In April, 2007, with the full support of our Board of Trustees, I decided that the next decade of The Actors Center’s purposes needed to focus on long standing issues and long term change in theatre practices that affect actors in America.  My initial vision for The Actors Center was to provide a haven for some of this nation’s most accomplished actors to continue their artistic development.  For the most part, their gainful employment in television, commercials, voice overs, and occasionally in theatre and film, does not provide the artistic challenge they need to achieve their own creative goals or to contribute in an exceptional way to live theatre.  The Actors Center was formed to bring America’s master teachers together again with a generation or two of the actors they had trained to serve America’s not-for-profit theatre.

That original vision combined an invited membership of actors, served by these master teachers, with a well selected student body of people who were entering the field and would pay for classes with this exceptional faculty.  In short, the student classes would subsidize the established actors we intended to serve.  That win-win situation proved to be a trap.  We soon became known as “the best school in New York City.”  Sounds good, but we were not a “school.”  We were a haven/retreat for wonderful, mature actors.  As our reputation increased, along with rental costs for our large, wonderful space, I found more and more of my time devoured by management of the “school,” while more and more of my attention was needed to pursue the original mission.  To support the continued development of our finest, established actors and encourage their sustained contribution to the American theatre was the goal, and it was being compromised by our training reputation.

The frustration had been building for about three years when my best friend and colleague, Lloyd Richards, died.  Earle Gister, Lloyd Richards and Ron Van Lieu were the core of the teaching faculty.  Lloyd died, Earle became incapacitated, and Ron took on a full time role at Yale.  The core Master Teachers were no longer available to us, so I shed the large studio and focused our sights on the membership company of established actors, on a National Congress that addresses actor’s issues, and on the development of acting teachers.

One of our company members, Annie Giobbe, said to me the other day, “When you closed the studio, I was afraid The Actors Center as we know it was gone.  But you haven’t missed a beat.  I’m amazed.”

In the ways that count, Annie is right.  The three programs we have focused on have benefited greatly.  The Workshop Company has increased its membership, tripled its level of activity, and become financially self-sufficient.  This year’s National Congress held in January, proved to be better than the first session in 2006, and our Teacher Development Program has taken on new dimension as well.  Our decision to re-focus our energies was appropriate and well-timed.  Where we have “missed a beat,” however, was in our public presence.  The studio was a visible home, and the activities there provided us credibility on the street.  This "report” and the quarterly reports to follow are intended to keep our entire constituency up to date on our activities and our accomplishments.

In order to assure you that our pulse beats strongly, here is a recap of our progress over the last six months, since we moved our offices on September 1, 2007.

The National Congress of Actors and Acting Teachers has convened twice. The Congress of Acting Teachers met at the end of June, most successfully. It will meet again this June. We are now in a position to influence actor training throughout America. The second National Congress of Actors met this past January. In my view, it was even more successful than the first, in 2006. As a result, we are developing a Commission to restore the possibility of permanent acting companies to the American theatre. This is a great step forward in support of our mission.

Last year, at our annual gala, we announced the Lloyd Richards Fellowships for training acting teachers of color. Whereas our Teacher Development Program normally fills enrollment in early May, this year we have a fully committed class in February. More than that, we have identified four established actors of color who have committed to train as teachers. The first, Sheila Tousey, Native American, has been funded for a two year program with us and the Yale School of Drama by the Ford Foundation. Juilliard and NYU have also agreed to partner with us in this effort. In a very few years, we will have made a significant contribution to actor training in this country.

As for the Workshop Company, it may have suffered the most and, at the same time, gained the most in this year of transition. While Annie Giobbe gives us the highest compliment by saying we "did not miss a beat," I know the change from a studio that was "home" to hourly rented space takes a toll on the actor’s sense of security and place in the world. On the other hand, a governing committee system was instituted, the Company’s direct costs are met by dues, Company membership has stabilized, and Company programs have doubled. This coming year will reflect these gains in a way this current year has only begun to suggest. A stable, full access, home should remain the goal of this program.  The Company featured Ron Van Lieu for twelve Monday in the fall (with David Costabile filling two of them with eye opening clown-exercises) Dakin Matthews in his actor/scholar/common sense examination of Shakespeare’s language for two weeks in January; Fay Simpson’s physical exploration of those common “blocks” to our creative powers.  And still to come this spring: Joanna Merlin providing an avenue to the seminal teachings of Michael Chekhov (Stanislavsky’s favorite student); a public showing of “work in progress” by Company members; and our annual workshop with Slava Dolgachev on the plays of Anton Chekhov.