Acting Center of NY

I became interested in the class because of a rave review about how the teacher’s individualized approach takes into account the differing comfort levels of the students. However, I found the teacher’s approach to performance anxiety rather formulaic and ineffective. In the first class, you will introduce yourself and answer questions. The next class or few classes, you will do improv. Then, at the teacher’s leisure (and your expense), he will give you a scripted scene to work on. He is very lackadaisical about assigning scenes, and he typecasts regularly. The Irish student repeatedly gets the alcoholic roles, the black man gets angry male roles, the basketball player plays a basketball player, and so on. If you’re a woman, I advise to pick your own scenes lest you want to be limited to relationship scenes with one-​dimensional roles while watching your male classmates continually play interesting, developed characters. While he pays lip service to choice and comfort in the class, the teacher’s approach is that of a dogmatic director who should not be questioned rather than that of supportive teacher. When you express discomfort with a scene or lack of understanding at his direction, he becomes rigid and confrontational and treats you as though you’re being difficult and argumentative for not simply nodding in agreement. For this reason, despite his holding the class out as a safe space for people with anxiety, I would not recommend the class for overcoming stage-​fright. He seemed to forget that, unlike a professional acting gig, we’re paying him for a service rather than the other way around.
The class does not provide any lessons on the basics of acting. When the teacher gives you a scene, he provides no instruction at all. You can labor over a scene for several weeks without direction only to have him tell you right as you’re about to present your scene that your approach is completely wrong. When he does give instruction, it is vague. One time when I tried to apply his direction during the following class, he argued that I was wrong and that he had never given me such an instruction; notably, he did not bother to clear up the confusion by clarifying what his instruction had been. Several times he told me to «just read» the lines, but when I did so it would lead to frustration because what he meant was to read flatly, ignoring punctuation and emphasis, which is not how I normally read. He was resistant and cold when I would I try to approach him at the end of the class to get clarification on his feedback. I left the class completely frustrated and more confused than ever about how to act. And while other students seemed pleased with the class, I noticed that they received the same criticism class after class as they struggled to put his vague instructions into practice. If someone expressed the difficulty of trying to apply his advice, rather than provide helping words or exercises, he would say, «that’s acting.» Yes, we know what is acting. How about explaining how to do it?
His strongest suit is, when you have finally gotten to fully act out a scene, advising you on how to make small changes in body language, pacing, and prop usage to be more convincing. Consequently, I would recommend this class to those who are already comfortable with their acting skills and want simply to get feedback on fine-​tuning scenes.

Pros:
This place has changed me. I can’t believe there was a time that I couldn’t even get in front of the class. But all it takes is showing up after you’ve figuratively fallen on your face and you will already have progressed. Even if you sit and watch without participating, making the effort to be there instills a habit in you. You just have to do it, although sometimes that simple act of showing up seems like the hardest.
What I really appreciate about the class is how the instructor, Charles, seems to tailor how he handles each student according to what they might be able to handle. He’s big on «manageable steps» so you’re only pushed outside of your comfort zone if he thinks you can handle it. If you can only introduce yourself, then that’s all you do until you’re ready to move on. If you’re an actor who wants to focus on scene study, then you can work on material with a partner and perform the scene in each class with the option of participating in a showcase. Or you can do improv (my fav!). Everything is tailored to you as an individual and I think that’s so important. I’ve met some great people and everyone is very supportive.

Cons: To see progress, you have to commit. Ok I lied, that’s not really a con: D Just get it over it. If you searched for acting classes, then you want to go. You just need to push yourself to show up!