Tag: actor journey

Hello, my fellow artists! My penultimate blog entry of 2023 is here. One more to go after this! My scene from “Yellowstone” went up this past Thursday in the Richard Lawson Studios scene study class…and it went great! It was my first scene back on a stage and as a returning student in the Thursday class (remember, I did a scene from “Beverly Hills Cop 2” on November 7th in Kelly Tighe’s scene study class which takes place over Zoom.) It was a wonderful and solid first take that I am very proud of. My scene partner (Beth Berlin) and I delivered our product. We put in 20 hours of rehearsal into this first take, plus additional hours of our own individual work into this scene. I played Jamie. Beth played Beth 🙂

It felt great to be back on stage. It felt great to articulate what I was working on and to see it manifest and translate on stage. I’m honored to understand and apply an approach and nomenclature. Richard gave me a great assessment that started with how long it had been since I last put up a scene, why I took a break from class, my commitment and belief with acting, and the importance of Plan A vs. Plan B. And it culminated with him saying that he is certain that I am committed to my acting, to class, and to my journey. He then proceeded to assess my work in the scene and how he saw everything that I worked on. He also loved our fight choreography, which made us so thrilled because we worked so hard on it (the repetition of it, understanding the angles and lines of stage fights, why we are fighting, the progression and chapters of this fight, the story of this fight.) He said it was incredibly believable and violent. Richard said many wonderful things to Beth and I during our assessment, and we are excited to do a second take of our scene! Keep reading below 🙂

And going back to how he started his assessment with me, I am thrilled to look at what 2024 is going to be about for me as an artist.

Hello, my fellow artists! I have a few more blog entries to go before 2023 ends. I can’t wait to end this year with a bang before embarking on a new year of artistic creation and goals. In this week’s blog entry, I wanted to revisit the other scene I’ve been working on for class. My scene partner and I have been rehearsing a scene from “Yellowstone”, and we are putting it up on November 30th! And what makes this different from my “Beverly Hills Cop 2” scene from a couple of weeks ago is that this will be on a stage versus Zoom.

My scene partner and I started rehearsing in the theater space this past Tuesday, and it was exciting. Starting rehearsals over Zoom to transitioning to in-person rehearsals at my scene partner’s home to being in the theater space has been an adjustment of understanding the stage I’m on. The work done on this scene is still present. The foundation is secure. I just had to know and understand how to walk and talk in these different environments. Keep reading below 🙂

For example, when we rehearsed in the theater space, we did paint-by-the-numbers blocking and choreography several times to understand the dimensions of this space, get comfortable with it, make adjustments as needed, and get those adjustments into our bodies. We also got to finally implement some things that could only be done in the theater space. For example, we implemented a long walk that our characters take from the house to the barn. And, in terms of asking the next question, what exactly happens during that walk to the barn? I solidified my sightlines at the top of the scene. I also had to adjust my voice in the theater space to be heard in the back row. I rehearsed with the shoes I’ll be wearing in the scene to see if I would be safe from slipping during any blocking and choreography. The theater space gave us more permission and space to take our characters further. Keep reading below 🙂

See you all next week when I share how our scene went!

Hello, my fellow artists! I wanted to share that my first scene back as a returning student of the Richard Lawson Studios went up on November 7th! My scene partner and I put up a scene from “Beverly Hills Cop 2” in his Tuesday scene study class, and we both did a great job in our first take! We delivered the product that we locked in during the final 20 percent of our rehearsal process. Keep reading below 🙂

This class is a virtual one, so all of the scenes and exercises are performed via Zoom. And this works out beautifully because my scene partner lives in the U.K. The stage manager called our scene, and we started. I had to stop the scene after 10 seconds because I didn’t configure my screen correctly. I was looking out at a sea of classmate thumbnails, and I couldn’t find my scene partner LOL! I could hear him, but I couldn’t see him. I’m glad I stopped the scene to ensure I could deliver my product. Otherwise, I would have regretted it afterwards during my assessment. After I made the technical adjustments and verified that I could only see him, the stage manager called the scene again. Keep reading below 🙂

