Acting I and II

Orientation Class for Students new to the Meisner technique, or to working with James (no charge for this session): Saturday, May 3

Official Dates:  Saturdays May 10 – June 28

Times: 10:00am - 1:00pm

Cost: $30 drop-in or $200 for eight-week session

Registration:

Students should bring: NA

Description: Whether you are just starting out, or a seasoned professional looking to make your work even better, this class is specifically designed to take you further toward excellence in your actor’s journey.  While based on the teachings of Sanford Meisner, the class also makes use of many other exercises, insights and perspectives, including ones drawn from the instructor’s own wide-ranging background and experience as a stage and screen actor and as a teacher of acting.  The instructor will also bring in outside professionals to share their perspectives on the craft of acting and to respond to scene work.

Instructor Bio:  James Serpento is one of the founding members of Kingman Row Entertainment, and has worked in the entertainment industry across the United States for more than three decades, with several hundreds of productions for stage and screen to his credit, many of them award-winning. 

As a director, he numbers among his favorite projects Los Angeles’ Eclectic Company Theatre’s Landscape of the Body, which included an LA Ovation Award-nominated performance by Daphne Ashbrook of Dr. Who fame; and Two Gentlemen of Verona, which was named a “Critics Choice” by the LA Times’  Robert Koehler, who called it “an exceptionally intelligent, impassioned reading of a tricky play.”  James has also directed Kaufman and Hart’s Once in a Lifetime for the Pasadena Shakespeare Company, and many other works in regional theatres around the Midwest (including Buried Life at the Chicago Directors Festival, and All My Sons, God of Carnage and Hughie at the Repertory Theater of Iowa.) His film directing includes four short pieces and the features The Yoofo Club and Haunting Villisca (the latter having been named Best Feature at the Iowa Independent Film Festival.)

As an actor, James has worked extensively in theatre, film, commercials, and industrials around the Midwest, including Chicago, Indianapolis and Des Moines. Favorite roles include de Stogumber in St. Joan at Chicago’s Bailiwick Repertory, Teach in American Buffalo, Goldberg in The Birthday Party and Eddie in Fool for Love. He appears in the pilot episode of Bluebox Limited’s medical thriller, Spread, for MTV, as well as in their short film, Impulse. Other film appearances include The Final Season, Dead Awake, Sixteen to Life, Ash and, most recently, The Night Visitor. 

James was selected to assist with teaching acting while a student at Iowa State University; shortly thereafter, he spent a semester at ISU as a guest instructor.  A devoted student and teacher of the principles and methods espoused by Sanford Meisner, James has continued to study and teach acting alongside his own professional acting career, as both an independent instructor and as a faculty member at several academic and other institutions (including Indiana University, where he achieved his MFA in Acting, and Valparaiso University, where he was an assistant professor.)

IMPORTANT NOTE:   We have accepted students down to the age of 12 into the class, but this is more the exception than the rule.  Some of the scenes we use contain adult language and themes and, while we allow students to "switch out" language they're uncomfortable with, we don't condone it since that's not how it works "in the real world" (where you're expected to do the script as written.)  Even if some students switch out language, others don't, so there's a likelihood that strong language will be heard (even if you're not the one saying it.)  If this is too great a difficulty for you, we certainly understand, but the class is not for you.

Questions? Contact [email protected]