What are some of the most important takeaways you've had from the Meisner class in your first year?

Sometimes when we’re inexperienced actors, we think what we’re doing is all about us. Our self-esteem and ego has us focusing on how well we look to the audience. Meisner brings you into the moment to deal with what’s happening in front of you. That’s such a gift. “It’s not about you, it’s about the other person,” Jolene said to us! “Pick up and deal with them.” It’s such a valuable lesson for an actor that wants to create authenticity on stage. “Leave yourself alone!” YES. I hear you, Jolene!

What has been some of the most difficult elements of the Meisner Technique?

Probably the most challenging aspect of class is one of the five dictates of the Meisner Technique—the one I just mentioned—“leave yourself alone.” As someone who greatly cares about how well he performs in situations or on stage it’s hard to stay out of my own head, but at the same time, if I can remember, it gives great permission to simply have fun and go after what I want.

How will this technique help you in your future work?

Before this class, I was flying by the seat of my pants when portraying characters. I would come at them from a vague, superficial, surface-level lens. I feel like this technique gives me something to stand on and helps me focus on the way in which to find my character's humanity through examining their motivations. I feel like it will and is allowing me to stop playing a caricature of the person the author has created. My hope is that it provides me with a firm foundation in all my future work.

What are you looking forward to in the second year of the training?

Getting into text work is its own new challenge, but it’s forcing me to examine the things I've thought I started getting good at. I hope I continue to find growth as we get deeper into scene/text work.

What did receiving a scholarship mean to you?

The scholarship that was offered to me has removed any potential added stress out of the class by allowing me to focus simply on the work, as opposed to how I’m going to pay to learn skills. There are so many young actors that weren’t able to finish acting programs at the college level because of finances, and I was one of them. I feel so incredibly grateful to the generous people who helped provide scholarships to several of us. It means a lot and is allowing us to acquire the knowledge that we so greatly desire to have. I hope the scholarship program continues and the Phoenix never ends their Meisner acting program. It’s very much needed in our city. There is incredible talent here. In fact, I hope they expand it.