I felt great about our scene. I felt like we delivered our product. I was able to let the scene go once I called “scene”. I felt present during the assessment. I talked about what I worked on. I expressed that one of the things I wanted to explore in the second take was what physically happens to me after Axel Foley leaves my office? Do I have heartburn or indigestion? Do I pull a whiskey bottle from my desk drawer and take a shot? How does my exasperation with Axel reveal itself physically in that final chapter of the scene? We received a great assessment and are excited to apply the notes and bring the scene back for a second take. Keep reading below 🙂

My scene from “Yellowstone” is scheduled to go up in my Thursday scene study class on November 30th, and that will be in person on stage. I can’t wait to share how that goes as well. Until next time! And for fun, below is a screenshot of our final rehearsal:

Hello, my fellow artists! I hope you’re all having a great week. For the past four weeks, I’ve been sharing my rehearsal process experiences for scenes I’m working on for my acting class at the Richard Lawson Studios. Keep reading below 🙂

In the finale, I wanted to quickly share the final 20 percent from the rehearsal process. 40/40/20 is a technique created by Richard Lawson to help us effectively utilize the time we have to work on something. The first 40 percent of the time you have to work on something consists of research and gathering information. The second 40 percent of the time you have to work on something involves implementing and applying the research and information you gathered in the first 40 percent (aka getting it up on its feet.) The last 20 percent of the time you have to work on something is devoted to locking in your product and coasting towards the finish line. Keep reading below 🙂

My first scene back as a returning student of the Richard Lawson Studios is going up on November 7th! It’s a scene from “Beverly Hills Cop 2”, and I am now in my 20 percent. I’ve made my choices. I’ve worked out my blocking. I’ve worked out my wardrobe. I know what I will talk about during my assessment. I am not changing anything around. I’ve locked it in, and I will continue working within this 20 percent with the remaining rehearsal(s) we have and when we perform the scene on Tuesday. (And with the other scene I’m doing from “Yellowstone”, which goes up on November 30th, I will also be approaching the final 20 percent soon.) Keep reading below 🙂

I’ll let you all know how the scene from “Beverly Hills Cop 2” went in next week’s blog entry!

Hello, my fellow artists! I hope you’re all having a great week. For the past three weeks, I’ve been sharing my rehearsal process experiences for scenes I’m working on for my acting class. Keep reading below 🙂

In part 4, I wanted to share two videos from the rehearsal process. My scene partner (who lives in the U.K.) and I are working on a scene from “Beverly Hills Cop 2”, and we are in the second 40% of the rehearsal process. 40/40/20 is a technique created by Richard Lawson to help us effectively utilize the time we have to work on something. The first 40 percent of the time you have to work on something consists of research and gathering information. The second 40 percent of the time you have to work on something involves implementing and applying the research and information you gathered in the first 40 percent (aka getting it up on its feet.) The last 20 percent of the time you have to work on something is devoted to locking in your product and coasting towards the finish line. Keep reading below 🙂

In the first video, you will see one of the many improvisations we did to explore the history of our relationship. In this take, we decided to improvise Axel solving his first case, and the more celebratory nature of that event. This was the first time I allowed myself to relax and be a little more chill around Axel…so that was a good discovery. In the previous improvisations, I was more strict and tough with Axel. See video below 🙂

In the second video, we implemented some things like behavior and subtext frome one take to the next. The second 40 percent of implementation involves trial and error and experimentation. It’s failing forward. We are implementing the things we gathered from the first 40 percent to start bringing these characters and this scene to life. See video below 🙂

Hello, my fellow artists! I hope you’re all having a great week. For the past two weeks, I’ve been sharing my rehearsal process experiences for scenes I’m working on for my acting class. Keep reading below 🙂

In Part 3, I wanted to share my experiences of going through the second 40 percent of the rehearsal process. 40/40/20 is a technique created by Richard Lawson to help us effectively utilize the time we have to work on something. The first 40 percent of the time you have to work on something consists of research and gathering information. The second 40 percent of the time you have to work on something involves implementing and applying the research and information you gathered in the first 40 percent (aka getting it up on its feet.) The last 20 percent of the time you have to work on something is devoted to locking in your product and coasting towards the finish line. Keep reading below 🙂

