David Chiu

I’m exhausted.

I spent this entire weekend in a small theater in Venice attending Joanne Baron’s Master Class. The class commenced Sat morning, but me and my fellow classmates were not able to attend because our Character Interpretation and Script Analysis class meets Sat morning and we were instructed by Joanne that we must still attend our regular class in the morning and then attend the Master Class in the afternoon. So after our class Sat morning me and my classmates rushed to get a bite to eat and then rushed down to the theater to attend Master Class. I was honestly surprised at how many people were attending when I walked into the theater. The seats were packed. I also happened to notice that Jeff Goldblum was in attendance, observing the performances.

After watching one scene and listening to Joanne’s in-depth, lively critique, I was put at ease because I noticed she did not rip into the actors as I was warned. Instead her teaching style was highly energetic and straight to the point, filled with anecdotes and bits of comedy. I found her insight and attention to detail very inspiring. She critiqued everything from interpretation to character choices to costume choices to emotional connection, etc, etc. The way it worked is that a scene would start and Joanne would let the scene run until she felt there were major things to address. If there were major issues to discuss she would stop the scene to talk about it and work with the actors. Some scenes ran all the way to the end, and some scenes didn’t make it past the first couple of lines.

When the critique was finished, my partner and I stepped out of the theater to rehearse our scene and go over some notes. Unfortunately I was not able to see anymore scenes that day since the theater is locked during scenes and critiques, but I was glad that I was able to rehearse one more time with my partner before our performance the next day.

So after a week of cramming script memorization, script breakdown, blocking and several rehearsals into two hectic schedules shared between me and my acting partner, we finally performed our scene today for Joanne. The scene went well and we didn’t forget any lines. It was also very motivating to see my partner throw herself completely emotionally into the scene. We were actually half way through our scene and I’m thinking Joanne is going to let us run to the finish-line, but then her voice came over the speakers - “ok. let’s talk about this.”

Our general critique was that we were doing pretty good and there were some good moments in the scene, but that we both need to carve out our characters more. I was told that I seem a little stiff and I need to move around a bit and own the space as my character. I also need a stronger emotional preparation at the beginning of the scene. I also need to rethink my costume and maybe wear boots and a tank-top instead. I also need to make sure that I know how I feel in every moment and not just “act” angry by shouting the entire time. Joanne also suggested that I might try introducing a New York accent to see if that makes my character more brash and more base. She also suggested that I take Alexandar technique to help relax the tension in my shoulders.

I find it interesting that the notes Joanne gave me are similar to the notes Tom has given me. The characters I’m playing are also very similar. I’m starting to see the studio push me in the direction of very passionate characters. All the roles I have played recently at the studio are strong masculin types with big egos who express themselves with a lot of charisma and confidence. I think that’s cool.

Now I sleep so I can get up, go to work, then rehearse our scene again to incorporate our notes from Joanne.

It’s going to be another hectic week!