by Brian O’Neil
On Monday morning, June 18, a panel of exceptionally well-trained students and actors assembled to voice their concerns to teachers as part of the New York segment of an annual meeting of the Congress of National Alliance of Acting Teachers. On board for the panel were: Condola Rashad (TV’s “Billions” and 2018 Tony nominee for “Saint Joan”); Santino Fontana (TV’s “My Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” and Tony nominee, “Cinderella”) ; Keziah John-Paul (currently B’way’s “Book of Mormon”); Ben Graney (B’way’s recent revival of “The Heidi Chronicles”); Susanna Stahlmann (The Acting Company and The Guthrie Theatre); Ysabel Jasa (a recent graduate of the BFA/New Studio on Broadway at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts); and Cloteal Horne (presently a student in Brown University/Trinity Rep Consortium’s MFA program in acting).
The Alliance itself was founded in 2014 as an independent offshoot of the long established organization known as The Actors Center. The Alliance’s mission, per its website (http://actingteachers.org), is to “clarify and nurture the highest ethical and artistic standards in the education of actors and acting teachers. Expanding our programming to now include an Annual Congress, a Professional Society, regional events and workshops, and the forthcoming launch of ‘Parodos’ – a publication devoted to teaching acting- our work is born from a collective desire to maintain excellence in our craft, while providing a creative home and ongoing dialogue for those in the field of actor training.”
A series of topics was introduced and presented by the seven-member panel, whose educations ranged from training at such schools as: the BFA program at the University of Minnesota/Tyrone Guthrie Theatre; The Graduate Acting (MFA) Program at NYU/Tisch School of the Arts; The New Studio on Broadway in the BFA program of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts; the BFA program at California Institute of the Arts; and the earlier mentioned Brown University/Trinity Rep Consortium MFA program.
Topics of the actors concern ranged from a desire to see more collaboration within various departments, specifically with regard to more co-produced projects between acting departments, writing departments and filmmaking departments. The actors felt this was not only a necessary part of a more inclusive aspect of training itself, but also of the all-important nurturing and development of relationships to take out into the “real” world upon completion of their education. Also voiced was the desire for more teacher interest and attendance at student-written and produced works presented at the institutions; not only in support of the students for its own sake, but also to see what the actors were creating and performing as a way of showing teachers and directors new ways to look at students’ casting potential for future projects.
Interesting to hear, also, were the different policies for casting at different institutions. Santino Fontana, most recently of Broadway’s “Hello, Dolly!” and an alum of the BFA program at University of Minnesota/Guthrie’s BFA program said that he was assigned roles that his teachers and directors felt would further his needs as an actor in development, whereas Keziah John-Paul of NYU/Tisch’s BFA New Studio on Broadway said she had to audition for everything. Both saw similar advantages in the different policies. Fontana saw the growth of his range and John-Paul said that having to “audition for everything has made me ready and willing to audition for anything.”
Ben Graney, an alum of NYU’s MFA graduate acting program, is the co-founder of The Artists’ Financial Support Group, an organization which covers practical concerns which include everything from financial planning to student loans. Graney’s desire was for educators to have a greater awareness of exactly what their students are going through as they enter and grapple with the world that they will soon be facing.
Condola Rashad recalled one of her most treasured memories that was passed on to her from a teacher, and something perhaps all actors need to remember at all times. Said Rashad, “Never freak out over an audition. You don’t have the job going in. And if you don’t have the job when you leave, you haven’t lost anything because you didn’t have it in the first place. Never freak out over an audition. Never.” Wise words indeed.
Perhaps most noticeable of all was the keen interest with which the teachers were listening to the actors on the panel and seeking to hear their concerns. No one in the room at the Conference’s location at The New School was required to be present on what was an especially sweltering Monday morning in mid-June. Every educator present was listening. Really listening. All told, this was a highly productive event to help enable the bringing of teachers and students closer together in the increasingly difficult and complex world of the performing arts in the twenty-first century. For more information about the National Alliance of Acting Teachers, please visit: http://actingteachers.org
Brian O’Neil is the best-selling author of Acting As a Business: Strategies for Success, Fifth Edition. A former talent agent, he is currently a faculty member at NYU and The Juilliard School. For more information, visit http://actingasabusiness.com
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