Herbert Berghof Studios

So the studios name is actually just called HB, but I wanted to be cheeky because I can be. So I discovered this place in December when I had an epiphany (well not really, a lot of agents told me plainly) that I needed to get my foot in the door of some NYC acting schools. It a) helps me and b) looks really good on my resume. So I looked at the obvious ones of course: Stella, Lee Strasberg, Actor's Studio, Maggie Flanigan, Wynn Handman, William Esper, HB Studio, Julliard, NYFA, etc. However, they were all ridiculously expensive and I sort of asked around and some actors told me that some of the conservatories weren't as strong as they used to be or that it's more expensive than it's worth, etc. When I saw HB Studios, I saw that they were rather affordable. Extremely affordable. Then I got depressed because I figured this was going to be a crappy school and it's what I can pay without taking out a loan.

I enrolled safely into a dialects/accents class and a Meisner technique because I felt that you really couldn't go astray with that. I loved the classes. Then winter ended and spring came around and I enrolled into other classes: Uta Hagen Technique, Improv and Singing. I was told by a few agents that improv is a great skill to have because it shows the actor is a quick thinker and to be honest I feel that improv is my weakest style-I just don't think I'm that funny. I mean I am funny because I'm truly a dork and make a fool out of myself on a daily basis, but it isn't because I am *TRYING* to be funny. People laugh at me, not with me. It's okay, I've come to terms with it and I go along with it. Anyway, you got me off on a tangent. I also took singing because aside from singing in the car and singing in the shower-I really dislike to sing in front of people. You can fake being an artist nowadays-I mean look at galleries nowadays and actors on the big screen, but you can't fake a voice a Capella and there are TONS of musicals out there and very few straight plays. So I figured it'd be good to harden my vocal chops. Plus I have an extremely deviated septum so I can only breathe out of one side (when it isn't plugged) and I must train my voice with this new circumstance (I saw the surgery procedure and it doesn't look pretty...so I'm just going to postpone that as long as possible).

The song I sang first was Hallelujah, because frankly that song causes me to have goosebumps everytime I hear it. This time around I am singing The Hill by Marketa Irglova from the movie Once. It's amazing. It's beautiful. I want to do it justice. However, I hate singing to practice when the roommates are home. Especially when one is sleeping at the moment. Grr..poop. So I'm listening to it on repeat and humming to it. Yes, humming will help. Humming will do just fine for now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qA075zD7fls


Oh...and apparently I'm in elementary school all over again. The class is having a recital. Yes, I said it-a recital. Where we shall all perform our best song. Uh oh, spaghetti-o (name that book!)