Why do you all suppose we allow teachers and directors to treat us in these way?

Have you ever allowed a teacher or director to treat you a certain way and then change your mind about it afterwards? What were the repercussions?

Sami

Oh I'd be happy to share my stories!

Several horror stories come from AMDA-NYC. But I would also like to say there were many helpful, caring teachers there during my time of enrollment. It is unfortunate that the abusive ones diminish the experience.

1. So I was doing a piece in my musical theatre performance class that was set in the 1850s and my character was a little a head of her time, she thought about more then just getting married and wanted to explore the world first. And that's what the song was about. So I get up in class for the first time and start my piece and before I'm even done with the first verse the teacher yells from the back of the room, "Get your crotch out of my face!" Now what he meant was I needed to check my movement. I was a bit too "free" for a woman at that time that would have been in a corset. Trust me I was not doing a pole dance up there but apparently I was too swivelly for the teacher. Of course I was mortified. I had worked very hard on the piece without any guidance from the teacher and he has to yell "Get your crotch out of my face". That kind of comment does nothing for the student. I shut down. I was not open to learning because I was so embarrassed in front of him and my classmates and my focus became trying not to cry. Why couldn't he just say, "Ok we need to check in with the movement, consider the time period and the dress"? But no he had to be an a-hole about it. He was a monster the whole time he was with us and not just to me, to everyone. He died part way through the semester so we were lucky to get a new teacher and I have to say when he died it was just like the song from A Chorus Line, "I Felt Nothing".

2. A different story regarding a different teacher at the same school. This guy was one of those that picked favorites. So if you were on his favorite list you could do no wrong. Then there were some he just didn't care about, I was one of those. He would occasionally say something rude to us but most of the time he didn't bother. And then there was his sh*t list. And whoa Nellie, you did not want to be on that list. He was really abusive to those kids, always bringing them down and telling them how awful they were. One time when I was performing a song/scene in his class he yelled out, "You sound like sh*t!" At this point I had already been through that other guy so it did not bring me to tears or anything. But what is the point of that I ask? How does a comment like "You sound like sh*t!" help anyone. It's not like he's giving you a note that you can actually go back and work with in rehearsal. It's just a rotten, abusive thing to say, that's all. I think he's still teaching there so watch out kids!

3. Also at the same school; we were in rehearsals for the final showcase and I was having a lot of trouble with my song. I was assigned a belt piece and had very little experience belting and it was high and I was killing my throat and was not going to have a voice by show time if we didn't get it straightened out. Well, I tried over and over again to talk to people about it and nobody would give me the time of day. I grew more and more frustrated and more and more horse. One day I was just so upset I was talking to my classmate about it and started to cry. We went into the bathroom to try and clam me down but the education director from the school's administration was in the bathroom and wanted to know what was wrong. I was asked to come to her office and discuss the issue. I did. During our meeting I was calm and very diplomatic but explained my concerns as she asked questions. The next rehearsal I was yanked out into the hall by the director. She was very upset that I had gone and "complained" to her boss. She said, "I don't have time for this so what is your problem?!" I kept my cool and tried my best to explain that the education director came to me and I was not attempting to sabotage anyone. I then went on to explain what the trouble was with my song. I was told my concerns were unfounded. I don't know how you could say they were unfounded because I would think a singer would know if she was having trouble with a song. But anyway, I said they could take me out of the number. They could give my duet partner a solo or replace me. That's really sad that a student would be to the point that they would give up their feature in the showcase but I was ruining my voice. The next thing I knew the musical director was ushering me into a rehearsal studio. He was also mad at me because he also felt that I had tried to sabotage him or go over his head or something. I again had to explain that I had been trying to get appointments and talk to him, the director and/or the head of the department for ages and that the education director came to me. I don't think my explanations made a bit of difference. My duet partner joined us and we spent 10 minutes doing some very simple tweaking which lowered my harmonies and all was just fine. That's all I needed but it became such a drama. And they will always think of me as this horrible person. And just, think I paid tuition for that experience.

