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Active - Public

Acting

A professional director, producer, actor, voice artist, writer, improvisation artist, and musician, Mr. J. has headed entertainment production companies as executive director and artistic director, co-creating original interactive events. Mr. J. studied dance with Martha Graham, Jose Limon, Carlton Johnson, Paul Draper, William Bales, Ruth Beckford, and Carol Haws. He studied Kodokan Judo with Professor William Montero Sr., and Senshin Budo karate with Jeremiah Tobin. He has directed, taught, or performed for the Old Globe Theatre, the Folger Theatre, American Conservatory Theatre, the USO, California Actors Theatre, Mt. Hope Estate, William Shakespeare Road Company, LA County Parks, Junior League, Sterling Renaissance Festival, Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire, Maine Renaissance Faire, JP Nightingale, Hollywood Bowl, Franklin Institute, McCabes Guitar Shop, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Knott’s Berry Farm, Frontier Village, Yosemite National Park, Netflix, Paramount, and for a decade produced exclusive interactive entertainment for Hersheypark and Christmas Candy Lane. A produced playwright, published poet, recorded songwriter, and prolific screenwriter, Mr. J. has written, produced and directed film, video, and audio projects. He has performed as voice and on-camera talent for national and regional companies including the Boston Red Sox, NFL Films, Riot Games’ League of Legends (original Gangplank, Taric, Heimerdinger), Fuel Games’ Gods Unchained, NESN, Fleer, Cox Broadcasting, Crayola, Black & Decker, Harley Davidson, Mercedes, Kelly Tire, AAA, LL Bean, Goodwill, Farmers Trust, Lockheed, Hershey, and Prevention Magazine. He directed and co-wrote The Perfect Woman, a nominee for NH Film of the Year. He has narrated and provided character voices for acclaimed documentary films including Shadows Fall North, The People's Forest, Front Wards Back Wards, and Celia Thaxter's Island Garden, which he also edited. Mr. J. has directed educational performances, improvisations, and workshops for elementary schools, secondary schools, and universities in VA, CA, PA, NJ, NY, MD, CT, ME, NH. He continues to teach improvisation, on-camera acting, voice and stage acting, public speaking, and performance workshops. His most cherished accomplishment is having raised four children as a single father.

In Improv Acting and Comedy we'll cover the elements of successful improvisation tailored to the students' particular level of experience.

We'll study the various aspects of comedy and how to improvise using them. 

We'll use exercises and games to develop your expression, imagination, spontaneity, creativity, solo work, and work with an ensemble. 

We'll create scenes, characters, and scenarios, and develop them into performance pieces.  

We'll explore improv as actor training, rehearsal technique, scene study, character development, and professional entertainment, including interactive theatre, immersive theatre, historical improvised theatre. We'll see how to use improvisation in film, television, and onstage. 

We'll study verbal improvisation, physical improvisation, improvised pantomime, and the improvised use of props. 

And much more. Our improv studies will be tailored to the group's specific abilities and needs.

Improv Acting and Comedy

Film Acting

Child Acting

Theater Acting

Film and TV Acting

Improv Acting

Musical Theater

Voice Acting

Stage Performance

Audition Prep

Beginner

Intermediate

Advanced

SAG-AFTRA represents approximately 160,000 actors, announcers, broadcast journalists, dancers, DJs, news writers, news editors, program hosts, puppeteers, recording artists, singers, stunt performers, voiceover artists and other media professionals. SAG-AFTRA members are the faces and voices that entertain and inform America and the world. With national offices in Los Angeles and New York, and local offices nationwide, SAG-AFTRA members work together to secure the strongest protections for media artists into the 21st century and beyond.

Broadcast Music Inc. was founded in 1939 by forward-thinkers who wanted to represent songwriters in emerging genres, like jazz, blues and country, and protect the public performances of their music. Operating on a non-profit-making basis, BMI is now the largest music rights organization in the U.S. and is still nurturing new talent and new music.

One Voice Awards

Nominee - Television/Web Best Commercial Performance - Male.

