Recently, I was asked to help someone find a good and qualified acting teacher in or near Tampa, FL. I began searching and started running across names such as The Acting Studio, Actors Studio, Actors Studio School, and other similar titles. All of these are of course intended to make the prospective actor believe that there is some extension or connection to the actual “The Actors Studio”. All of these schools or classes have no association nor connection to the work that was taught by Lee Strasberg in his classes or discussed and practiced at “The Actors Studio”. There is an intentional intent to mislead and an attempt to cash in on the name of a world revered institution that changed the course of modern acting.
In 1947 THE ACTORS STUDIO was founded by three important alumnae of The Group Theater: Elia Kazan, Cheryl Crawford, and Bobby Lewis. Lee Strasberg joined some time later, and assumed leadership in 1951. It is not and never was a school. Actors become members through an audition process that includes at least two auditions. The first, preliminary audition, is for a panel of judges who are looking for potential from already trained actors who can benefit from the insights and guidance of the leaders and general membership of The Studio. The second, final audition, is for a panel looking for professional levels of presentation and work.
The format of The Actors Studio was designed to give actors a place to work when they are between jobs. The thinking was and is that without the constraints and demands of commercial theater actors would be free to experiment, stretch, and grow. That in itself demands that actors be trained before joining. As one of the judges at The Studio myself, I can relate to you that there are many times that we see someon’s work and say that they really need to train before they attempt to become members.
But train with who? It’s not good enough to call yourself an Actors Studio member. It’s not good enough to say that you know Lee Strasberg’s work because you are a member of the Studio. There is only one way to achieve that and that is through the hard work that it takes to learn anything. You don’t have to teach Lee Strasberg’s or The Actors Studio’s work to be helpful. There are many good thoughts and ideas surrounding acting. But if that’s who you are and what you’re teaching, don’t mislead and imply something else.
Lee Strasberg, Harold Clurman, Cheryl Crawford, and all of the early Group Theatre members were directly influenced by The Moscow Art Theatre and Constantin Stanislavski, and his students. Great teachers like Lee Strasberg, Stella Adler, Harold Clurman, Sandy Meisner, and Bobby Lewis took the time to learn and develop. They have left us a legacy. They have left us knowledge as to how the actor’s instrument works and how to train it. Fortunately there are legitimate students of all of these great teachers who have gone on to teach as well. But there are also those who say they know what they are talking about because they’ve read a book, or took a month’s worth of classes, or have sat up late at night talking about acting with their friends.
There is even a trend among these teachers to advertise that they are teaching “Stanislavski based classes” even though they never studied with anyone who teaches or taught in Stanislavski’s name. I’m happy that these people read and think and discuss. They would also be well advised to study with those teachers who know what they are talking about.