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How do I choose an acting class?
Answer: Acting classes should have a strong committment to your professional success, a strong faculty and a strong track record… (continued in David’s answer below)
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Answer: Acting classes should have a strong committment to your professional success, a strong faculty and a strong track record.
You should also be working in every class and the school should have a clear strategy for implementing its acting philosophy.
Step off the bus in LA or New York or London as a new actor in town, and be prepared to be inundated with acting classes, acting workshops, acting seminars, acting schools, even acting live/work spaces. The options are endless, and choosing a great acting class to get into is paramount to being successful in your acting career. I attended the Howard Fine Acting Studio here in LA, pictured above. I can tell you that it was fantastic, and that I recommend it to everyone who asks.
Acting schools aren’t just about getting training in acting – they are also vibrant communities that provide networking opportunities that lead to collaboration, exposure, and, hopefully, work. Finding the acting class that’s just right for you is easier if you keep some basic standards in mind.
The best acting classes offer you the opportunity to audit their sessions. When deciding on a new car, test driving the car you eventually purchase is one of the most important steps in the buying process. It’s no different with an acting class. You should take the time, if in fact it’s not required by the school, to sit in on a class and see how the students and teacher interact, operate and perform. Taking the time to kick the tires of an acting class’ tone, environment and pace will go a long way towards success down the road.
The best acting classes are all about you and your success, not the teacher. Acting is filled with people who thrive on ego and drama – but your acting class’s teacher should not be among them. When you do audit that class, make note of how the teacher supports, or doesn’t support, the individual performers. Listen carefully to scene post-mortems for constructive, supportive counsel, not degrading or derogatory insults. Above all, be willing to walk if things don’t feel right to you.
The best acting classes have faculty that are respected in the community, and have a history of success. It doesn’t take any effort to hang up a shingle and call yourself an acting teacher or coach. So, how do you know who the real winners are, and who are the wanna-bes? Word of mouth, longevity, hands-on approach and student success are all things to consider. Asking fellow acting students, especially the ones who happen to book a lot, is crucial. The more people you ask, the more likely patterns will emerge.
Ask actors in LA, and you’ll hear Howard Fine mentioned a lot. Ask in New York, and Bill Espers’ name comes up over and over. In London, actors there will speak highly of Patrick Tucker. All of these people are not only popular with their students, but they have long track records of their students enjoying success, and they teach their own classes, they don’t just lend their names to schools for marketing purposes. They’ve been teaching acting and coaching actors for a long, long time.
The best acting classes don’t just suggest you work in each class, they require it. Any acting class you consider should have a clear policy on the actors in the class working each and every class. You, as an acting student, should be required to do a reading, put up a scene, do an exercise, perform a monologue, work with a new script, or whatever the class you’re in requires or offers as an option. If your class doesn’t have the time for every single actor to work in every single class, find another acting class as soon as you can.
The best acting classes have structure and a clear acting philosophy. Whether it’s a variation of The Method, or your class follows the tenets of Uta Hagen, or your class is trying to mainstream commedia dell arte, the class should have a clear set of acting standards and acting philosophies that they teach. Your syllabus should be clear and concise. Your requirements for your acting class and metrics for success in that class should be well known. If your class is a scene study class, you should know the process expected of you to start the scene, work it, and retire it when you’ve gotten what you need out of it. If your acting class has scenes, exercises and business skill development, you should be able to know where you are in the spectrum of the other students in the school. Clarity, as opposed to going to acting class after acting class only to wonder if you’re accomplishing anything, is a standard requirement.
Your acting classes may be ongoing, end after a number of weeks or months certain, or be a drop-in/drop-out, very casual class. Whatever the schedule, make sure that your acting class fits your style and has all the requirements you need to be successful. It’s a double whammy when you waste your time in an acting class that doesn’t work – not only do you get little or nothing out of the class, you have to spend more time in another acting class just to get where you wanted to be in your acting career in the first place.
By the way, you can find out more about my recommended school, the Howard Fine Acting Studio, here.
What’s your answer to this acting question? Let me know in the comments below.