson's electrifying tale of East Village artists won everything — the Tony, the Obie, the Pulitzer. Our exuberant new staging showcases a cast of young, home-grown, musical theater stars.

The Film School - Full tuition to 3 week Intensive. The 3-Week Intensive is TheFilmSchool’s cornerstone program, and renowned around the world as “life-changing.” Since 2004, the “Bootcamp” has championed many independent filmmakers by encouraging a crafted creative process with a focus on original and deeply personal storytelling.

Tom Douglas Dahlia Lounge - Dinner for 4 at Dahlia Lounge and a signed copy of Tom's Big Dinners. From the smell of the wood burning grill to the swirl of a silky Yakima Valley Cabernet in the glass, to the first bite of a gingery, pan browned shrimp scallion potsticker, Dahlia Lounge is the quintessential Seattle restaurant experience.



Tula's Restaurant and Jazz Club - $50 Gift Certificate. Tula's is the hot spot for Seattle jazz. At Tula's you'll find music seven nights a week with top jazz artists plus great Mediterranean and American cuisine.

Village Theatre - 2 Tickets to 2012-13 Season.

West of Lenin/ Ethereal Mutt - Movie Night at West of Lenin - 88 seats.
Get West of Lenin for a night! Have a free movie night, reading or perform your solo performance piece for a one night. West of Lenin is an 95 seat black box theatre and studio space located literally a 5 minute walk west of the Lenin statue in Fremont. it is a state of the art venue with HD projection capability and surround sound audio.


Some Family Fun Options:

Pacific Science Center - Family Pack: Four exhibits and IMAX passes

Seattle Children's Theatre - 2 tickets to 2013 Season

Woodland Park Zoo - Family Fun Pack: Admission 2 adults & 2 children

"Going for It" by Noelle Mestres

I’ve become addicted.

I HAVE to take Step III: Basic Scene Study.

I had no idea how involved I would get in the world of learning to act. I’ve embarked upon something that has captured me completely. In Step II: Acting with Text, we have worked and worked a portion of a scene from a play. Each week we performed and with Sarah Harlett’s help have played with and worked on how to react to our scene partners and bring the stakes for each character to life in the scene. I’ve been most helped by the gentle, insightful guidance of Sarah and the safe environment she has created for us while we totally put ourselves on the line each week and do things that, frankly, I’ve never done in front of people before.

For me, it’s been all about dropping self-consciousness and just going for it. I have found that the writing exercises we’ve done helped me immensely in terms of really getting into the head of my character. I’m amazed at how rehearsing lines and re-reading the scene [and the play] helped reveal more and more about the characters and, really, about myself. One day after a writing exercise in class I just GOT where my character was coming from. It’s like I could feel it in a way that I hadn’t up to that point ... and that was after reading the script, by then, about 3 times (!). I had fun with having memorized my lines. Once they were in ... they were in. This freed up the rest of me to work on really being my character ... or at least giving it my best shot.

I went to Freehold’s website the other day to get ready to sign up for Step III and I re-read: “Explore the You You Don’t Know”; whoa ... no kidding!

If you’ve ever thought of doing this ... do it.

My Experience with Freehold's Engaged Theatre Program by Eric Ray Anderson

Eric Ray Anderson participated in Freehold's Engaged Theatre Program's work-shopping of King Lear this past Winter which toured to unique populations including to the Washington Corrections Center for Women and the Monroe Correctional Facility for Men. He will be participating in the full production of the Engaged Theatre's Summer Tour production of King Lear which will go on tour this Summer, 2012.

What have you been excited by as you've gone about the process of preparing for your work in King Lear?

I’m just plain excited to be working with the Engaged Theatre program, and with Robin Lynn Smith as well. I’ve been a big fan of the program over the years. I’ve had many friends involved in it and have heard testimonials from actors about what a great experience it was to bring work to audiences who don’t usually get to see it. My limited experience with the King Lear workshop and the prison visits we had have really borne that out.

