Maggie Flanigan Studio, based in New York City, has announced that Angie Elliston had discussed in an interview the studio’s summer programs for acting New York residents can attend. She pointed out that the summer acting program makes use of the Sanford Meisner and that the training she received during the six week program was not what she had really expected.
One thing that Angie noted was that there were much fewer students in the class. Angie Elliston says, "I would say that because there were fewer students, there was less competition. I felt like we were all holding hands together and we were getting through this. That's what I liked about it. Because it was small, we were closer."
Angie Elliston revealed that when she was still growing up, she would watch on television how actors would train. But when she started attending the summer acting programs for adults NYC residents were attending, she explained that they were all amazed how the Meisner technique worked so well. They learned how to listen and how to pay attention to the other actors.
When she attended the summer acting program offered by Maggie Flanigan Studio, she thought that acting would be more about movement and expression, but it turned out that it was not and that it was more about working on what is inside. By doing that, she was able to start working with the outside. By working on the inside, their acting skills just started showing on the outside, which is why she said that everything they learned in the program was unexpected.
As a result of her training in the Meisner Summer Intensive, which is a six-week, 18 class program that immerses students in the beginning third of Meisner’s first year of training, Angie now believes that training has a lot to do with an actor’s relationship with herself and accepting the emotions.
According to Charlie Sandlan, Executive Director and Head of Acting at the studio, the summer acting program introduces students to the Meisner technique. He points out that the Meisner technique is one of the most effective methods in acting that focuses on truthful behavior and imagination with the result that the acting becomes genuine. Basically, it is a technique that trains actors to act like real human beings rather than as actors. This is very much in demand among filmmakers who want to see certain facial expressions and gestures on tight closeup shots without appearing to be unnatural or too rehearsed.
During the six weeks of intensive training, Angie observed that she learned mostly by looking at everyone else. She noted that this worked better because there were just a few students, with the result that they became an intimate group. They got to know each other better and that by noting how everyone was growing each day, she felt that it was amazing. She felt that they were not competing against each other but instead were helping each other.
Angie noted that what surprised her was how certain kinds of feelings, which were mostly feelings of intense sadness, revealed to her something that she did not know about herself. Specifically, she realized that she didn’t know how to stand up for herself. Everyone had noticed it but she had no idea. She realized this when Charlie told her to take things personally because as an actor, a person must be able to take things personally and be able to handle conflict. This meant that she had to stand up for herself or there would be no conflict.
Maggie Flanigan founded the studio in New York City in 2001, and together with Charlie Sandlan from 2006 to 2012, worked towards achieving the goal of creating a comprehensive MFA caliber actor training program. This resulted in the establishment of the Film History, Script Analysis, Theater History, Business I and II, and Anatomy for Actors classes that helped establish the reputation of the studio as the gold standard of professional actor training.
Those who are interested in the summer drama program of the Maggie Flanigan Studio can visit their website, or contact them by telephone or via email.
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For more information about Maggie Flanigan Studio, contact the company here:
Maggie Flanigan Studio
Charlie Sandlan
(917) 789-1599
studio@maggieflaniganstudio.com
153 W 27th St #803 New York, New York 10001
