Method Acting in Musicals

[shesamarshmallow]

Posted: 3/28/07 at 1:43am

So. I hate it when people ask for help with their homework on boards like these, but I have a 50 page thesis to write on top of this project, so I'm looking for help wherever I can get it.

I'm taking a class called Stanislavksy in Hollywood in which we have to do a project - no guidelines, 40% of the grade. Being me, I've decided to do it on method acting in musical theater, since singing seems incompatible with method acting, but I know that it's a common practice.

Any ideas on who I should try to contact? It's not exactly a documented practice. I know Donna Murphy is method, but I can't think of how to contact her before LoveMusik starts, and... frankly I'd be a little intimidated. I have to work up to Donna. :)

[beyondblessed]

Posted: 3/28/07 at 2:12am

They are all pretty young, but I'm sure that a lot of the cast of Spring Awakening were trained as Method Actors.

Great Subject, I'd love to read it someday.

[JulianHookbucks]

Posted: 3/28/07 at 2:55am

what did the cast of SA do methodically for the show? anywhere I could find what they did?

and please, let us read your paper when you're finished.

Updated On: 3/28/07 at 02:55 AM

[Bdwy24]

Posted: 3/28/07 at 4:19am

You gotta really throw method acting out singing in shows, I have found.

[Nosferatu]

Posted: 3/28/07 at 4:22am

Do not worry I did it as well a few months ago to get ideas for my corpus of films on forums ad hoc ! And it's worked !

[stella985]

Posted: 3/28/07 at 9:35am

Well, I'm pretty sure Idina Menzel was in the Strasberg studio at NYU...

[Kringas]

Posted: 3/28/07 at 9:51am

You gotta really throw method acting out singing in shows, I have found.

Why?

[BroadwayGirl107]

Posted: 3/28/07 at 10:00am

Menzel was in Circle in the Square, not sure whether or not that's method.

Bdway24, I'm not sure why you'd have to throw out method for musicals. Acting is acting.

The difficult thing about discussing method acting is, as far as I know, most people don't use the so-called "Stanislavsky system" so much as other people's interpretations of what Stanislavsky discovered. Not to mention, Strasberg and Adler worked wiht Stanislavsky at different points in his career. Both are "method," but they're almost polar opposites. In fact, Adler, in her writings, frequently expressed a strong dislike for Strasberg's method.

There's also Michael Chekhov, who worked with Stanislavsky and riffed off of his ideas.

Point being, "method" means very different things to different people.

Anyway, as you mentioned, Donna Murphy is an Adler actor, and Leslie Uggams is as well. I remember reading Antonio Banderas is as well.

EDIT: Also...Elaine Stritch

Updated On: 3/28/07 at 10:00 AM

[jbdc]

Posted: 3/28/07 at 11:19am

Kelli O'Hara studied at the Strasberg Institute. They offer musical theatre workshops there, as a complement to their regular technique classes. I'm sure the musical theatre technique teachers would talk to you. Call the New York studio, or stop by 115 E. 15th st.

I wrote my thesis on this very topic. Send me a message if you want more info. And like some other people said, be careful with the word Method. It carries a lot of baggage. Some love it, some hate it, and most have no idea what it means. I would use "Strasbeg Technique" or "Stanislavsky Method." Use a specific name to qualify what you're talking about, and the people reading won't go crazy with their own assumptions about what you mean.

[WOSQ]

Posted: 3/28/07 at 11:27am

Rather than a singer, you may want to talk to a coach or instructor.

[shesamarshmallow]

Posted: 3/28/07 at 11:48am

Thanks for the help, guys - for clarification, while the class is called "Stanislavsky in Hollywood", we're really concentrating more on Adler & Chekov & Strasberg etc and the techniques that actually made it to Hollywood (with Garfield, Dean, Monroe and all them lot).

[professor]

Posted: 3/28/07 at 12:35pm

You may want to try to contact Bella Merlin at the University of Exeter (UK). She is the author of several books on Stanislavsky and his disciples and is also an actress and singer. You can probably find her e-mail through the University of Exeter website.

[Weez]

Posted: 3/28/07 at 2:17pm

Oh dear, my brain is now filled with thoughts of the SA cast method-acting... o_O

[2blocksfrombway]

Posted: 3/28/07 at 6:30pm

Yes, they taught method at CIRCLE IN THE SQUARE. Idina might be a good one to talk to.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 3/28/07 at 6:48pm

Ask Mandy Patinkin how well the method worked for him.

[PersonofInterest]

Posted: 3/28/07 at 10:11pm

I actually attended Circle In The Square and studied Musical Theater thre. A great person to contact about this subject is a teacher there named Sarah Lazarus, as well as a teacher named Alan Langdon (Idina studied with him as well) and he teaches a "Musiacl Scene Study" class that is founded on the principles of Stanislovski as well as a responsibility to the musical material. Best class I've ever taken.