4. This experience is from a different school. A private voice teacher at my college turned out to be the worst experience of my life. She was horribly abusive. She constantly told me how terrible I was and how I wasn't going to make it. One time I asked her if I was so bad how come I was there on a music scholarship? She skirted around the issue and never gave me an explanation. I spent the whole of my freshman year being treated abominably by this woman. I was 18 and very naive. I didn't really know how to stick up for myself and was desperate to make this woman; I thought was a god, happy. By January of my freshman year I had no voice. There were times I didn't even have a speaking voice. The combination of over practice and my newly develop reflux killed me. I practiced my heavy operatic literature for too many hours a day because I was constantly told I wasn't practicing enough and I was doing this with horrible singing technique and raw chords because of the reflux. But I didn't know all this at the time. The reflux had developed because of the stress and constant emotional upset. I dreaded going to voice lessons and singing. Something I had always loved. At the end of my freshman year I had to give up my pursuit of a music degree because I no longer had an instrument. Over the summer I started with another voice teacher. Upon our first meeting by simply listening to my speaking voice she could tell something was wrong. I didn't even sing that first day. She sent me to a throat specialist where I was diagnosed with reflux. The throat doctor said my chords were very raw and vocal nodes were starting to form. I spent the next few years with wonderful, caring voice teachers rehabilitating my voice. I later found out that many of Dr. Hay's students had gone thorough similar traumatic experiences. But, some of her students have been very happy and have had success. It appears as if she is another who likes to pick out those she wants to destroy and lifts those she deems worthy of success. We did take this up with the administration but nothing was done. She has tenure and is there immune from any accountability.

So there are some stories for you. I'm glad you are addressing this issue of abuse in the training process. I have had this discussion with many of my friends and colleagues over the years. It is unfortunate that abuse in the training of a performing artist seems to be inevitable. Everyone seems to have experienced or at least witnessed it somewhere along they way. I’m not sure why this is. Perhaps it is the nature of our industry. Many of those that teach do so to make a living because their performance careers didn’t work out. So maybe they carry that hurt and bitterness into the classroom. I don't know. But it is a terrible epidemic that we should fight to improve. The artist's spirit is very delicate especially a young artist. We should encourage and assist in its growth not stomp the life out of it. I know the industry can be tough and we can educate our student artists about this. We can prepare them and require discipline without abusing them. I have had some very demanding teachers who were strict disciplinarians but there is a big difference between their approach and the approach of the abuser. Let's expose this and talk about it and work to remedy the situation as much as possible.
Thank you!

I rememberthere was a movie that starred Emily Watson called Hilary and Jackie. About two sisters and one was a world renowned classic cellist Jacqueline du Pré, as told from the point of view of her sister, flautist Hilary du Pré-Finzi.
Anyway both were a talented musicians as children, but the sister was unfotunate in that her private coach was abusive so she never grew to be a great musiciann as her sister whose private coach was much more caring and nurturing.
It's sad to say but people stay with these cukt like teachers because they think they desrve to be yelled at like a parent who yells at a child.
Believe it or not some people are so habituated to responding to abusive teachers they think it is normal

Dear All

I'm a graduate director from one of our top drama schools, VCA, in Melbourne, Australia, yet as I can't find any directing focuses blogs, I thought I'd have alook around here. I'd be interested in hearing any actor's who have worked with director/teacher Lindy Davies who was Head of Drama at VCA and has even consulted, apparently, major stars such as Meryl Streep etc. I know even our own Kate Blanchett was a student of Lindy's at one time during Kate's time at NIDA in Sydney. I've put this post here as I've heard various things about Lindy's approach both good and bad.

Do any US drama schools use Carl Rogers' maxim of 'unconditional positive regard' in their schools philsophy or practice. Or the transactional principles advocated by Eric Burne? I'd be interested in finding out if as experienced here in Melb some students don't experience 'unconditional positive regard' when being criticised under the banner of a 'diagnostic'.


