The Auburn Public Theater will soon start training the actors who may one day grace its stage.
Sam Tenney / The Citizen
Auburn Public Theater co-owner Cary Eidel will begin teaching acting classes at the theater next month.
Auburn Public Theater co-owner Cary Eidel will begin teaching acting classes at the theater next month.
Managing Director Carey Eidel will draw upon 25 years of professional acting experience - and nearly half that many years of acting coaching experience - when he instructs acting classes for teens and adults. The 8- to 10-week sessions will form a basic foundation from which students can further fine-tune their performance skills.
Eidel hopes to eventually bring in specialized acting teachers to lead advanced classes like improvisational and interactive theater, but for now he plans to cover basic acting technique and scene studies.
“It's a simple form of creating reality on a stage,” he said. “With movement and voice, the actor needs to use himself as an instrument like a musician would play their instrument.”
Aspiring performers will start classes with relaxation exercises that focus their energy away from stressors and toward their own bodies. Like athletes preparing for games, Eidel's students then limber up physically through body and facial stretches. They develop the emotional depth of their acting skills through exercises where Eidel asks the class to close their eyes and remember events in their lives, such as birthday parties, that evoke potent feelings.
This last exercise echoes to Eidel's training as an actor under prominent acting theorist Sanford Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City. A disciple of the famed Constantin Stanislavski, Meisner refined and relayed in his own classes the Russian acting theorist's emphasis of emotional memory as a catalyst for performance.
“It allows them to more easily connect to the material and process it in a personal way,” Eidel said.
Eidel's time at the playhouse was a principle influence on his performing talents. Since walking in front of his parents' home movie camera at his first birthday, Eidel said, he has shown a penchant for acting.
He first studied theater at Bucknell University, though a disagreement with his parents over its viability as a career led to Eidel also obtaining a second degree in economics. (Today he draws almost equally upon both degrees in his management of the Auburn Public Theater).
Eidel's professional resume includes roles in TV shows like “Everybody Loves Raymond,” “7th Heaven” and “General Hospital,” as well as films like “The Lost World: Jurassic Park” and “Evolution.”
He also developed his stage presence during years of standup comedy, which he hopes to eventually teach at the Auburn Public Theater as well. While studying at the Neighborhood Playhouse, he worked as a doorman at the famed Catch a Rising Star comedy club in New York City. Rubbing elbows with the talent eventually led to stage time for Eidel.
When he moved to Los Angeles and continued his standup, Eidel found his theater training sought after by fellow comics looking to break into TV. The abundance of interest led to Eidel instructing his first acting classes in the late 1980s. As his name became familiar to several Hollywood talent agents and managers, Eidel taught both acting and acting business classes to students that included Halle Berry and Diane Farr (“Rescue Me”).
In Auburn, Eidel continues teaching acting and related classes at Cayuga Community College.
“I've always enjoyed seeing students really come alive on stage when there's no fear,” he said. “Watching it is a tremendous victory.”
As a teacher, Eidel strives to erase any fear his students may bring to the stage with them. The process is akin to reversing the classic adage of thinking before acting. In theater, Eidel said, the ideal behavior is acting without the meddlesome influence of negative thoughts. The result is not only a more skillful and less inhibited performer, but a better human being.
With beginning actors emerging from his classes at the Auburn Public Theater, Eidel believes the institution's stature in the Auburn community will thrive.
“If there's interest, I'm happy to teach,” he said. “The classes offer the community a professional way to learn acting and have fun.”
If you go
What: Professional acting classes for students 11 and older with Carey Eidel
When: February
Where: Auburn Public Theater, 108 Genesee St., Auburn
Cost: $125
To register: Call 253-6669
Eidel hopes to eventually bring in specialized acting teachers to lead advanced classes like improvisational and interactive theater, but for now he plans to cover basic acting technique and scene studies.
“It's a simple form of creating reality on a stage,” he said. “With movement and voice, the actor needs to use himself as an instrument like a musician would play their instrument.”
Aspiring performers will start classes with relaxation exercises that focus their energy away from stressors and toward their own bodies. Like athletes preparing for games, Eidel's students then limber up physically through body and facial stretches. They develop the emotional depth of their acting skills through exercises where Eidel asks the class to close their eyes and remember events in their lives, such as birthday parties, that evoke potent feelings.
This last exercise echoes to Eidel's training as an actor under prominent acting theorist Sanford Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City. A disciple of the famed Constantin Stanislavski, Meisner refined and relayed in his own classes the Russian acting theorist's emphasis of emotional memory as a catalyst for performance.
“It allows them to more easily connect to the material and process it in a personal way,” Eidel said.
Eidel's time at the playhouse was a principle influence on his performing talents. Since walking in front of his parents' home movie camera at his first birthday, Eidel said, he has shown a penchant for acting.
He first studied theater at Bucknell University, though a disagreement with his parents over its viability as a career led to Eidel also obtaining a second degree in economics. (Today he draws almost equally upon both degrees in his management of the Auburn Public Theater).
Eidel's professional resume includes roles in TV shows like “Everybody Loves Raymond,” “7th Heaven” and “General Hospital,” as well as films like “The Lost World: Jurassic Park” and “Evolution.”
He also developed his stage presence during years of standup comedy, which he hopes to eventually teach at the Auburn Public Theater as well. While studying at the Neighborhood Playhouse, he worked as a doorman at the famed Catch a Rising Star comedy club in New York City. Rubbing elbows with the talent eventually led to stage time for Eidel.
When he moved to Los Angeles and continued his standup, Eidel found his theater training sought after by fellow comics looking to break into TV. The abundance of interest led to Eidel instructing his first acting classes in the late 1980s. As his name became familiar to several Hollywood talent agents and managers, Eidel taught both acting and acting business classes to students that included Halle Berry and Diane Farr (“Rescue Me”).
In Auburn, Eidel continues teaching acting and related classes at Cayuga Community College.
“I've always enjoyed seeing students really come alive on stage when there's no fear,” he said. “Watching it is a tremendous victory.”
As a teacher, Eidel strives to erase any fear his students may bring to the stage with them. The process is akin to reversing the classic adage of thinking before acting. In theater, Eidel said, the ideal behavior is acting without the meddlesome influence of negative thoughts. The result is not only a more skillful and less inhibited performer, but a better human being.
With beginning actors emerging from his classes at the Auburn Public Theater, Eidel believes the institution's stature in the Auburn community will thrive.
“If there's interest, I'm happy to teach,” he said. “The classes offer the community a professional way to learn acting and have fun.”
If you go
What: Professional acting classes for students 11 and older with Carey Eidel
When: February
Where: Auburn Public Theater, 108 Genesee St., Auburn
Cost: $125
To register: Call 253-6669
Citizen
Hot Jobs
New! Off the Menu
The Citizens' Say
Post your comment - click hereThere are No comments posted.