PAC Alumna Brooke Blanchard, formerly of 'Grey's Anatomy,' Stops in for a Visit!

PAC was graced with the presence of one of our many talented alumnas yesterday, the one and only Brooke Blanchard (Class of '98). She and newborn Cole showed up (her third child) to say hello to Beth and sit down with Conservatory Confessions for some dish.

Brooke Blanchard, Class of '98

If you don't know Brooke, she's an absolute PAC success story: after leaving the Conservatory, she moved to New York City, where she played twins Lily and Rose on "As The World Turns" for four years (2000-2004). After that, she moved to Los Angeles where she became a series regular on "Grey's Anatomy" as Jill the Paramedic. Brooke's character has appeared in 11 episodes over six years, often spouting medical jargon that makes your head spin around WHILE wheeling a gurney down a hall at top speed.

Recently, Brooke and family have been spending more time in Portland, where Brooke will be able to concentrate on raising her brood while managing her photography business, Brooke Blanchard Photography.  

We got some great pearls of wisdom from Brooke while Cole slept, nursed and gurgled here at the PAC office. She remembered waitressing in NYC and doing theatre when she was first cast on "As the World Turns."

On doing a soap:

It was a lot like theatre, it's the most similar camera-acting job to theatre, because they film you in longer takes. And you get a new, complete script every week. It was also the first time in my life I got to say 'I’m an actress because I make my living off of it.'"

On going to the Daytime Emmys for "As the World Turns":

“I was like a kid in a candy store” 

After three seasons, Brooke's character(s) got kidnapped. Unsure if she'd get axed and craving a change, Brooke started finalizing her intended move to Los Angeles. In the meantime, she'd get written into an episode of ATWT. Brooke's ex-boyfriend was FedExing her the scripts that would show up at her old apartment, and she'd book a plane to make the shoot dates. She'd often jump on a redeye from LAX, take a car service to the ATWT studio, and head straight back to the airport without setting foot in a domicile. When waking up at night on an airplane, sometimes Brooke didn't know if she was headed East or West!

On establishing oneself in LA:

"I theorize that if you are 19 and gorgeous, or very unique and quirky you will find your place. I was not really any of those things. I was a dime a dozen – usually I went in the back door through theatre."

Brooke was living off her ATWT residuals and bartending when another return to the boards brought her closer to her next on-screen gig. While doing a world premiere play by one of the writers of "Grey's Anatomy," “Me, My Guitar and Don Henley," Brooke got to know the playwright, who helped get her into the casting director's office for GA. 

On getting on GA:

"It game me a certain sense of accomplishment, getting on primetime. I had thought of giving up acting after moving to LA"

On working with Sandra Oh:

"Sandra Oh has a fantastic work ethic – she was amazing on set to everyone. She knew me through the writer, but she was not just nice to me because of that. I saw her go introduce herself to extras – and I saw the opposite of that with other people."

On playing Jill and memorizing her medical monologues:

"I stressed more over that paragraph than I would over 20 pages of dialogue."

On what PAC gave her: 

"PAC is a really great program. I've worked with people who went hrough Tisch, Northwestern, Columbia, and I never felt that they had a leg up on me. Everyone has their own style and talent, but as there’s talent and then there’s knowledge. I always felt like I had a really good base coming from here." 

On school, pressure, and classes:

"When I went to PAC, the audition process to get into 2^nd year was a really intense…do or die. For me it was, 'If you don’t do second year, what do you do?' The pressure on you was good. We worked hard here. I've taken lots of classes to stay in touch with my creativity since leaving PAC, and nothing has been as serious."

On how children have changed her perspective on acting:

"I used to stay up nights thinking about my career. That changes. I know now I can do some theatre here and there, but I don’t have to make my living at it."

On her career as a whole:

"What I’ve seen as a life lesson is when you get to one rung, no matter where you are you need to figure out how to be happy, because there’s always a next rung. You've got to find joy outside the business of acting."

PAC Alum Brooke Blanchard formerly of 'Greys Anatomy' Stops in for a Visit!

Hearing the Whole Story: Mentors and Curriculum

by Connor Kerns (PAC Conservatory faculty Voice and Speech, Acting Styles Instructor) and guest blogger. Connor also teaches in our evening Studio Program for adults. This Fall he's teaching Voice and Movement starting this Wednesday, October 5. Learn more about the class and registration details here.