It had been a while since I last rehearsed a scene in person, so this second 40 percent was like learning how to ride a bike again. Here are some highlights from “Yellowstone”. Rehearsing face to face, in person, was a wildly different experience. I had to deal with another person in the flesh, and the level of energy and impingement was higher. More visceral. There was no Zoom screen keeping us apart or keeping us safe. We did a rough walk through and I blanked out on my lines. “Oh yeah. I need to remember how to walk and talk again!” I found myself being uncomfortable with stillness and feeling like I needed to move. I found myself being uncomfortable with arbitrary movement and feeling like I needed to be still. I implemented different ways of sitting at the top of the scene to discover which position would put me into the belief and experience of my actual event and moment before (I haven’t nailed this sitting position yet.) Keep reading below 🙂

Back at my office, I watched one of our recorded Zoom rehearsals, and took notes of what I wanted to change from my performance. Funny, I record all my auditions to see if my work is translating on camera, but this was the first time I recorded rehearsals for scene work. Duh! Recording the rehearsals and watching them afterward was invaluable. I spotted a technical and performance thing that I wanted to change. In this second 40 percent, we also had a couple of rehearsals over Zoom where we identified one emotional throughline at a time and played it throughout the entire scene to see what we could discover. Keep reading below 🙂

For “Beverly Hills Cop 2”, we did a series of improvisations to carve out our relationship and to implement some ideas we wrote down from previous rehearsals. It was great to see how several of the questions we asked and the research we did together made their way into our improvisations. Through these improvisations, we saw how the history of our relationship evolved and progressed to the present-day scene we are doing. I also began implementing the beginning of my character’s wardrobe and his physical stance in the scene. We implemented our subtext in a few of our run throughs and also implemented ideas into certain sections of the scene. I also recorded these improvisations and watched them back to study my performances. Keep reading below 🙂

See you all next week where I will share an improvisation or two from “Beverly Hills Cop 2” and continue the journey through the second 40 percent.

Hello, my fellow artists! Last week, I mentioned being inspired by a series of rehearsal technique workshops at the Richard Lawson Studios and how I couldn’t wait to get into rehearsals for two scenes I’m working on for class. I also talked about utilizing the concept of 40/40/20 in my rehearsal process. 40/40/20 is a technique created by Richard to help us effectively utilize the time we have to work on something. Keep reading below 🙂

In Part 2, I continue going through the first 40 percent by sharing a few handwritten notes I took during my rehearsals! Think of it as a visual, inside look into my first 40 percent of the rehearsal process (notes aka the secret sauce I am using to create and make sense of what is going on before my scene partners and I get our scenes up on their feet.) As I mentioned last week, the first 40 percent of the time you have to work on something is devoted to research, gathering information, asking questions, and writing things down for further investigation and research. And please know that for each question or note that I wrote down in one rehearsal, I came back with answers and ideas for the next one. My scene partners did the same with their own questions and notes. (Also, a shout out to my scene partners for inspiring some of these questions and notes you’ll see below.) Also, there may be SPOILERS if you haven’t seen “Yellowstone” or “Beverly Hills Cop 2”. See you all next week where I will share my experiences with the second 40 percent of the rehearsal process. Keep reading below 🙂

Some of my notes from the “Yellowstone” rehearsals:

Some of my notes from the “Beverly Hills Cop 2” rehearsals:

Now that I have fulfilled the required acting exercises as a returning student of the Richard Lawson Studios Thursday scene study class, it’s time to put up some scenes! I remember Richard working with two students earlier this year on the rehearsal process. Over the course of several weeks, the class got insight on how to rehearse effectively. Inspired by this series of rehearsal workshops, I couldn’t wait to start rehearsing my scenes. Over the next few weeks, I will be blogging about my experiences with the rehearsal process. Keep reading below 🙂