We began working on King Lear this past winter so we could workshop the play and share it with some audiences in prison. There was one particular aspect of work-shopping this piece that was unique for me as an actor. Robin approached me with the idea that my character, Gloucester, would be a puppet. Her thought was that it would necessitate double casting, with me also playing one of the two husbands of Lear’s daughters, Regan and Goneril. In the first reading, I said spontaneously “Wouldn’t that be interesting to have me play the role of Cornwall (who is the one of the two husbands) who literally blinds Gloucester?” Robin said that would be great and we set about staging it like that. The challenges were tremendous in the rehearsal period, since we had to figure out how to play scenes where the two characters, Gloucester and Cornwall, are both played by me. What we devised is that somebody else would be holding the puppet, but I would give voice to the puppet’s words while I was playing the other character, Cornwall. There were a whole bunch of challenges, including figuring out who in the blinding scene would operate the puppet, and just how to go about it. It was constantly rewarding and exciting.

One of the great disappointments of this particular project was that, because of the snow this past winter, we only had one opportunity to run the material for an audience. We performed it for the women at the Washington Corrections Center for Women. We got some great feedback, and although our audience seemed to follow the story well, in the end, we decided not to move forward on having me play both roles. So for this summer's tour I’m going to play Albany and not Cornwall. Nonetheless it was an exciting challenge. It was a very collaborative undertaking and I had great fun working with my colleagues to solve all those problems.

What was the experience like performing for the women at the Washington Corrections Center for Women?

It was really amazing to be inside a prison, to be subjected to the security routines, to imagine what it would be like to not have the option to leave, and to have the experience of performing for this population. When we performed for the women, we were gratified by how much they were invested and how well they followed the story. The willingness of the inmates at both facilities to be present for what we were sharing with them was amazing. It’s unlike the stereotype of prison life that I had - that people would be putting up walls of their own all the time - that was very much not my experience. I didn’t see cynicism or built-in negativity about what we were doing or bringing. There was just a lot of willingness to be pulled into the experience.

What are you looking forward to when you perform the full production of King Lear for the upcoming Summer Tour?

After having a taste of it, I’m really looking forward to letting this winter's experience inform my work on the next stage of our King Lear work. Everyone I know who has done this project in the past has told me about how receptive these audiences are to the performances Freehold brings them. My limited experience this winter has me really charged up to dive in again this summer. King Lear has great potential to mean a lot to the folks we're planning to bring it to. When we performed for the women at WCCW, a number of them spoke of having come from very complicated home lives, and about how much of what happens in the play was therefore familiar territory to them. It was encouraging to hear them talk about how the family dynamics of King Lear resonated with their own experience. I say "encouraging" in the sense of helping the company feel a strong sense of purpose in bringing this story to the prisons. A sense that what we're doing is a really good, and useful, undertaking.

What was it like to do the follow-up workshops at the men’s prison?

We were able to go to the Monroe prison and do a few scenes from King Lear as well as a few workshop exercises that Daemond Arrindell and Robin Lynn Smith facilitated.

One of the first exercises involved meeting someone you didn’t know and then introducing them to the group. The guy I worked with seemed kind of tough- someone who “held his cards to the vest” - but he ended up participating with great willingness and integrity, even though he stayed fairly confused about what we were up to with it all. There were some writing exercises that got into really personal territory and they jumped right into that, and we did the same. It was a bunch of guys gamely engaging in acting and writing exercises as if they’d signed up for a class to do so. Which they hadn't really- they'd just read something about some performance in the chapel and decided to check it out.

That is what I’m taking away most from the experience: it challenged the stereotypes I’ve been exposed to about how incarcerated men would respond. Everybody seemed very open to what the next person shared, whether it was another inmate or us. People were curious and game, and provided support to each other, and to us.

