Category Archives for "News"

A Successful Play Reading

By Richard Sarell | News

An Outstanding Level of Skill

By Richard Sarell | News

“Mesmerising!” was the comment from one audience member.
“I couldn’t take my eyes off her,” was another comment.

This was a performance that was great fun. We laughed and were moved. The time flew by. And at the end we understood.

KARLA HILLAM’S stage presence was captivating, powerful and very entertaining. She had assembled a great team for her first solo cabaret performance. The direction was excellent, the musical arrangement impeccable, the costumes wonderful and her own performance was outstanding.

What are the ingredients that make such a performance a success?

They are …

• a clear and purposeful communication with the audience,
• an actor who is totally comfortable and having fun,
• elements of comedy, drama, irony and pathos in excellent balance
• and an actor whose technique is so refined all you can see is the character.

The actor’s job is really simple, isn’t it? It is to engage an audience and entertain them by taking them on a journey through the story. That’s what KARLA HILLAM succeeded in doing, in spades, on the opening night of her cabaret show, “Ugly Duckling” at the Butterfly Club (check here for times).

The last time I saw a Rehearsal Room actor on stage with such a strong presence was watching GLENN QUINN as an understudy in “Jersey Boys” at the Princess Theatre. GLENN went on to play a lead in that show 300 times. In a similar way KARLA delivered the same stage presence that demanded you watch her. When those qualities are present the hopes for a bright future are strong.

Congratulations, KARLA HILLAM!!

[Written & directed by Spanky; Musical Direction by Andrew Kroenert; Choreography by Brett Fisher; Sound and Lighting by Dan Barca; Costumes by June Robertson and Tristan Seebohm] 

On the Job

By Richard Sarell | News

DANIEL Di GIOVANNI has been on air as a core cast member in the ABC’s “Ronny Chieng: International Student” comedy series. Daniel also shot a Coles commercial in which he was cast without auditioning. His previous auditions were obviously strong enough to get him this gig.

YASMIN BUSHBY is on a roll. She has recently completed 3 big projects.  Yasmin has been writing, producing and presenting a series of 26 sustainability-focussed videos for the City of Melbourne. All completed in time for Al Gore arriving in Melbourne a couple of weeks ago. She was also the featured role in a recent Coles commercial. And she is currently presenting an eight video series in Sydney and Melbourne for a big-name company. This shoot is underway at this moment.

DARREN MORT will shortly be making a return to Neighbours to reprise a guest character he has played before (no audition required).

ANTE KRESO appeared in “Offspring” with very positive feedback from the production about his work.

BRUNO STEPNELL has just completed a 2-day shoot for Neighbours.

ANDREA McCANNON and SIMONE BALL appeared in the same episode of True Story with Hamish & Andy.

MAXWELL SIMON after a great finish to his Bachelor of Fine Arts (Music Theatre) at the VCA has just finished his first professional gig – one of the lead roles in the new Australian musical ‘Between Worlds’. Well done Max.
Check this out … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yVgaHZwDlg

Congratulations to all. It has been a busy month.

Totally Truthful and Compelling to Watch

By Richard Sarell | News

Every so often, something so outstanding happens that its importance needs to be recorded. Last week ANDREA McCANNON’S performance in Wednesday evening’s ‘Eclat’ MASTER CLASS was such an occasion. ANDREA delivered a fabulous 6 minute 45 second blemish free performance recorded in one take.

At The Rehearsal Room, as actors progress through the various levels of the classes they work on longer and longer scenes. That’s because the challenge for the actor to keep a scene engaging for the audience increases considerably as the length of the scene grows. This scene was nearly seven minutes long! That’s unusually long for a TV script.  There were plenty of challenges here, yet ANDREA made it look easy.

This exceptional performance was totally engaging, compellingly real, charming and thoroughly entertaining. Fine work.

ANDREA’S association with The Rehearsal Room began in 2005. She started in the Intermediate Sunday Workshop and has continued to return over the years.

The next Sunday Intermediate Workshop commences on Sunday 6 August at 2pm.  Enrol here.

A Taste of Our New Home

By Richard Sarell | News

The Rehearsal Room tested out its new home at the Dream Factory in Footscray with a 3-hour workshop “Freedom for the Actor” on Sunday 4 June.  The results were outstanding with moving and powerful performances resulting from the exercises.

GLENN QUINN and KYAHL ANDERSON did a superb job in bringing their perspective to the session. “Incredible content in an explosive afternoon,” was how KELLY CUPO experienced the day. “What a pleasure to work with three professionals,” she said. The strength of the teaching team at The Rehearsal Room is growing and growing. It is already at an impressive standard.

