Acting Lessons & Classes in Columbia City

I began acting in community theatre when I was seventeen years old. It is something that I am absolutely passionate about. I have been fortunate enough to play some of the characters that I love; Nellie Forbush in "South Pacific"; Anita in "West Side Story"; Eliza Dolittle in "My Fair Lady" and Guinevere in "Camelot," to name a few. I have also been in two independent films.

I will be teaching two group lessons, one on Monday nights from 6:00-7:00 pm and one on Tuesday nights 7:00-8:00 pm. Monday nights will be for children and Tuesday nights for adults. I will be welcoming up to five students in each class. During my classes we will learn different acting techniques, among them improv and Stanislavski's Method.

My 30+ years of experience in community theatre and what I have learned from teachers and other actors is what I look forward to passing on to those who are as passionate about acting as I am.

Focusing on diverse techniques, including types of characters, staging, blocking of scenes, costuming, creating characters, improv and games for each concept.
In the past years we've done excerpts from The Polar Express, The Wizard of Oz, How the Grinch Stole Christmas and George and the Marvelous Medicine.
This summer of 2014, we're doing Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, where we are discussing staging, blocking, creating costumes and props.
We are constantly play games to reinforce the techniques presented each week and the students always have fun. They walk away confident and wanting to learn more.
Spend time on costuming and set design, by creating with the materials we find at Goodwill, thrift stores and other retail businesses. We look over the characters descriptions and utilize our creative to flow with costuming and scenery.

All proceeds to the art of Acting.

I have been a performing artist since the age of 9. Over the years, I have worked under dozens of production companies for film and stage. As world-renowned author, Malcolm Gladwell, states in his book "Outliers," it takes 10,000 hours of experience to be considered an expert in any field. After hitting that mark around Christmas 2012, I began to write a curriculum and had my first student a few weeks later.

We will study personal development, (how to prepare your “slate” for each new story), practice character and script analysis, (breaking down each new story to its fundamental core), invest in an understanding for set/stage/studio performances and the histories behind them, in addition to building a skill set in monetizing your growth in the entertainment industry. Lesson basics will include improv, cold reading, monologues and more.

I pull from a wide array of past learning experiences, (from the academy to the set/stage/studio, to my ...

As Professor of Communication & Theater, I have exceptional experiences performing, producing, directing, and writing stage plays. My mission is to inspire and develop your unique gift. Fun, interactive, and applicable teaching techniques that will motivate the best you!

Let's face it, we all know how to act. We did it as children. The only difference between what we all did as children and a career in acting is knowing how to utilize those skills. As a former actor I can help you develop valuable techniques to further your skills in performing, however, as a current director and casting agent, I also give you insights into the other side of industry to help you nail those roles!

I've spent my whole life either acting myself or directing others in doing so.

For me as an actor, the benefit of a great coach or director has always been that they've helped me reach places in my work I couldn't have achieved on my own. As a coach myself, I'm most thrilled by those small (or monumental!) breakthroughs that my students and I discover together during the coaching process. The cool thing is that I've found the progress my students make in their craft will often inspire me to new heights in my own. (A bonus to already enriching work)!

If you want to develop new material for upcoming auditions, hone and refresh (or completely change) your monologues, or simply work on the craft of acting, I can help. I work to gear your coaching sessions to the goals you need to achieve, offering an experience created around what you need to work on and want to learn.

With a BFA in Acting and Directing, an MFA in Classical Acting, and over 20 years of professional acting experience in the theatre and on-camera, I can offer tools for your tool belt ...

I pioneered a private Arts Academy drama school for 4 years, and am now teaching acting and directing at a middle and high school. My goal is to help students become well-rounded in all the areas that are needed to truly become a working actor. These areas include: auditioning, theater, film, and improvisation.

Being a repertory performer for Silver Star Playhouse (musical theater parodies), and having lots of experience and training in improv and interactive dinner theaters really trains you in comedy.
My husband also owns Sound waves Productions (technological advanced studio in Gilbert)- so completing remote voiceover work for a reel is not out of the question.

I also encourage students to pair in duos for effective scene work and more in-depth technique training (this will also split your lesson cost in half).

Whether its Acting for the Camera or onstage I have had the privilege to study with some of the best acting coaches both in New York and Los Angeles while working on Broadway and Television.

In this lesson I’ll help you make character choices for any upcoming show or audition. Have an audition coming up? Bring your monologue or song you’re using and let’s find the best way to make the directors feel what you’d like them to so that you can get that role! Just starting out? Let’s work on the basics so that you feel confident enough to go and audition for your first show!

Respect for the Actor/Actress journey. I have been a professional actor for 15 years now with a strong focus on Television and Film. I currently recur as a Guest Star on the critically acclaimed series Better Call Saul. Other credits include Friday Night Lights, The Night Shift, Maze Runner: Scorch Trials, Shot Caller, and many more.

My goal is to get you where you want to be as a performer, to continue to push you to use those muscles, because we are what we repeatedly do. Whether it is working on cold reading sides, breaking down the script, getting away from the nerves so "You" can shine, to the business of acting, adding life to characters with subtle nuances, I'd love to help you, it would be my honor.