Hey guys I am looking into some acting classes in Los Angeles. Basically I am TOTALLY new. I took a couple of basic acting classes in college, but other than that pretty much nothing. So I am not just green, but NUCLEAR GREEN!

That being said I suck right now and am looking for a solid foundation.

Some teachers I am looking at are as follows:

Howard Fine
Ivanna Chubbuck
Margie Haber


I have read the books of the above teachers as well as others in LA, and I think I'm probably gonna go with one of these.

I am curious to your thoughts on these teachers as a newbie actor as well as other recommendations? I am pretty much brand new and am looking to build a solid foundation. Thank you in advance.

Margie Haber was one of the best teachers whom I've studied with. I went through all of the levels at her school and loved the other teachers there as well.

Howard Fine and Chubbuck are more Uta Hagen based and not for me. Howard Fine is a great but expensive school. Chubbuck's comes off as a "Guru School." I've had friends who went there for close to a year and NEVER got to study with Ivanna. I also didn't think her book was as great as people say it is. It came off as Uta Hagen's "Respect for Acting" plus celebrity name dropping. You also DON'T get to work every week at Chubbuck studio so is that $300/month or whatever it is worth it?

Best schools In LA:
Cold Reading/Auditioning (Ranked from Top to Bottom)
-Margie Haber
-Brian Reise
-Amy Lyndon

Commercials
-Hey, I Saw Your Commercial!
-Chris Game
-Stuart K. Robinson
-Stuart Stone
-Killian McHugh
-Francine Selkirk-Akerman
-Carolyne Barry

Improv (All four are great)
-Groundlings
-Second City
-Upright Citizens Brigade
-Improv Olympic

Scene Study/Acting (It varies. Some schools are not for everyone. Chubbuck, Eric Morris, and Howard Fine are not for people who aren't fans of Strasberg or Uta Hagen (ie. affective memory and substitution.) Playhouse West, Joanne Baron/DW Brown, and Acting Corps are more Meisner oriented. Try to audit these places and make sure if they're for you or not.

-Doug Warhit
-Kimberly Jentzen
-Beverly Hills Playhouse
-Howard Fine
-Stella Adler
-Ivanna Chubbuck
-Joanne Baron/D.W. Brown
-Tom Todoroff
-Playhouse West
-Aaron Speiser
-Acting Corps
-Eric Morris

Comedy:
-Scott Sedita
-Lesly Kahn

I can personally vouch for The Acting Corps.

As TRUTHTELLER59 mentioned, they are Meisner based. I am indeed a person who is not a fan of Strasberg, so that's where I'm coming from.

Hey guys thank you for the responses. I guess I will just have to start auditing classes!

Oh 1 last question.

I was going to audit Ivana Chubbuck's class, and I heard that it costs $20 to do so (from researching online). Not sure if that is true or not, but is that normal?

Chubbuck's is the only school I see so many mixed reviews on. I've read her book and thought it was a great read and so I wanted to check the school out.

Funny thing is whenever you read reviews about her the opinions are usually heavily heavily polarized. Like people either think she is a genius or psychotic lol.

I guess I will have to see for myself.

Ivanna is heavily based on Strasberg and Uta Hagen, who advocated substitution and affective memory. That's NOT for everyone and those are some of the reasons why people think those "Method Actors" are nuts.

And when you've achieved "Guru Status" you are free to charge $20 for people to audit. Also, you're auditing to see IVANNA in action. Most students at her school NEVER get to study with her.

Hey Truthteller, are you familiar with Warner Loughlin and her acting studio? I'm going to audit soon, but wanted to know if you (or anyone else) has taken classes at her studio and can offer any feedback. Thanks!

I've never heard of her until now. Her classes sound really reasonable. I might have to audit myself.

quote:

Basically I am TOTALLY new.....So I am not just green, but NUCLEAR GREEN!

I am in the exact same spot.


Really don't know if I should be going to a basic foundation class like Stella Adler/Howard Fine/Playhouse West or whether I should maybe start off in improv. Or even do both at the same time.


All I really know is that I don't know anything about acting.

quote:

Originally posted by BigPoppa:

quote:

Basically I am TOTALLY new.....So I am not just green, but NUCLEAR GREEN!

I am in the exact same spot.


Really don't know if I should be going to a basic foundation class like Stella Adler/Howard Fine/Playhouse West or whether I should maybe start off in improv. Or even do both at the same time.


All I really know is that I don't know anything about acting.

It wouldn't hurt to do both at the same time. I think Improv is the MOST important for anyone starting out. Commercial casting directors are very superficial about where you study improv so go to either Second City, Groundlings, UCB, or IO.

Definitely do a foundation class.

quote:

Originally posted by TRUTHTELLER59:


It wouldn't hurt to do both at the same time. I think Improv is the MOST important for anyone starting out. Commercial casting directors are very superficial about where you study improv so go to either Second City, Groundlings, UCB, or IO.

Definitely do a foundation class.

Thanks for your reply