Hi everyone:

Have you ever had a class with a teacher that just demolished your self-esteem? Have you ever had a director treat you or a cast mate in such a way that felt belittling?

I am compiling acting/performing horror stories for a project I am working on.

Please contact me with any stories and/or anecdotes you may have.

Thanks everybody.

Samantha

Interesting topic, Sami.

I've witnessed classes that more resembled Medieval torture sessions than productive, supportive acting environments. That being said, there seems to be two schools of thought on the matter, certainly different ways of getting at "the truth" in acting. I recall a class I audited that seemed to insist that everyone weep like a child at nearly every opportunity. Kind of a "primal scream" therapy session and acting class in one. But far and away the most disturbing incident I've ever witnessed was at a class given by the late Stella Adler at her old LA school.

She publicly badgered and humiliated a poor fellow trying to do a monologue so badly that I could hardly bear to watch it. He was so thoroughly embarrassed by the contemptuous and sadistic beating that he silently snuck out the stage door, never to return. Stella was at the end of her long and storied career when I witnessed the agonizing scene and that reality must be factored into the story, but it certainly serves as a cautionary tale as to what poor acting instruction or a single, unkind word can do to an unsuspecting actor's psyche.

Perhaps the secondary lesson here is the danger of idol worship in all of its forms. When we form inaccurate or inappropiate atachments to any single person or school of thought, we enter dark water.

www.robertkim.com

Thanks so much for your response. This is exactly the type of situation my project is based on.

I heard a story about Meisner once that may be verifiable elsewhere. He was already along in years and had had his tracheotomy, so he spoke with one of those robotic voice enhancers. After one student did his work, he had him lie down on the floor, hobbled over with his cane, put it against the student's neck and said, "THAT's what I think of your acting."

Don't swear to it, or even my memory, but that's the gist of what I was told.

There is also a teacher who was in New York and later came out to LA who claimed to be the nephew or descendant of a very famous actress and to teach a mixture of all the great teachers' works (mediocre or even dangerous teachers often seem to make this claim). One was Meisner and he did very self-revealing exercises under that guise.

When he later had a confrontation with several students, two of them told me he reached back into personal things that had come up during the exercises to throw back in their faces.

That'll build your trust level.

This said, among the generally generous and genial teachers of HB, there was one known for really lighting into students at the drop of a hat. But young guy I'd worked with in Bill Hickey's class who just couldn't seem to focus straightened right out when he took this man's class, and had nary a complaint about him.

So you never know.

That story about Meisner reminded me of one of my college voice teachers many moons ago. He was a former Metropolitan Opera tenor and a brilliant voice teacher who was then in his fifties and looked like he was in his eighties, dying of emphysema before our eyes and chain smoking through our lessons. He had lost his voice many years before and would throw his cane at the accompanist or us to get our attention since he couldn't be heard over a whisper. The man was a damned ninja with that cane!

I quit my pack a day unfiltered Camels habit cold turkey at the end of my first semester with him and sang at his funeral during my third. I never really appreciated a lot of what he taught until I started taking lessons again last year and realized he was years ahead in his methods. Youth really IS wasted on the young

In regards to the story of Meisner, he did this kind of thing all the time. I've studied with people who studied with him, and I've heard this kind of story a lot.

Damaging classes and teachers.... What a great topic. I'm sure most of us that have taken a lot of classes have seen our share of this.

One teacher I had was so beloved by many of his students that he seemed to lose the ability to teach. He was too busy being admired. He actually sat above us all on a pile of mats one day and stated with a straight face "I am not a guru" as he looked down on us--and oh, yes, he was sitting in the lotus position.
But that's less damaging than annoying.

I have seen many instructors mangle emotional recall exercises. One--who was known for this technique--all but forced a girl who clearly resisted to use a very recent personal tragedy as fodder for her monologue. And as she cried and stumbled through it, he turned to the class and smugly smiled "See! It's working!"