It feels good to be rehearsing and acting again with my fellow actors. Whether it be via Zoom or in person, it’s great to be working out again as an actor. I’m currently rehearsing a scene from “Yellowstone” (as Jamie) and “Beverly Hills Cop 2” (as Inspector Todd). My scene partner for “Yellowstone” is located in Los Angeles and my scene partner for “Beverly Hills Cop 2” is located in the U.K.! The training continues no matter where you are in the world. Keep reading below 🙂

Utilizing the notes I took from the rehearsal workshops, I knew that I wanted to apply the concept of 40/40/20 with these two scenes. 40/40/20 is a technique created by Richard to help us effectively utilize the time we have to work on something. Whether it’s an audition that’s due in 48 hours or a script that you want to have completed by a certain date, 40/40/20 can be applied to help you utilize your time sanely and successfully. The first 40 percent of the time you have to work on something is devoted to research and gathering information. The next 40 percent of the time you have to work on something is devoted to implementing and applying all of the research you’ve done. Get it up on its feet and work it out. The last 20 percent of the time you have to work on something is devoted to locking in your product and coasting towards the finish line. Don’t change a thing during this last 20 percent. Keep reading below 🙂

The first 40 percent of these two scene rehearsals was about research. For me, that entailed reading the script out loud over and over again with my scene partner. That entailed stopping and asking questions as we read the scene. That entailed looking up words and other things within the script that would help us make sense of the scene. That entailed writing ideas down. That entailed reading the scene out loud again and again with nothing on it and then reading it again and again with a singular choice in mind. That entailed identifying the Abbott and Costello (aka the differences) between my character and the other character. That entailed filling out the character chart for these scenes and writing in my subtext, my emotional through lines, and my chapters…and then modifying those things several times as I discovered more about the event of the scene, my character, my relationship with the other character, etc. I took notes during each rehearsal and gave myself homework to advance myself before the next rehearsal. Keep reading below 🙂

I remember my scene partner in the U.K. and I looking at the cultural differences between an American and an English person and how that can work its way into the dynamics of our relationship in “Beverly Hills Cop 2”. We looked at race and how that also affects our relationship since he and I are both people of color within this police department. We also devoted an entire rehearsal to researching Detroit, its police department, rankings within the department, crime statistics, etc. Keep reading below 🙂

For “Yellowstone”, we explored the journey of Jamie and Beth’s relationship as brother and sister over the course of this series. We looked at how and why we fight. We looked at our upward mobility and white-collar professions versus those of our other siblings. We looked at the Abbott and Costello of our characters. We looked at the dynamic of race and how that has come into play in the past because I’m Latinx and my scene partner is white. If you haven’t seen “Yellowstone”, I won’t give away anything about Jamie, but it works in the reality of us playing siblings. Keep reading below 🙂

I also wanted to share that I always feel like I’m a terrible actor when I read a scene out loud for the first time with my scene partner LOL. I always think to myself, “Let’s get this first reading out of the way as quickly as possible.” Once I get past that first reading, I’m good to go! And soon, I’m like, “Actually, I’m a good actor.” Reading it out loud and putting nothing on it is the first order of the day for me when I start rehearsing any scene. In this way, I can hear what is going on and start getting a lay of the land. I can also hear what my acting partner is bringing and providing in real time. And I’m not trying to act anything in the first few rehearsals. I’m trying to figure things out. Keep reading below 🙂

See you next week where I will share some of my handwritten notes from my rehearsals and continue the journey through the first 40 percent. (I’ve also provided links below to the next four parts of the rehearsal process and journey for your convenience.)

Let’s Rehearse! Part 2. https://chasingthegeorge.com/2023/10/15/lets-rehearse-part-2/

Let’s Rehearse! Part 3. https://chasingthegeorge.com/2023/10/22/lets-rehearse-part-3/

Let’s Rehearse! Part 4. https://chasingthegeorge.com/2023/10/29/lets-rehearse-part-4/

Let’s Rehearse! The Finale. https://chasingthegeorge.com/2023/11/05/lets-rehearse-the-finale/