Anthony

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.

Any kind of class where it's more about the teacher than about the students is depreciating.

No screaming required, but, of course, it is all the more awful if it happens.

I think some students are used to being yelled at in abusive families, and they are revisiting known patterns.

quote:

Originally posted by Marcus Aurelius:
I think some students are used to being yelled at in abusive families, and they are revisiting known patterns.

We were just talking in that other thread about (valid) reasons that some actors seek out harsh teachers. This would certainly be the saddest reason for an actor to seek out a harsh teacher. And yet, I fear there may be a lot of truth to Marcus Aurelius' theory. After all, some of the best artists have had some of the most traumatic childhoods. I remember attending a film festival a couple of years ago, where "traumatic childhoods" was a recurring theme in about half of the films (and that was not the premise of the festival). And most of them were done in that way where you could tell it had sprung from the writer's memory, rather than imagination.

Long time no post. What a great topic. I wish I had some better abusive acting teacher stories...I think often current teachers are too sly to smack actors w. a cane or literally blow cigarette smoke in their face. I hate the "guru" mentality of actors in Los Angeles (and I assume NYC-though I have never acted there)-when an actor says "you need to study w. this teacher"...I remember picking up one of Eric Morris' books at Samuel French when I first moved to LA and being intimidated by the forward and the first chapter. I think the best way a teacher can deal w. actors is to realize what strategy makes them grow- whether it is "mean or nice"...or a little of both.

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

Thats a great statement by JB (never met him-I swear)...because it reminds me that the only time I have been ridiculed or yelled at by good teachers in Los Angeles has been when I didn't show up for class or didn't rehearse enough, and obviously, in those cases I deserved it.

I found Stella Adler off of the internet and from what I have read here- I got lucky! A few of the women teachers there are bitchy but the males that learned off of Stella herself and teach the actual technique classes are not bad at all. They can be harsh,sure and they yell once in a while. But abuse? Never. Why do people put up with this other crap? I will tell you why. Intimidation. These cult-like controlling classes where they dominate the students and try to "break" them. Rubbish. I have studied at Stella for two years and they have gotten and will continue to get amazing work from me. I highly recommend my school to ANYONE and you can quote me on that. It actully saddens me that I do not hear of more of you going there. It is a thorough, positive and productive place to study. They have been good to me.

There's another abusive method, but it doesn't come across as abusive.

Not at first.

I'm talking of the acting coach, for whom nobody can do anything right. Who carries an air of constant discontent. Wherever it comes from, it's damaging to the actor. It's not inspiring joy of acting. Or confidence.

There are some people who are confident, no matter what garbage the produce.

But most actors are quite self-critical.

And if they don't get the idea someone (their coach) is rooting for them, they are rootless in that ruthless athmosphere.

I can take an acting teacher, who gets loud once in a while (but if he starts throwing objects, I throw back).

For me, the true damage you can get from a coach is, if he

1. Doesn't care
2. Has a negative aura
3. Doesn't know a thing (and gives you the same "nice work" every time.

One acting teacher in LA who very verbally abusive to female students is Eric Kline at The Actor's Workshop. It was once owned by Tony Barr, who wrote a famous acting book. Eric has a habit of snapping at students in a loud snarling voice when they least expect it.

quote:

Originally posted by JimChevallier:
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.

Jim, I studied with the NY teacher you reference above, I won't name him, but the story actually is worse than that. He claimed to not only to be related to this famous actress, he also claimed to have studied with meisner directly for 5 years.. a lie. he plagiarized a piece of writing, which is what sparked the confrontation in the first place; some of the students banded together and started investigating his background. he charged actors $1000.00 each,(yeah you read it right) to do one of his "showcases".. I know, he asked me for that money himself. I saw him out here a few years ago.. had a meeting in his office.. he remembered me, but mistook me for one of the actors directly involved with exposing him..and he made a veiled death threat to me..then his GF came in and explained that I wasn't one of those that got him. One to steer clear of, to be sure.

