NEW! ACTING 101: Technique and Monologues with Maggie Phillips, Professional Actor, Coach and Teacher

Saturday, February 19, 2011, 1pm ET / 10am PT

If you've been thinking about starting a career as an actor, Acting 101 is the PERFECT way to start off. You'll work with professional actor and teacher Maggie Phillips who will introduce you to a variety of approaches to Acting, Stage basics, Terminology and the Craft of Acting. In 6 weeks, you'll also cover with Maggie: -The basics of Technique and exercises that awaken your body, voice, breath and imagination. -Getting in touch with yourself as an Actor using improvisation, imagination exercises and exploration. -Truth in Acting - Committing yourself to your work and believing your actions onstage. -Discovering physical actions, finding an Objective, and identifying different intentions to meet that Objective. -Relaxation, Concentration and Focus -Introduction to text through monologue work -How to approach a scene, in both auditions and rehearsals, as well as working with a scene partner and learning to give constructive criticism of the work of your fellow actors. Maggie will also discuss the realities of the business of Acting and how to use the services at Actors Connection to build your personal Acting career and to network. After, taking this 6 week class, you'll know if Acting is something that you really want to pursue in the future. Class size is limited to 14 to ensure personalized attention and plenty of time with each actor. Maggie Phillips has been a working union actor (3 unions) and teacher for over twenty-five years. She has performed on stage, screen and behind the microphone. She has had the great good fortune to play many of Shakespeare's heroines, as well as O'Neill, Williams, Miller, Strindberg, among others, and has worked with new playwrights to develop their plays, primarily throughout the LORT system. As a voice-over, she has been heard on scores of commercials for everything from retail to pharmaceuticals to automobiles to cosmetics. As a narrator, Maggie has worked for many clients, including The Discovery Channel, The History Channel, The Learning Channel, and Court TV. Promo clients include Lifetime, A&E, and Buena Vista's A.M. network lineup--Live with Regis and Kelly, The Wayne Brandy Show, The View, and General Hospital. Maggie graduated magna cum laude with a degree in Theatre-Communications Education from Villanova University, coaches actors privately and has taught on the faculty of Baruch College (CUNY),University of Pennsylvania, Villanova University, Professional Performing Arts High School in midtown, the voice-over training facility Shut Up And Talk, and happily now at Actors Connection. Production work includes theatre, cabaret, corporate industrials and special events, as well as numerous voice-over demos.

Maggie Phillips

Maggie Phillips has been a working union actor and teacher for over three decades. A 15-year stage career at some of the top LORT regional houses, she has had the opportunity to perform many of Shakespeare's ladies, Tennessee Williams' heroines, and a Eugene O'Neill victim. On the other end of the spectrum, her experience in contemporary theater is vast, both comedy and drama, and she has had the great good fortune to originate several roles in new plays. In front of a camera, Maggie created the role of Marian on "The Guiding Light", and starred in the Indie film "Aquarium" which won an Honorable Mention at this January's Sundance Film Festival and played at Brooklyn Academy of Music. As a voice-over artist, she has been heard on scores of commercials for everything from retail to pharmaceuticals to automobiles to cosmetics. As a narrator, Maggie has worked for many clients, including The Discovery Channel, The History Channel, The Learning Channel, and Court TV. Promo clients include Lifetime, A&E, RLTV, "Live with Kelly", "The View", and "General Hospital". She is the founder of the original V/O Gym.