“Three minds with three different approaches combined together, really created a powerful approach to the conversation,” commented CIGDEN HONEY.

It was an exciting afternoon.

The first SUNDAY WORKSHOPS at the DREAM FACTORY start this Sunday 11 June.
Click here to enroll for the Introductory Workshop and here for the Intermediate Workshop.

Another Step Forward

By Richard Sarell | News

“You have got the role,” are the words every actor wants to hear their agent say.  JOSHUA HODGE has just heard those words because he’s got a gig on “Wentworth”.

It is another step forward in expanding his experience and it also helps in building a professional network with Casting Directors and Directors.

Although an actor is always hoping for the BIG BREAK, for most it is a question of building a reputation one step at a time. Each gig is an opportunity to gain more experience and each class is the opportunity to build more skill. JOSHUA recently completed the Advanced Workshop (for experienced actors) where in 10 weeks he explored over 15 techniques to manage character and advance the drama of the story. Those skills are aimed at generating a performance that will standing out from the crowd in the audition room.  Well done, Josh!!

Hollywood Excitement

By Richard Sarell | News

Actor/Producer DARREN MORT and Lead Actor WESLEY FORKE were in Los Angeles last week to see their film “Degree of Separation” screened in the opening session of 17^th Beverly Hills Film Festival. “It was very exciting for the film to be accepted into the festival but to then be scheduled to open the festival was a huge honour,” DARREN MORT said from LA. Seeing the distinctive image of the film’s poster adorning the festival’s foyer generated a real sense of how significant this achievement is.

“Degree of Separation” was directed by KYAHL ANDERSON and DALE MASTIN. It was written by PHILIP CLAASSEN. Congratulations to everyone concerned.

Three Success Stories

By Richard Sarell | News

Fiona Banks is a busy director. With recent credits on The Dr Blake Mysteries, House Husbands and Winners and Losers she regularly runs sessions for The Rehearsal Room’s MASTER CLASS actors. This week she told The Rehearsal Room how pleased she was with JESSICA STANLEY’S performance in the final episode of The Dr Blake Mysteries (Series 5). The series has not yet been scheduled but Fiona said, “Jessica is going to be very pleased with her work.” Fiona is excited about this performance. So is JESSICA.

Congratulations, JESSICA.

INTERNATIONAL SUCCESS
Actor WESLEY FORKE is achieving international recognition at film festivals for his outstanding performance in “Degree of Separation” as is KYAHL ANDERSON the director of this 14-minute film. It’s most recent review from the Stonefair Festival in Romania gives high praise to the film’s performances which is the story of Troy played by WESLEY. The Stonefair reviewer writes, “The delivery of the simple yet powerful message is substantially aided by the outstanding performances of all actors involved, and especially by Wesley Forke as Troy and Arta Mucaj as Virianna. The delivery of each line feels completely natural, while moments of silence and quiet contemplation are just as powerful insights into their personalities.” According to this Stonefair review these performances have achieved the perfect balance between relationship and circumstance to deliver the “raw power” of this story’s message.

“Degree of Separation” was produced by DARREN MORT.

MAKING A STRONG IMPRESSION
ELLMIR ASIPI has just completed his second term of classes at The Rehearsal Room and during the term shot his first professional gig in the ABC’s new kids show “Mustangs FC”.   ELLMIR is 16 and was originally booked for an 8-day shoot with a few lines on this new ABC show. His performance attracted attention because his part grew. By the end of the shoot he had been booked for a total of 20 days. That’s every actor’s dream … a promotion that occurs because the quality of your work is recognised.

He is plainly doing the job well. Congratulations, ELLMIR.

How To Get To Las Vegas

By Richard Sarell | News

Hard working actor/singer Anthony Sparkes played ‘Cec’ in 29 episodes of “Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries”.

That’s how he got invited to Las Vegas for “A Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries Convention”. It simply was too good an opportunity to miss … so, he is on his way. He is expanding his itinerary and stopping by Los Angeles as well, of course.

Anthony has just completed the Advanced Workshop (for experienced actors) and no doubt will be thinking about joining a MASTER CLASS when he gets back. He is an actor on the move.

How To Impress Your Agent

By Richard Sarell | News

Its an ongoing battle for an actor to keep working and be noticed.  

KARLA HILLAM decided to do something to promote herself.  She found a scene she wanted to do and booked a one-on-one coaching session.  We worked for an hour using a whole grab bag of techniques developed at The Rehearsal Room.  The aim was to make the performance bold and compelling to watch.  We worked hard.  Karla slept on our efforts.  The next day she recorded the scene in one simple shot with another Rehearsal Room actor who could aid her to push the drama and the story.  

Her agent LOVED IT!!!