  

How do we hear the whole story and not just the pieces? How do we integrate the word with the action? The impulse with the blocking? The objective with the light cue? One acting course with another?

Integration and the “whole story” are often on my mind, especially when teaching and mentoring actors and directors. It is also on my mind now because I have been asked to write about some administrative help I provided PAC in the summer of 2011. I am helping to develop and edit course descriptions, learning outcomes, and the mission statement. (This essay was Philip Cuomo’s idea, by the way.)

So . . . how will I integrate my passion for the spoken word with written academic documentation?  Well, I am going to try. Because couldn’t I find some way of integrating what I am learning from hearing the “whole story” of the PACtwo-year program with what I have heard from my own mentors?  And couldn’t we all listen more specifically and thoroughly to the whole story—the whole play?

           

Cicely Berry

Image courtesy gpb.org

            If you’ve worked with me, you know about my own mentor, Cicely Berry. If you haven’t yet, I encourage you to read and practice with her books.* Better yet, get hired at the Royal Shakespeare Company and get her pearls of wisdom first hand! Or, just as useful, hook up with Andrew Wade, her former colleague, who is often attached to productions as Voice Director in New York, NY, Minneapolis, MN or Ashland, OR. Working with Andrew is, in fact, what Cis suggested I do in 2003 when our theatre company was seeking expertise to lift our acting work. As Artistic Director of Quintessence: Language & Imagination Theatre, I sought a mentor to open up the language and characters in Macbeth and my original play Face Reader. It was a great experience—just ask PAC alums Skeeter Greene, Scott Moss, and Rafael Untalan, or PAC guest artist Dave Bodin.

            Mentors often seem to help us see the whole picture, and Andrew certainly did that for our company, and for me. He is perhaps best known for his consulting work on the film Shakespeare in Love.  In our first phone conversation, he asked this general question about language in theatre: “What does ‘word’ mean to us now? We always have to start with that when approaching any text, classical or modern.” That is a question I think we should all be asking ourselves continually—how do we live through those words now? Whether they are a Jane Austen adaptation, dear reader, or the latest Durang. Since Andrew’s residencies (he returned to work on our Hamlet in 2007), I often ask students, “What is your relationship to language?”  This is important to consider because it often determines how we respond to the play we are rehearsing. It can, I believe, open up the entire play instead of reducing acting work to an isolated character.

            Cis and Andrew are Voice Directors—rather like fight choreographers, in a way, but experts on words instead of swords. They like to work with the ensemble, opening up the text of a play together. They don’t just sharpen verbal dexterity, they engage the imagination. Group work on text helps cast and director listen and enter deeply into that specific world which each play’s language creates. In revising and formulating documents related to the disparate courses in the PAC program, I realize how each course is like a scene linked to another course or scene. Movement and Voice play off each other; units of action in Acting One must be sketched out using Text Analysis but must also come from the character’s Viewpoint.  If my mentors were working at PAC, how would they support and help integrate students’ work? As Voice and Speech teacher, how can I help students integrate these ‘scenes’ into a whole curriculum?

            In other words, how many strained metaphors can I integrate into one essay?

Ralph Fiennes, one time Isbsen-ite

            I will close with an anecdote instead. That first conversation with Andrew ended because he was called into the RSC Main Theatre; he was doing voice and text work with the Peer Gynt cast for a performance . . . starring Ralph Fiennes. If Mr. Fiennes benefits from opening up the language of a play and integrating it with the whole ensemble, then can’t we all, students and graduates alike?!

            So as I ponder my own mentorship role in the PAC two-year program, as I continue editing academic documents which deepen and broaden my understanding of all the courses the students take, I encourage you, dear reader, to ponder this: how are you using language to create character, wherever you are in your career? How can you use the text to integrate your work into the larger world of the play? Are you stuck in your approach? Are you content with a Physical approach? Psychological? Personality-based?** Are you utilizing tools you learned in Voice and Speech class? All the tools you learned from all your mentors? Or are you only hearing your own voice, alone?

           

            * Voice and The Actor.  The Actor and the Text.

            **Paraphrased from Harriet Walter’s acting book, Other People’s Shoes.  A great read for young actors!

Connor Kerns has been a core faculty member at PAC since 1994. In addition to teaching, he is a director and a playwright. Connor is the co-Artistic Director of Quintessence: Language & Imagination Theatre, for which he has extensive directing credits in Shakespeare and his own plays. Connor's working methods are significantly influenced by his mentor, Cicely Berry, Voice Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company. He received Bachelors of Arts in Theatre Arts and English Literature from Carroll College and his MFA in Theatre-Directing from the University of Portland.

