Amy Pietz To Teach Viola Spolin's Improv Acting Technique

Sills/Spolin Theater Works has announced esteemed actress of TV and film Amy Pietz will be teaching a new generation of actors the technique of Viola Spolin, the legendary theater innovator known as the "Mother of improvisational theater."

Spolin's 1963 text Improvisation for the Theater launched the improv movement and changed the way acting is taught. Spolin's son, director Paul Sills, used her work when he founded The Second City and created Broadway's Story Theatre.

His companies included generations of actors and improvisers, including Mike Nichols, Elaine May, Alan Arkin, Barbara Harris, Ed Asner, Alan Alda, Valerie Harper, Melinda Dillon, and more. As Backstage Magazine put it: "Viola Spolin's approach to acting has informed and inspired countless improvisation pros."

Amy Pietz, who has appeared in over 300 episodes of television and on film, studied Spolin improvisation extensively with Ric Murphy at DePaul University's Theatre School in Chicago and with Paul Sills at his Wisconsin Theater Game Center. She discusses it as an integral part of her technique in Larry Moss's acting book The Intent To Live. She started the Spolin/Sills scholarship at DePaul University. Her series regular roles include starring opposite Jason Alexander on the series, HIT THE ROAD, NO TOMORROW, THE NINE LIVES OF Chloe King, ALIENS IN AMERICA, THE AMAZING MRS. NOVAK (playing the title role), THE WEBER SHOW, and CAROLINE IN THE CITY, for which she received a SAG Award Nomination for Best Actress in a Comedy. Other credits include THE OFFICE, CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM, MODERN FAMILY, AMERICAN CRIME STORY: IMPEACHMENT OF William Jefferson CLINTON, MARON, HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER, DEXTER, DYNASTY, DEVIOUS MAIDS, NECESSARY ROUGHNESS, THE CLOSER, NIP/TUCK, MEDIUM, BONES, BURN NOTICE, LAW AND ORDER SVU, ER, CSI, ALLY McBEAL, STAR TREK THE NEXT GENERATION, RUDY, JINGLE ALL THE WAY, THE WHOLE TEN YARDS, REUNION, and YOU. She is currently recurring on WOLF PACK for Paramount TV. Amy is excited to introduce actors and everyone to Viola Spolin's important contributions to the art of acting in America.

The first series of 8-Week Workshops start Feb 29th in Los Angeles. Learn more here and read more about Viola Spolin at her official site, www.violaspolin.org.

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