By Gwen Minor and Margaret Lavin San Mateo County Times Like families, schools are looking seriously at cost cutting. Even with stimulus package money going to education, the cuts are going to be deep. Historically, in rough times, the first cuts are usually to the humanities programs: music, drama and art, because today’s teachers are [...]

Many audition notices come across my desk, and I filter out everything but the legitimate productions of Shakespeare’s works. I know that if you’re concerned with Memorize Shakespeare, you’re not as crazy about derived works. That means I don’t post Compleat Works of Wllm Shkspr (Abridged), I Hate Hamlet, and definitely not Guys and Dolls. [...]

Having a quiet place to study is important. A library is good for reading and studying. However, you’re training for delivering your lines on stage, not to write a test in a classroom. Distraction may actually help you learn… or at least help you to keep your brain on your lines amid the chaos of [...]

Los Angeles Shakespeare Company founder Geoffrey Forward went public Friday with an announcement that he has filed an $11.9-million negligence and inverse condemnation claim against Los Angeles County, claiming that 80 “outrageous acts” on the part of various county departments over the course of several years caused construction delays that led to the foreclosure sale [...]

Speech-time.com offers an excellent one-page guide to memorization of speeches. If your concern is memorizing a speech that you wrote so that you can later give a talk without notes, this is the way to do it. The guide is easy to understand, and divided into three sections depending on how long you have to [...]

by Joshua Karson Websites for actors can be an incredible marketing tool that gets you loads of acting work. Or it can shut the door as soon as it opens. Unfortunately, too many websites for actors do more harm than good because they are not designed well or do not contain the necessary info in [...]

You can gather information from blogs and webpages, and try to figure out Shakespearean acting for yourself. Or you can spend hundreds (or thousands) of dollars on specialized acting classes. You’ll get personalized advice from an expert, which is what you’re really paying for, because the actual content of any lectures will be minimal. But [...]

The famed Broadway and Hollywood casting director reveals everything an actor needs to know to get the part. When Streisand, Redford, Vereen, Tomlin, Midler and Hoffman got their first breaks, Michael Shurtliff was there. Michael Shurtleff has been casting director for Broadway shows like Chicago and Becket and for films like The Graduate and Jesus [...]

I’m sure many of you have seen the “25 Random Things About Me” note that is being passed around Facebook. They call it a “meme”, but what we used to call it was a Chain Letter. Anyway, I’m not going to complain about that, it’s just a preamble to Mike McPhaden’s hilarious list (click the [...]

Judi Dench and Leonardo DiCaprio are in, David Tennant and Peggy Ashcroft are provoking furious argument, and Helen Mirren didn’t even make the shortlist for the Shakespeare champions of all time – 13 names to fill a new hall of fame in the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust’s visitor centre at Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire. The hall of [...]