Resident Scenic Designer Enriched by Portland Actor Training, Too

Tim Stapleton

Tim Stapleton has been a scenic designer, as well as an actor at PAC, and most importantly a longtime collaborator of artistic director Beth Harper.

A professional scenic designer for thirty years, Tim has been a designer with several theatres in Portland, worked with the Regional Arts & Culture Council in Portland as a liaison to Social Services, and has taught for Willamette University, Central Washington University, Lewis & Clark College, and Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania. He has been awarded four Drammy Awards, as well as a Fellowship from The National Endowment for the Arts. He has been a guest designer for The Apollo Theatre in Chicago, and The Mariko Dance Theatre in Kyoto, Japan, among many others. Tim’s original performance piece "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms" debuted at the Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center. He is also a painter. Tim received his MFA in Creative Inquiry from New College of California and has been published by Inkwater Press (www.twstapleton.com).

We’re proud to have Tim as one of three resident designers for all three shows. We caught up with him in August before production madness hit.

Conservatory Confessions: How did your first meet Beth?

Tim Stapleton: It's a bit of a blur actually. The exact date I'm unsure of. I feel as though I’ve known Beth forever. We’re both from Appalachia. She’s from Tennessee, I’m from Kentucky. I knew Beth as an actress when I first moved to Portland. I saw her perform, and she saw my design work. She then invited me to work with her.

CC: When and in what contexts have you worked with PAC in the past?

TS: Beth used to produce the Oregon Play Festival, where we did what I think is one of my favorite one act shows, called “Junk.” Allen [Nause] directed. We also did “Memory of Water” together, one of the more surreal moments in my career. More shows than I can remember. More recently I did “We Won’t Pay! We Won’t Pay!” with Philip [Cuomo, executive director and faculty member], and last year, “Big Love,” also directed by Philip. In the 2010-11 season I was an actor in a PAC show, “You Can’t Take it With You.” I played Grandpa. I loved the opportunity of YCTIWY, because of the message of the play, and the words I got to say.

CC: What do you enjoy about working in an educational setting?

TS: I like seeing the light bulb turn on for students. I think if I have any sort of knowledge about this craft or this world, I’d like to hand it over, give the gift to someone else. PAC shows people they have a choice of pursuing their own creative energy. And, there’s a world out there they can be a part of. Teaching at PAC, it becomes obvious where the school's headed. It's not just a small school. There’s a lot riding this training that will affect people’s lives. I have a deep belief in education and the betterment of oneself. I learn as much being here as I teach. It keeps me from being an old man.

Another great reason to work with students is to see their growth and know that you’ve been a part of it. My involvement, in part, is showing them the world in which they’re going to live on stage. They learn it’s not just about each actor individually; it’s about the world that they’re participating in. With the director, I work to establish a visual world. The students understand we’re leaving it up to them to inhabit. I love watching them making adjustments according to what they see in my work. It’s a process. Having been on both sides of curtain, I understand what it feels like to step through that portal on the stage and be affected by the world you enter.

CC: What’s your schematic in terms of the design of the three-show season?

TS: As a designer, what I tend to do is look at palette first. What is the tone of the play, the environment of the play, the psychology of the characters? Our approach is to design a unit set – one set on which all three plays function. So we are starting with the last play, and working backward. Because “Holy Ghosts” takes place in an empty room, once we get the architecture of that room down, we’ll be able to plug other two plays into it. So the season is something of a reduction process. We’ll start with “Reckless,” and pull away layers to find “Twelfth Night,” then pull away further to reveal “Holy Ghosts.” In other words, the audience of “Reckless” will not know the architecture of “Holy Ghosts” is right there.

One of the great things about “Holy Ghosts” for me as an artist, is that in the lobby Beth has asked me to do an exhibit of my Appalachia paintings with the aim of giving the audience complete submersion into the world. I will exhibit seven portraits, the subjects being everyday people from our homeland portrayed as religious icons. So you have coalminers, or farmers for example. The paintings will depict something to do with that person’s faith. Most likely they will begin as black and white charcoal drawings.

CC: What’s special about the “Holy Ghosts” process for you and Beth?

TS: As Beth and I have worked together for a number of years, she had a vision that we should honor our relationship through PAC as fellows. Have it speak to who we are as artists.

