Acting Schools and Drama School/Training  can be very competitive and expensive, like the New York Film Academy  that offers intensive, hands-on Filmmaking, Screenwriting, Digital Video, Computer Animation, and Acting For Film Programs (a place I once did some very short term SEO work for). 

Or, if leather is your style, you can attend Actors Boot camp On Acting Series, a  ”teaching studio” offering  acting classes that quickly and expertly train today’s actor using the Meisner Technique, but it’s located in Los Angles and we’re here in New York - making it kinda hard to attend (especially if your a struggling actor/actress).

Other, local NYC places, like TVI Actors Studio have “..acting classes with New York’s top casting directors, NYC talent agents and coaches.

But none of those schools is really about true acting - it’s about producing Cinema, Television, Cable and, more and more, Internet talent.  Were Shakespeare were here today….where would he be producing his plays, at the New York Film Academy…on Broadway, or maybe … at The Actors Theatre Workshop? 

Yes, that’s where you’ll find Shakespeare in 2007….if he lived today….producing stories in the drama of our times but perhaps, out of the glitzy public’s eye and off, on a more private space where people come who actually love Theatre and Drama - to The Actors Theatre Workshop; especially if you want to tap on the inner actress or actor in you to bring out your inner dramatic flair- the Six Session Intensive Acting Classes is where you’ll find “inner talent” emerging….and it’s actually inexpensive.

“…The Six Session Intensive Drama Training will introduce you - through the metaphor of acting - to the process of how to reveal your creative potential and enhance all of the different areas of your every day life - - your job, your relationships, your ability to articulate new ideas, and your intuitive, inspirational and philosophical view of life. It is an opportunity for you to address some of the longings, dreams, aspirations and wonder you have about one of your great, untapped resources - - your creative potential. “

It gets even better - which is why I’m going to take one of these classes because I need to stand in front of people, more and more, as I speak about Art and Web Analytics (in fact, I’ll be addressing 300 people in DC at the eMetrics Marketing Optimization Summit on October 17th on Second Life Analytics at IBM - so I could use that training right now - see below).  

 ”..Old & New Together Again for the First Time

Rick Wehrle, Monster.com

Marshall Sponder, IBM (me - I  could so use the Intensive Acting Workshop for this talk as I have never spoken in-front of more than a dozen people at a time)

Jared Freedman, Code4Software

We’ve been calibrating the business impact of the Internet since before the browser. Rick will relate stories of taking the measure of FTP, Gopher and USENET postings in the early ’90s. Marshall is a Director of the Web Analytics Association, tasked with getting a handle on social media and Jared has written the first application for analytics for Second Life. What do these people have in common? What’s changed? Come learn about much we’ve learned and how little we know, how far we’ve come and how far we have yet to go.

Wednesday - 11:10 am - Blue Ballroom”

Here’s the Acting Drama Training and Technique  you can expect to achieve when you take the Six Session Intensive Acting Workshop at The Actors Theatre Workshop:

“….In the Six Session Intensive class you will develop presence. You’ll gain the tools and comfort to be able to stand up in front of a group of people and talk in a relaxed, insightful, connected way. When you have to give a presentation at work you won’t stand in front of the group feeling uncomfortable, not knowing what to do with your hands, and shifting from foot to foot in nervousness. You’ll  know the essence of what you need to say and do. You will learn to get rid of unnecessary words, verbiage and unfocused behavior. Your words will be connected to the clarity of your intention and therefore you’ll feel more of the essence of what is needed to be expressed - - and that essence will vibrate in the hearts and minds of the individuals or the audience that you are addressing.”

Listen…who does not need to learn how to get rid of unnecessary words, verbiage and unfocused behavior?   Never mind weather it’s for Acting, Drama Series or for Real Life …. you need these skills to succeed here ….and you can learn them, fairly easily at The Actors Theatre Workshop Intensive Acting Classes - a class I will take myself.

But as you may be an Actor or Actress that wants to grow in your abilities to express your inner Drama, or the pathos of a play, how do you do it? 

You could get involved in the Actors Theatre Workshop Creative Expression and Community Service Training Program……where you can:

 ”..Study creative process and non-profit management techniques in weekly classes with ATW’s Artistic Director and Founder Thurman E. Scott.

Or, serve in a leadership capacity on the volunteer staff of this award-winning theatre and cultural center, utilizing your unique gifts to make a contribution to the community.

Or, put your new-found insights on community service into action in ATW’s award-winning theatre and education program for homeless children, Builders of the New World.”

The most compelling thing The Actors Theatre Workshop is doing is it’s work with Homeless Children in New York City:

“..Volunteer to Help Homeless Children  Join our award-winning theatre this fall to serve as a Mentoring and Programming Assistant for The Builders of the New World (BNW), a life-changing after school theatre and education program for children ages 8-12 living in transitional housing facilities. The program is in its fourteenth year.  Classes are taught by Thurman E. Scott, Artistic Director and Founder of The Actors Theatre Workshop, and an accomplished actor, director and writer. BNW improves reading, writing and presentational skills, instills discipline and self-esteem, and inspires the children to make choices today to achieve educational success tomorrow.” 

So where do you think Shakespeare would produce his plays today, in 2007,…at that glitzy, expensive, 40,000 a year Film Academy down the street where well to do Westchester families send their kids to express their hobbies …. or where real values and real acting are taught… .. At the Actors Theatre Workshop?   

Your not finding me at the expensive Acting Film School but at the much better value Actors Theatre Workshop.