I attended Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute in NYC. There was a teacher (RC) who was had this guru click of students who swore how he was go great and everything was organic. Whatever that means..but for some reason in acting class organic is a seal of approval of utmost honor. Anyway his advance class required students to audition to get into. Well. I thought why not. Let me have this experience. I did a monologue. Got in. Then I realize the atmosphere was a bit like the emperor is wearing no clothes. All new people who join had the pleasure of watching him
deeply analyze anyone who was noticebly insecure. His technique to getting one to be organic was, tear the student down and then compliment them ...because only he could see their true talent. So the students were brainwashed into believing if they were humiliated and embarrassed this harsh criticism was making them better as actors. (no it was making them needy for his approval) When it came to my turn to do a scene and got to experience his brutal critique..It was really personal. I decided to quit. I knew that style of teaching was not for me.
A week later..this same teacher approached me outside of school surrounded by his groupies. He stopped me to ask why I dropped his class...I told him. I didn't like how you spoke to me. It was uncalled for. I am an actress and trusted you with my development and your abrassiveness was not conducive in helping me." All his groupies and he were astounded I addressed him so. But the cool thing was he listened and said "it wasn't personal..but you are welcomed to come back. the work you did earlier was organic." How can a teacher in an acting class say his critique is not personal...Anyway I found a teacher who suited me better.

Am I the only one who was thinking 'fertilizer' every time Denise said 'organic' here? I love empty buzz words. All my life, I've been the Little Kid in the Emperor's New Clothes, feeling like I'm the only one thinking, "Er, the dude is nekkid!" Thanks for this story Denise and congrats on finding a better path

This topic really made me smile. Great stories. I have had a good share of vain instructors, but those with that "aura" are always see-thru to me. I stay in the class to analyze them. Who knows, I may have to play a character like that one day!

Recently dropped out of the MFA program at (prestigious acting school in New Jersey) this past fall.

I got to hear some sick Meisner stories.

Highlights include: Throwing ash trays at students
" " tables at students
" " chairs at students
Telling students they had no talent BEFORE they did their exercise

My teacher seemed to have been a parrot of Meisner. She must have been channeling him.
She repeatedly screamed at actors, made fun of them, immitated them- she even told one girl to sit down before her exercise was finished. My teacher was pretending to fall asleep watching the scene. This girl must have sobbed for over an hour, directly into stage combat. Not to mention the number of actors being kicked out (only 8 of 14 actors are left in the 3rd year class) - they weren't good enough to stay in the program. Check please.

Moral of the story: Don't get your MFA at (prestigious acting school in New Jersey) unless you want to experience abuse and audit your Meisner teacher.

Well, I waited awhile before I chimed in.

I've studied acting/performing with about 25 teachers! Ridiculous, I know. And most of it I did when I was under 25 years old...

So I saw it all. I studied with teachers from EVERY major school of thought.

The VAST majority of them were abusive. It was generational. It was this way in dance and voice training too. It was cultural.

And when I was a young teacher, I have to admit, as I was experimenting with HOW to teach all that I knew, I could be abusive.

But not anymore. It's wrong. And it doesn't get the best results, anyway.

I think that often what happens is that when teachers don't know WHAT to teach to help the actors, they feel vulnerable. So they get accusatory and mad.

If you are being blamed for not getting amazing results in your work, this a huge red flag.

The ONLY thing that justifies my anger when I'm teaching is this:

1) The actor is dishonest about something.
2) The actor makes agreements and doesn't keep them.
3) The actor refuses to do exactly what is asked of them, and there is no reason for it. (An actor is allowed NOT to do any kind of exercise they think might hurt them in my classes. The actors I work with ALWAYS set their own psychological boundaries.)


But that is it.

If an actor isn't doing amazing acting, either I know exactly what to teach them...or it's about me. How could I get angry at them for me not being able to help them?

I think a lot of abusive teachers don't do any self-growth work, and this is a problem.

I require of myself, because I am working with professional actors, that I do my own work all the time -- I stay in therapy, I take voice lessons, I work on my acting all the time, I have powerful friends who call me on my crap, my students are encouraged to question me.

