It’s Memorial Day, May 29th, to be exact and i’m writing this at 8:14am. My little Brooklyn apartment is filled with the natural light from the overcast day right outside the window. The only sounds are the birds chirping and the oil diffuser, infusing the space with smells of lavender and lemongrass. I started to turn on some music and then decided against it. Peace and quiet in New York often feels like a miracle so i’ve decided to lean into it. This is my morning.
As for the rest of the day, I’m helping a friend move this afternoon come rain or shine and there is always work to be done on my scene assignment from class. It is my last week of class and come Friday evening, the two year program will conclude. Ya’ll, what a whirlwind. First of all, I survived...it was touch and go for a hot second as to whether i’d stay in it (thank God I did). Secondly, it’s still a bit surreal to think back on sitting in whatever cubicle or office in Nashville, longing for an opportunity like this but it seeming like too big of a risk and definitely not wise, financially. I am a New York trained actor! It’s a dream that came true with a lot of hard work and emotion. My scene partner this semester is one talented man and nothing short of a gift to act opposite to; he’s a natural. Plus he’s somehow found the balance of thick skin and kindness. I want to be more like him. Our first scene was from The Glass Menagerie. I wrote about it in the last entry and stand by it being my favorite Maggie Flanigan experience, revealing what i’m capable of as an actor. From there, we received another love-themed scene, only this time it didn’t end with heartbreak. It was a scene from the Brian Friel play, Translations. It takes place in Northern Ireland between a rural farm girl and a British Lieutenant. I met with a voice coach to work on the Irish dialect. The scene required us both to be incredibly open, as we were falling in love. I cried a lot. The emotional trust is necessary to the scene and to let my imagination go there was a bit overwhelming. However, it was fun too! I built my character around Maria from The Sound of Music and Andie from Pretty in Pink. For the love, I used several personal moments plus the final scene from Anne of Green Gables where Anne tells Gilbert she loves him (swoon) and when Maria and Captain Von Trapp dance together in the courtyard. There is a look she gives him at the end of the dance that just feels real. That’s what I wanted to capture. One of the big moments each semester at the Maggie Flanigan Studio is when Maggie herself comes in to teach/critique. Here is a little excerpt about her from the Meisner Technique Wiki page:
After 18 years as William Esper’s* most distinguished teacher both at Rutgers’ MFA acting program and in his NYC classroom, Maggie made the decision to open her own studio in NYC. Located in the heart of NYC, the Maggie Flanigan Studio was founded by Maggie in 2001 to fill what she saw as a substantial gap in American actor training. The studio is rooted in the belief that a rigorous and inspiring conservatory-based training program should remain small, intimate, and nurturing while challenging students to meet the highest professional expectations. MFS started with Maggie’s reputation as the clearest and most definitive teacher of the Meisner Technique, and has evolved over the last 16 years into the most respected professional actor training program in the United States.
*is often referred to as the best-known of Meisner's first generation teachers,
So basically, she’s kind of a big deal! She called our scene to go up first (cold sweats pour over my body). I tried to remember to breathe and to ignore the sound of her pen on the notepad in addition to the voice of failure in my head. By the end of our scene, I couldn’t recall how on earth we got there and felt like I had taken a ride on an emotional theme park ride. Maggie said she’d never seen an interpretation of the scene like we’d done it (which, i’m now curious how it’s been done in the past) and that aside from a few things that would need to be adjusted if it were to be put on stage, she decided to not give us any of her notes and that we should feel good about our work and connection to one another. Success!
My partner and I were given one final scene to do for the remaining two classes. It’s another love scene between a young Christian couple on their wedding night. It takes place in rural Florida in 1960. She’s recently paralyzed and he’s a preacher. The entire play takes place up in a treehouse during what turns out to be a hurricane. The play is called Sweet Storm, written by Scott Hudson and is beautiful. I’ll write another entry soon updating you on how that went (it will be a shorter post, I promise). Thank you for reading and supporting me!
Love,
SS