Tommy The Actor
Nancy...

I am sorry that you feel that way and felt as though you were mislead. Feel free to join in and take some free classes to see if they and I are right for you.

if you google my name and visit my site you will see all the GOOD that I am doing for many a struggling actor.

We use an OFF Broadway Theatre in the heart of Greenwich Village. Normally classes are 20 Dollars and if an actor does not have the money, we encourage to come and join us anyway.

I extend that invite to you (both) and anyone else here that is stuggling to afford classes.

We also offer headshots for free if you need them as well.

Once again my invitation is open for you.

Fell free to contact me direct for I am never on this site.

646 619 7777
www.theatre33.com

Peace always

quote:

if you google my name and visit my site you will see all the GOOD that I am doing for many a struggling actor.

Really? Aside from various mentions of classes and productions (in other words, what looks very much like self-promotion), the only comment from a third party I found through Google was this:

quote:

John Pallotta was my former writing partner - we wrote VEGAS together in 1998. We were reunited two years ago through a Broadway Producer who we mutually know that asked me if I would meet with John Pallotta again and I said that I would however after I rewrote his play HOW I KILLED MY ROOMMATE...and got away with it, at his request and at that time he promised me renumeration and it never came, we parted company. He lied to me and used me to make his play better.

My Space comments

Meanwhile, you don't seem to be disclaiming the emails cited above, which include claims like:

quote:

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

But it's long past April and the only recent IMDb items I see under that title are short films.

As for this:

quote:

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

Among the very few credits listed on Ms. Hansen's IMDb entry "The Audition" is NOT one of them - though it's hard to see why media and producers would care if it was, given how few credits she has.

As for yourself, I can't find ANYTHING on IMDb, despite these claims:

quote:

associate casting director for

One life to live
All My Children
CSI NY

With friends like your own words, do you really need enemies?

Jim
Thank you for your insight to this scam artist.
I saw someone on Craigs List today saying what a scam he (John Pallotta) is and his company and remembered that I asked about him in this board
It was great to see you rip his reply apart and notice instead of fighting the claims he just ignored them and spammed his classes. That is the true sign of a scam-spam king

He wrote me another email about another play he wrote and how we can be in it if we pay him to be in his classes and work on the play in class. So the actors would basically be paying him to rehearse them in his own play. Oh and his last play that actors paid for never happened, so I doubt this would too. I feel bad that some will be green enough to fall for this, I'm glad I didn't. I learned a lot in my last few months

Wow. . . very interesting topic. Though I never found any of my teachers abusive verbally. There was one, when I was in undergrad, who was forced to resign. He was sexually abusive to students. He taught his BVM (Body Voice Movement) technique which seemed to involve a lot of him grinding and groping on students.

His class was the only class where I've seen students reduced to tears, because of how he intruded them physically and emotionally.

Fortunately, I never got close enough, as I was always puzzled at his "technique."

You have to ask yourself if this is a self-esteem issue or a way to break you down in order to build you up.

Some people disagree with some people's teaching methods if they aren't told how wonderful they are or nursery-style "let's do it this way". If you are going to be an actor, you are your own person and need to speak up and stand up for yourself.

Being nice and polite is all well and good but there's a fine line between being nice and polite and being a pushover. And most teachers with experience, can figure out who is just being pretentious and who is the real deal.

Depending on how you learn, you will be addressed as such until you "get it right" or pick up your things and go home, change careers.

Being an actor, and learning your craft, is an on-going life lesson and is certainly not for the faint of heart.

I started out being a sensitive type and got sniffed out quickly. You learn to build a thick skin and take direction in order to grow your craft or you simply leave the business.

I know I'm getting closer when things get tougher, not easier -- and I keep it moving forward. The minute I give up or go "ouch, that hurt, he/she should treat me better boo hoo" I might as well put a kick me sign on my back.

You're there to learn acting, and take those skills to the next level. You are not there to be coddled -- when you are on the "A" list, then you can decide to be a raging diva or not.