This summer preparing for the tour, I’m very much looking forward being back in the room with my fellow actors and with Robin. We're all great friends. A recent conversation with Robin about where she wants to go with the storytelling was very exciting. I am excited to complete the process of creating our version of this story. Plus, I’ve just had a chance to dip my toe in the water of engaging these underserved audiences and I’m really looking forward to seeing what more there is to learn about that. It’s great to be part of a program that is finding "unlikely" audiences for a live story-telling experience and then to discover what fantastic audiences they are. It is encouraging to have already had a positive experience performing for these folks. They are so glad to see a good play performed well and adventurously. Part of that adventure is how (by necessity, to a great degree) simply we stage the plays in a technical sense. We're relying on the interaction of the characters to tell the story and not on technical effects. If they care, they care because the humans told the story well.

Remembering Jessica Marlowe-Goldstein by Daniel Morris

Jessica and I were colleagues when we worked together at Freehold at its beginnings in the early 90's, She as an Adjunct Faculty member and I as Director of Operations. Jessica and I were neighbors with apartments across the hall from each other at the Essery on Capitol Hill. Jessica and I were friends. Jessica and I were both steeped in the humidity of our East Coast youths and as such I feel comfortable in saying that she would not want me to share with you some white washed homily of her life. So I am going to start with this: Jessica could be a real pain in the ass. Jessica didn't particularly care about making it easy on you. Jessica wanted what Jessica wanted. Jessica knew what she wanted.

These characteristics that sometimes made it difficult to schedule her classes and keep her from smoking in the bathroom adjacent to my office, that frankly made it difficult sometimes to just be around her are also exactly the same characteristics that allowed her to do what so many of us aspire to and so few of us achieve: to spend our whole working lives as artists. Jessica did this.

As a result of her passion and determination and her belief in herself and her abilities, Jessica leaves behind her, in the words of Robin Lynn Smith, "a garden of artists." It is a legacy that cannot be underestimated. A few months after Jessica's diagnosis with glioblastoma I was out playing with my three year old daughter Lily in the park. I met another parent, Chelsea, and it turned out we had a lot in common, most centrally Freehold. She began singing Jessica's praises, and I had the unpleasant duty, now all too familiar, of asking if she knew what was going on with Jessica. She had heard that she was sick, and I filled her in on her diagnosis and prognosis. We talked and reminisced and I gave her my card so that we could keep in touch around Jessica's condition. A few days after Jessica's death I got a message from this woman that read in part:

"I just heard the news and my world is rocked. Jessica was such an amazing woman. She is the reason that I chose to act as a profession. I took the leap to act full time and I have not looked back since. I have so many fond memories of her ... Sitting in her apartment on Cap. Hill and Jessica rubbing her pregnant belly. Me holding Jonah when he was just days old. I shared things with her that nobody else knows. She was my mentor. Besides my mother, she was the only one who I allowed to truly KNOW me."

And the thing is, I bet that most of you could find five people that would say something very similar. Not even just at Freehold, but at Cornish, at Rato Bangala School in Nepal, at the University of Alaska and I am sure everywhere that Jessica taught. Like the best teachers, Jessica inspired fierce loyalty and a voracious appetite to learn and excel. I never took a class from Jessica, but I heard from many students that Jessica knew just how to push to get her students to want to do more. Jessica's style was not for everybody, but for those who responded to her, it was a form of deep intimacy. Just like great art.

As Jessica's disease progressed and she could no longer read (which is a tragedy in itself as anyone who ever walked into her house and saw the thousands of plays that she owned would understand) and as conversation and even understanding became more and more difficult, she struck out on a new endeavor. A new art. She began cutting pictures out of magazines and catalogs and I think maybe even books. She made some collages but mostly, I think, collected them and cataloged them. If you were very lucky you would go to your mailbox and find a mailing envelope stuffed with pictures that she had selected for you. I was blessed with two envelopes, the first one I opened with fear of what I might find inside, what could Jessica be sending to me, and I was blown away. For the simple reason that Jessica, who was not always even sure who I was, had picked out images (every one) that I would have selected for myself! The second envelope came just a few weeks before her death; it was less targeted but not random. There were a lot of images of naked women. Not pornography. Art images, abstracts, classic nudes, some advertising images. I don't know what, if anything, it means; maybe Jessica was getting elemental? Maybe Jessica knew me better than I care to admit? Maybe, in the end, everyone just loves a naked lady.