In fact, in my classes we even do an exercise where students are asked to think of how I can be a better teacher.

If I ever think a student is in ass-kissing mode, we talk about that. Because ass-kissing hurts their work.

If I ever sense an actor is becoming dependent on me, we talk about that. I want my actors be learning tools from me. I do not want my actors to NEED me to do great work.

Again, the ONLY thing that ever justifies my getting angry is lack of honesty, integrity, professionalism, responsibility == things like that.

If an acting teacher gets mad at the quality of work being done, I can only conclude they don't have much to teach the actors, and they can't handle that...so they blame the actor. And it happens all the time. - Jason Bennett

These stories are exactly what I had in mind.
I, myself, have had my share of abusive teachers. I remember one of my college's most respected teachers walking up to a pair of students in my freshman acting class after their very first presentation of a scene, straddling one of the young men and saying, "What the F*$@ was THAT? I don't know what that was, but it sure as F&%$ wasn't acting."
After that, we were all so afraid to make a mistake that no one took any chances. This same teacher would then reprimand the whole class for being cowards. How sad!
Anyway, please keep the stories coming. I have a few more weeks of research before diving headlong into my project and these stories are helping more than you could possibly know.
Thank you. Thank you. thank you.

I have had additonal bad acting classes experiences aside from the previous one I mentioned..but the common thread is the co-depency the students have with their teachers..and if the student is new to acting the stronger is new this cult-like bond..because actors are habitually seeking approval in class and this habit transfers out into the real world of auditioning and on a working set or rehearsal process.
The major lesson I learned is you have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find a prince of a class.. a nurturing environment where there is no aggressive put downs and degrading tactics by the teacher..I've seen brilliant critiques of students work where the teacher respects the actors. They address them with civility. The same as with a director..when directors talk about a scene or direction and not resort to yelling and screaming ..the work comes through.
Somehow in society we have gotten our wires crossed where we assume a good acting class is determined by how tempermental the instructor is.

I've had some scaldingly mean teachers, and I've had some that were a lot more approachable and supportive. I've learned a lot from both kinds, and one of the main things I've learned is that I don't respond well to the "bully technique". Nevertheless, I wouldn't reject the bullying teacher out of hand: acting has been taught that way for a long time, and for a long time it's been getting results.

If someone new to learning the craft wanted my advice, this is what I'd say:

Know what your own limits are - and what they are not. You can probably take more "abuse" from a good teacher than you think you can, and if it's getting the results you want, stick with it. But if the class is damaging you without helping you become a better actor, find another teacher. And overall, remember that you are the client. Obviously you don't pay good money to any professional, be it a lawyer, a doctor, or an acting teacher, and then quibble with them and ignore their advice. But neither do you go on paying someone who isn't doing what you hired them to do.

Bottom line: treat it like the business relationship that it is, and make the decision that benefits you the most.

I had a CRAZY acting teacher here in LA (method). He created a very cult-like following in his class that was really creepy.

I did 3 words of a scene and he then yelled at me for 30 minutes and had all sorts of insults to throw my way (including calling me a f*cking c*nt).

I left and the scary thing is that some of his students followed me! They tried to talk me into coming back into the class and said that he was just trying to break me.

Needless to say, I stayed far away from that craziness. It's so sad that there are so many mentally unstable acting teachers in LA who feed on the ego trip of being adored by their students.

It was really the cult-like atmosphere that was disturbing. People in his class blindly took every word he said as fact.

I think that as a group actors are constantly seeking validation and there are NUMEROUS acting teachers who exploit that to feed their own egos.