The people in “Holy Ghosts,” could easily become caricatures. But they’re not. They’re not clowns. They are rooted in the truth of their existence, as we all are. All of the people in that room are together with the belief that their faith in this higher power is all they need to get them through. They expound on how this has changed their lives and who they are without grandstanding – it just comes within the religiosity of the moment. Their handling of snakes, speaking in tongues, it’s all part of the belief that these actions will keep us safe, will heal us. Underneath that are the human failings we all have.

In addition to designing, I will play the role of Cancer Man – another dual role of designer/actor I last executed in “Fool for Love” at Coho Theatre with director Megan Ward.

CC: As an established artist with an impressive body of work, how do you see PAC’s role in the community and what does its identity afford you as a designer?

TS: Portland needs PAC because art can save lives. This institution has established itself not only regionally but nationally as a place that changes people’s lives. It’s important for people to know there’s a place like this in Portland, a place raising the bar for quality of life in the city. In a world where anything can be achieved with the push of a button, there’s a real chance that live theatre for younger generations could become passé. It won’t, because we’re not going to let it; there are people that still gravitate toward it. It’s at PAC, it has a voice. PAC relishes artistic voices, and there is a human need for that voice. I can’t imagine a world without artistic expression - or I don’t want to. I don’t want to imagine what that world would look like.

When you have artists like Beth, me, Michael [Mendelson], Philp [Cuomo], and all of the PAC faculty who are able to say to these students who are full of wonderment, awe, questions: ‘I was once where you are, and this is what can happen.’ It is extraordinary to discover your contribution to the world.

Conservatory Training Professional Actor



Before they knew what was about to hit 'em:
the First Years of 2010-11

At Portland Actors Conservatory, we don't require an audition for acceptance. However, we DO require an audition for the Second Year of our Two Year program, and some students do not make the cut, as we cap the Second Year class at 12. It's can be a nerve wracking process, just like the life of a professional actor. :) But this year's auditions were by all accounts an amazing day for all involved at the Conservatory - teachers, students, and guests were all blown away by the talent on display.

With auditions a few weeks behind them, I polled some of ur First Year Conservatory students - soon to be Second Years - about how they felt upon completion of of the First Year and their auditions. Below are some responses:

Lissie Huff, right, improv-ing away
with Steve Vanderzee

Lissie Huff:

"After the audition I took a week off, slept the first four days. Now it's back to work: in a play (directed by one of our dear teachers, Michael Mendelson, and starring another, Cristi Miles), running drills to keep the skills learned sharp, developing new skills. It's a never-ending process of performance and craft. I love it.

The second year audition is like a master's class in character switching. In the course of only a few hours I portrayed a valium addict, a saucy french maid, a melancholy prince, and a sensualist housewife. Going offstage as the valium addict I literally was close to a nervous breakdown. Five to ten deep breaths later I'm changing my hair, makeup and costume ready to portray a red-headed saucy french maid. So it went the entire day: subsuming myself in the world of the character and then coming back to the world of the actor.

The whole day is an experience like no other. It's an audition, a showcase, a performance, a competition. We're all acutely aware that this day will decide if we continue on to next year. I imagine it's like being at the Olympic trials. No matter how well - or poorly - things have gone in rehearsal or class it's this moment that most matters. Though I wanted to perform well enough to go to the second year, my actual aim that day was to perform to the best of my ability. I wanted to walk off that stage and look myself in the eye without regrets. I did."

Kate Brauneis-Krull :

Kate Brauneis-Krull, left, with Jessica Moran.
Um, is it the 'I Love Lucy' episode at the candy
factory?

 "When I began the first year of the Conservatory program, the prospect of auditions was somewhat daunting but I believed that if I really gave it my all, I would have a spot in the second year class. What I didn't anticipate was how incredibly close we would all become as a class, and how much everyone would astound me with their growth and their hearts. The stakes were higher than I had imagined because it wasn't just about 'getting into the second year' as an abstract concept, but about being able to continue working with my ensemble and teachers who I had grown to love and appreciate so much more than I had ever imagined. I am so happy to be continuing this journey with all of them!"

If you're thinking of applying to Portland Actors Conservatory for acceptance in Fall 2011, the application deadline is June 15, 2011. Get application info here.

Portland Actors Conservatory - Showcase Class of 2011

Get ready. And save those dates: May 18-21, all shows 7:30. Buy tickets here.