Here's what I do know: Jessica's response to the end of her life was to make art. Her garden will prosper and spread and I believe there is no greater gift you can leave for the world.

Yer Old Pal,

Dan

"A Few Things I've Learned from My Step I Students" by Meg McLynn

Teaching Step I: Intro to Acting has been an absolute joy, not just because I love acting and I love helping people understand why I love it, but mostly because the students are AWESOME! Students come to Step I for all different reasons, at all different stages in their lives. Some are simply curious about the process of acting; some are considering pursuing careers as actors; some are returning to an old love, having enjoyed performing in plays in high school or college but stepping away from it until their careers were established and their kids were raised. Whatever brings them to class, one thing is true of all of them: they teach me something every day.

Lesson #1: It’s scary to show up, but that’s no excuse not to show up. It’s a lesson I’ve learned many times before, but it seems to need constant re-learning. I mean, Life is full of scary stuff! On a day-to-day basis, I find myself veering away from the less-traveled paths and traipsing along well-worn roads, roads whose twists and turns have become familiar to me, roads that help keep me “safe”. But then, on Day 1 of Step I, I find myself in a room full of students who may find it incredibly intimidating (if not totally terrifying) to be there, but there they are! There’s the retiree who is taking the class because “I try to think of things I’d be really bad at, and then I set out to prove myself wrong”. Or the cyclist who shows up because “after I almost died in that accident last year, I decided it was time to start doing the things I’d always wanted to do but kept finding reasons not to”. It is scary to show up, but if you take that first step forward, it all gets easier from there. (Note to Self: Blow the dust off of that rough draft and get someone to read it!)

Lesson #2: The work we do in Step I is as much about Life as it is about Acting. This lesson comes in a variety of ways. There was the day I was guiding students through some breathing exercises, emphasizing that “breath is the foundation of everything we do,” and one student, a personal trainer, told us how he uses the breath to help his clients connect their thoughts to their physical actions, which leads to better overall results. Or the day we were focusing on articulation, exploring the ways we produce sounds, and it turned into a discussion on interpersonal communication led by a student who works with children with speech disorders. Or the evening I had students exploring physicality, being led through the room by different parts of their bodies, which led to a mini training session on “closing the deal” from a student who works in sales (I never knew there was a “dominant” handshake, nor had I considered the power of stillness in a negotiation). Each week, I find more truth behind the idea that “theatre should inspire people to embrace the full range of human experience”, simply by listening to my students translate our work into their daily lives. An Acting Exercise, at its best, is a Life Lesson.

Lesson #3: It’s called “a play” for a reason. This work should be fun! Yes, it should be challenging and engaging and inspiring and, sure, a little scary. But above all else, it should be fun. In my career as an actor, there’s been much serious work. And at times, it has felt like just that: serious work. After all, it’s a J-O-B. But then I see my Step I students, all of whom have busy lives beyond our classroom, many of whom are dedicated to challenging careers that require massive amounts of time and energy, many of whom have kids to raise and households to run, and yet they will find the time over the course of their weeks to rehearse the given assignments, coming to class with detailed floor plans and duffel bags full of props. And the cool thing about it: they LIKED doing the work, they were HAPPY to stay up a little later to spend time on the assignments, because they were having FUN. Now, I love what I do, I love being an actor and I wouldn’t give it up for anything in the world. But it helps to be reminded, particularly during those tough tech weeks or after a string of unsatisfying auditions, that every day I show up to work, I get to have fun! How awesome is that?

There are many other lessons I’ve learned from my students (and yes, I teach them a few things along the way). But these are the big 3 for me, and they can be combined into this one idea: If I show up, I’m going to have fun. And that applies to Acting, as much as it does to Life. So, thank you to all of my students, Past Present and Future, for showing up on Day 1.

You are an inspiration.