Creating and directing live interactive entertainment, television, and film concepts. Teaching workshops, and master classes in various aspects of creative performance and improvisation. Producing short films and music videos. Performed for Equity production of Fenway Founders for the Boston Red Sox. Provided voice over narration for Red Sox Reports - David Ortiz: Beyond Baseball, Firehose Games' Go Home Dinosaurs, Fuel Games’ Gods Unchained, and many other clients. Co-wrote and directed The Perfect Woman, a NH Film of the Year nominee. Appeared as special guest on The Voice Over Show. Performed in a JFK documentary for Harvard Business School. Produced, directed, wrote, and performed Casey at the Bat, an educational children’s film. Produced promotional films for inventor Sam Asano, author David Sayre, and recording artist Dirk Hamilton. Voiced characters and narration for acclaimed documentaries including Shadows Fall North, The People’s Forest, and Celia Theater's Island Garden.

Producing Artistic Director

Voiced three original characters for Riot Games' League of Legends, including Gangplank, Taric and Heimerdinger. Produced and directed the web series Penumbra, the short experimental film Devils Minion, and a series of music videos featuring composer and recording artist Eugene McDaniels. Co-wrote the screenplay Nether Road for Left Bank Films. Produced The Great Improbability audio book featuring a cast of 20. Co-produced and directed New Heights Live with Joe Piscopo, and interactive entertainment for The Harry Potter Book Release Party. Produced numerous music videos. Taught and directed for the Carri Coltrane Performance Workshops. Conducted TACT workshops for students and staff at New Heights in Portsmouth, NH. Gave private lessons in acting and improvisation. Performed as voice talent for numerous corporate clients including Hershey, Timberland, and New Holland. Created the Dennis J. Music Video Workshops and the Dennis J. Performance Workshops.

Producing Artistic Director/Partner

Responsible for creation, production and direction of diverse interactive events, projects, and festivals including the Maine Renaissance Festival, television and radio commercials and programs, live professional entertainment, legitimate and interactive theatre, educational programs, revenue-generating programs for fine resorts, and interpersonal communication and leadership (TACT) seminars.

Additional responsibilities: *Directed traditional and interactive plays *Co-authored full-length plays and one-act plays *Supervised and directed rehearsals, recording & taping sessions and live performances *Oversaw auditions and casting *Negotiated salaries and prepared contracts *Performed as on-camera and voice talent in many sessions and shoots *Prepared and administered budgets *Devised and co-ordinated rehearsal and performance schedules *Conceived and executed promotions *Directed and produced touring companies.

Co-Producing Artistic Director

Created, produced and directed seasonal festivals including Edgar Allan Poe’s A Town Gone Mad, corporate shows and workshops for Webster Bank, Morgan Stanley, and Merck, one act plays, marketing and promotional events, television and radio production, touring shows, educational performances, and workshops.

Additional responsibilities: *Supervised and directed rehearsals and performances *Oversaw auditions and casting *Negotiated salaries and prepared contracts *Prepared and administered budgets *Devised and coordinated rehearsal and performance schedules *Conceived and executed marketing programs * Directed, organized, and booked touring companies.

Found and signed investors. Supervised the design and rebuilding of 90 acre theme park. Produced, directed, and administrated hundreds of dates of diverse interactive theatre and entertainment events, theme park experiences and festivals, achieving a consistent 98% audience approval from 200,000 attendees. Held ultimate responsibility for co-creating, producing, and directing the Pocono Renaissance Faire, Edgar Allan Poe's Haunted Village, and A Charles Dickens Christmas Village. Directed Hersheypark and Hotel Hershey events including Dinner With Dickens. Created major entertainment events and tours. 

Additional responsibilities: *Oversaw six-figure marketing, special events and promotional campaigns *Prepared and administered annual $1M budget *Oversaw 35 member actor conservatory *Oversaw auditions of 3000 actors and variety artists *Devised and coordinated 60-show rehearsal and performance day event schedules *Created and produced dozens of educational workshops from elementary to college *Wrote and directed original plays and scenarios. Directed A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Romeo and Juliet.

Executive Director

Created, produced, and directed interactive and immersive theatre projects, entertainment events, improvisations, and touring shows. 

Additional responsibilities: *Supervised and directed rehearsals and performances *Oversaw auditions and casting *Negotiated salaries and prepared contracts *Prepared and administered budgets *Devised and coordinated rehearsal and performance schedules *Conceived and executed marketing programs *Directed, organized, and booked touring companies *Performed as on-camera and voice talent in hundreds of sessions and shoots *Co-designed and conducted corporate TACT workshops on interpersonal communication and leadership.

Responsible for conceptualization and supervision of all aspects of entertainment at the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire, a top ten PA event drawing annual attendance over 100,000 audience members. Created new interactive events including Outdoor Classroom, Poe Evermore, A Charles Dickens Christmas Past, and A Feast with Queen Elizabeth. Achieved consistent 95-98% audience approval rating. 