Hi there Backstage
I somehow got on this teachers mailing list and while I am limited in my teacher knowledge (I am still green as an actor) this John Pallotta from Theatre33 seems incredibly unprofessional.
Is it proper to have students pay you weekly in something that is supposed to be a class so he can get a reading of a play he wrote?
He also seems to be asking that background actors show up and pay for classes for his readings, that cannot be the right thing
I'm new to the business but it just seems wrong
He also always boast about unverifiable credits of shows he was on and things he had cast (he wrote my friend that he cast for One Life To Live but there is no info searchable) and then insulted her because she never heard of him
I never went to a class so I cannot comment but a lot seems wrong but I am not as experienced as most of you.
I do not want to badmouth someone I don't know but wanted opinions so I can see if the way this person acts is correct



Here is a sample email from him;

Hey All...

Just sending out a shout to see who is coming this week. Everyone from Jane Ho (2pm class) must attend. We go up in three weeks with book in hand for the reading of Jane Ho. Arian Blanco the B way and Off B way director will be directing the B way reading of Jane Ho. Since Jane Ho is a story about a hight priced call girl, my agent is getting some media attention because of what is in the news at the moment. Arian will be there next week, but we must move forward starting Saturday. Please show up early so that we can start on time. What to do a full run through of the script and need the background actors as well.

We would also like to start rehearsing Roommate in the 4pm class, but I need everyone to attend. WE can not plan and rehearse when we are missing a lot of students.

They will be filming our classes starting in April and May and to be televised on cable TV. Starting April 15th I will be on a regular cable TV shopw called the Audition, where actors audition infront of undustry professionals. they will be filming the auditions and filming our class.

For those of you that have been less then serious about the classes and come and go when you want... I requset that you not come back.

When the show "The Audition" airs in April, we will have tons of actors wanting to be in out televised classes...

I need to know Who is serious and who is not.

If you are not serious I simply do not want you back on class

Lots happening with jane Ho and Roommate.

Broadway and TV star Juliana Hansen will be joing the cast and class. She will draw media and producers

We have three Broadway readings

Do you want to be a serious actor.... or do you want to be a background actor for the rest of your life.

Email me if you are serious about being a part of this. if not, please move on.

If you do not respond and RSVP, i will consider you OUT.

I will start cutting those actors from class that pick and chose what days they would like to attend.

Sorry... if you miss three classes, your out.



Peace

John Pallotta

----------------------------

That was his email. Any advice?

This is a copy of what he wrote my friend that submitted to a casting for his readings, he said she must be in his class every week and she said she was not interested and she recieved this back;

I have already lost interest in you as an actor.

I mainly cast for Indy films and TV (Soaps etc)

In the past I have been associate casting director for

One life to live
All My Children
CSI NY
Reality Show

...and so on

If your an actor you would know who i am.

With no training, people never make it beyond background work

My Students make it to Stage Film and TV

See My Video Testimonials

You make the choice


Warmly

John Pallotta


----------------------------

That was his reply to her because she answered a casting notice and didnt want to pay.

Is this ethical and did he cast these shows or is it a scam

I seen the John Pallotta guy on Craigs List and his company keeps changing names. I don't know anybody that studied with him but a friend said he answered his ad and felt like he contacted a used car salesman so he never went to his class but gets all these e-mails asking if he is coming to class and if he doesnt he is not a serious actor.
That was enough for me never to reply at first then I see the company changes names every few months so I was always weary even though his classes are cheap

quote:

Originally posted by Mukubella:
I had a CRAZY acting teacher here in LA (method). He created a very cult-like following in his class that was really creepy.

I did 3 words of a scene and he then yelled at me for 30 minutes and had all sorts of insults to throw my way (including calling me a f*cking c*nt).

I left and the scary thing is that some of his students followed me! They tried to talk me into coming back into the class and said that he was just trying to break me.

Needless to say, I stayed far away from that craziness. It's so sad that there are so many mentally unstable acting teachers in LA who feed on the ego trip of being adored by their students.

It was really the cult-like atmosphere that was disturbing. People in his class blindly took every word he said as fact.

I think that as a group actors are constantly seeking validation and there are NUMEROUS acting teachers who exploit that to feed their own egos.

O.M.G. I would have had my boyfriend take care of that for me lol

That is insane