Additional responsibilities: *Managed full-time artistic staff *Prepared and administered $1M budgets *Created and oversaw 40 member Actor Conservatory *Produced, created, and directed dozens of interactive theatre projects, immersive performances, dinner theatre series, special events, educational workshops, and promotional campaigns *Recruited, hired, and supervised stage directors, choreographers, music directors, writers, fight directors, instructors, and stage managers *Oversaw auditions of 5000 actors and variety artists *Directed touring company *Directed Shakespeare, Chekov, Feydeau, and original plays *Designed performance stages.

Artistic Director

American English

My work with you on acting, depending on your level of experience and your situation, can be broad or intensive, and can include any or all of the following:

Effective use and synthesis of the 4 actor tools - Voice, Body, Face, and Mind.

Script Analysis - Keywords; meaning; beats; character intent; meter; pronunciation; emphasis; author intent; exploring the entire work that includes your script. 

Character - How to analyze your character; identifying objectives; playing objectives; the only three things we know about a character; choosing a style; choosing a voice; the suitability of choosing costume pieces and props; how your character moves overall; how your character walks; what emotions does your character exhibit; how to use animal characters; working from outside in vs from inside out.     

Face Acting - Understanding your face; constructive use of the degrees and elements of the 7 universal emotional facial expressions; what your neutral face says to others; different applications for auditions for live gigs, on camera gigs, mic-only gigs, comedy, drama, multi-character auditions, and monologues.

Gesture - The wide variety of uses of your fingers, hands, arms, torso, head; identifying opportunities for gesture; creating a gesture; choreographing a gesture; the timing of gesture; co-ordination of gesture and dialogue; use and avoidance of gesture repetition; applying artistic discretion to gesture.

Voice - Pitch; loudness; speed; rhythm; tone; prosody; variables and variations; character elements; use of dramatic and comedic pauses; emotion; enunciation; emphasis; pace; intervals; nasal continuents; u-glide; musicality; and more.

The Art of Telling the Story - The specific aspects of "tell the story," which any performance or audition should do.

The Art of Physicalization - How to physicalize your audition, take it beyond the multifarious elements of physicality, and make it come to life. 

The Art of Realization - Shepherding your audition from the ideal to the practical, from the alpha to the omega. 

Pre-audition Preparation - How to prepare to make an impact; getting the best from your headshots and resume; choosing your audition piece (if applicable); specifying what you want to achieve; how to rehearse your audition; cultivating the proper attitude; handling nervousness and stage fright; developing consistency; familiarizing yourself with the director and/or casting director; how to use info about the producing company and their products; the importance of what you do the night before the audition.

Presentation - Arriving at the audition; how to conduct yourself; entering and exiting an audition space; reading the room; how to relate to the auditioners; what to say and not to say; what to wear; what to bring; your interaction with other auditionees.

Post audition - Critical analysis; self-assessment; objectivity vs. subjectivity; digesting the experience as a whole, and any feedback; making corrections; emotional distancing; anticipating and preparing for callbacks; moving on.
And much more! 

Every acting session of mine is tailored-made for each participant, so I'll know much better how to proceed specifically for you once I know a bit about you and we have had the opportunity to meet and work together. 

I look forward to hearing from you, and helping you!

Here is an essay of mine on acting:

Acting is like building a house. 

It starts with a wish, a dream, a concept, a need. Then the builder has blueprints made. The building materials are selected. Perhaps oak, maple, pine, glass, concrete, steel. Then the materials are purchased, the construction undertaken, and the house is built. The plumbing is in, power is in, the windows are in. The roof is on, insulation in… It’s a house! 

But it’s not finished. Of course, the interiors must be designed, finished, and furnished. Perhaps the floors will be carpeted. The outside must be painted or sided or caulked. And so on until… it’s ready to be lived in.
 
I see three anti-analogists have just walked out. But that’s okay. This analogous house is our acting careers. We actors are in various stage of this analogy. For some of us, we have just started to have a wish. For some of us, our house is just being plumbed. For some, after years of dedication and perspiration, we are living in that house. The house is what you make it. If you choose inferior materials, the house will be less. If your blueprints aren’t accurate, your house can be off-kilter, or more expensive, or not what you imagined.
 
As an actor (and I might add we stand on the shoulders of a long line of actors down through history, great actors, insane actors, and actors made great or insane by the very art that gives others such joy), you are at the disposal of the writers and directors. You can’t rewrite dialogue for a bad script. You can’t change the blocking for a poor director. You are just paint on their brush. Sometimes it’s glorious, sometimes it’s embarrassing. 

And it’s that dichotomy that led me to strike out on my own, like a young Moliere touring the provinces for a decade. Or 5 decades in my case. I didn’t want to be subservient to others' ideas. But I still wanted to be an actor. So, I started my own touring company with skills learned in college, became a director, and along the way incorporated interactive/immersive, improvisational theatre with the realization that it is, of all forms of entertainment, the most versatile, the most vast, and the most personal.
 
I don’t mean personal as in someone looking in your wallet or in your drawers. I mean personal as in making those in the audience feel as if they matter as individuals in the show they are attending, and not just barely connected observers. That kind of personal. The kind wherein the audience feels like the performances are true for each of them, are real for each of them, involve each of them, are of the moment for each of them.

Success does not equal happiness, although most of us have been, or are, willing to take that risk. Still, as an actor, try to find ways to be happy in your work now, no matter what. As you grow older you may discover that what you thought was a struggle for happiness earlier in life, was actually a missed opportunity for realizing happiness that was yours all along, but now is gone forever.
 
Take that lesson and build a new happiness quotient for yourself and your artistic expression now. It's never too late. And if you need some artistic assistance, please let me know. I’ve been there. I can help.

Dennis is awesome. He took me on, (a person with no talent) and stuck with me and believed in me.  I have finally recorded my demo and have started auditioning.  

Very helpful feedback! Looking forward to my next lesson.

My first session was great and Dennis is an awesome person to work with. Very patient and attentive. Can't wait to continue and hone my craft with a great teacher. 

It was an amazing session! I highly recommend Dennis as a teacher. What can I say, he knows his stuff!

He is very thourough and breaks down the information in a way that's easy to digest! 

First lesson was great. He made it very easy to feel comfortable and open up. It was very fun and it was easy to catch on to everything with his explaining and examples for you to follow.

One lesson down and I expect many more! Dennis is a fantastic teacher, and very knowledgeable on several subjects.

Dennis offers great information, and gives wonderful guidence through the process of voice acting. I enjoyed his online class, and recommend others to seek his advice.

Dennis is a fantastic coach. He came highly recommended for good reason. I'm excited to continue working with him. 

My 16 yo met with Dennis for an introductory lesson. I'll let Isaac's words speak. "He was really kind. He had a lot of different voices. He really loves what he does. I learned a lot from him. Dad, make sure you give him 5 stars." 

My son usually doesn't share many details so I was impressed. Very thankful for Dennis's instruction and looking forward to working more with him.  

Mr. Johnson is a very professional voice acting coach! This was my first lesson with him and I absolutely love it! I would love to sign up for his next lesson.

Seriously the best instruction I have ever had. Really fun and informative! I look forward to continuing my journey into voice acting.

Dennis was very patient and kind, if there was a better rating I would give it to him.

In this video, Dennis, a voice acting expert, will help you discover one of the most invaluable tools for creating character voices, pitch, what it is and how to use it! 

Learn the Third of 6 Important Tips for Voice Actors - Character Voices pt.1 - Pitch

In this video, Dennis, a voice acting expert, will help you discover one of the most invaluable tools for voice artistry, intervals, what they are, how to identify them, and how to use them! 

Learn the Second of 6 Important Tips for Voice Actors - Intervals

In this video, Dennis, a voice acting expert, will help you discover one of the most invaluable tools for voice artistry, keywords, what they are, how to identify them, and how to use them! 

Learn the First of 6 Important Tips for Voice Actors - Keywords

A voice artist with 40 years of experience shares 3 tips for beginning voice actors: 
1) Understanding the 3 basic elements of Prosody: Pitch, Loudness, and Speed. 
2) Understanding Optimum Pitch. 
3) What Demo Reels are and how you get one for yourself.

Improv Acting and Comedy - Acting Class

About Dennis J.

Dennis's Acting videos

Learn the Third of 6 Important Tips for Voice Actors - Character Voices pt.1 - Pitch

Learn the Second of 6 Important Tips for Voice Actors - Intervals

Learn the First of 6 Important Tips for Voice Actors - Keywords

Learn 3 Tips for Beginning Voice Actors

Related Subjects