Wanna take acting classes?

Below is a letter that went out to local folks who might be interested in acting classes from Dusty McKeelan. Also, here's a link to a post with a bunch links to give you a better understanding about Stella Adler and what she stood for. Take a look and come on by if you're interested!

Dear Actor, Director, or Theater Person of Any Sort,

This is an invitation to a Free Open House for professional actor training in conjunction with North Carolina Stage Company. The Open House will take place in the Atrium at The Haywood Park Hotel on Tuesday, March 9th at 8:00 pm, 1 Battery Park Place, mere steps from NC Stage. If you walk up the hill on Walnut Street, cross Haywood Street and turn left, the most direct entrance is just before the curiously named Chocolate Fetish on your right. Google maps measures this walk at 324 feet.

My name is Dusty McKeelan. My wife and I have just moved to Asheville from New York City, where I was on the faculty at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting. Tom Oppenheim, the Artistic Director of the Studio and Stella's grandson, has asked me to create a professional actor training program here in Asheville. He is hoping that we can develop a blueprint for this type of program in an artistically vibrant community other than New York or Los Angeles. Upon my arrival, I began discussing the possibilities for this program with Charlie Flynn-McIver, the Artistic Director at NC Stage. He painted a picture of a very dedicated and talented community of actors who have full-time jobs and full-time families ... and therefore limited time or money for anything other than productions.

As I am sure you all know, the restrictions of a production's rehearsal schedule tend to prevent an actor from deepening his/her relationship to the character, the play, the cast, the crew, and therefore the art of acting. The mission of the Stella Adler Studio is based on the assumption that growth as an actor and growth as a human being are synonymous. We are hoping that this program can provide a venue for all of us to grow as actors and as human beings.

Charlie and I are not in the same situation as the vast majority of actors in the area. He runs a company, and I just moved here. We need your input in order to create a program that will actually work. I realize that this is an unusually verbose invitation, but I am deeply passionate about what actor training can give a person. I want to be sure that I pass along not only my intentions but also the root of those intentions. Artists need to be surrounded and supported by other artists on a regular basis in order to avoid complacency ... or worse, depression. I do not know what this program will look like, but I do know that it has the potential to give us all a place to call our artistic home away from home.

If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to call or email me (404.966.6336, dusty@stellaadler.com). Also, please forward this information to anyone you think might be interested. Otherwise, I hope to see you all on the 9th!

Sincerely,

Dusty McKeelan

Resource material for Stella Adler Studio

Hi, everyone. If you are interested in learning more about Stella Adler and the philosophy in which I was trained, check out these links. Stella passed away in 1992 at the age of 91. Although I arrived at her studio too late to have met her, her passion and spirit are the root of my training. The two videos are brief glimpses into the inspiration that Tom Oppenheim, her grandson who gave me rights to the Stella Adler name, has asked me to carry on here in Asheville.


The Stella Adler Studio of Acting: http://www.stellaadler.com

Ms. Adler on the size of realistic performance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mTfFXbJEHA&NR=1

Ms. Adler on the life of the actor: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQzyARZwIFM


If you are taken aback by the boldness of some of Ms. Adler's statements, remember two things. First, those videos were shot shortly before she passed on (she taught practically until the day she died), and she was simply trying to make the point that acting is not about the actor but the character, the play, and the audience. Second, I am not Stella Adler. I am merely trained in her spirit. I believe that I can translate that spirit into a practical understanding of the craft, and that is why her grandson has entrusted me with her name. Clearly, her methods work. The list of her students goes on and on:

Marlon Brando
Robert De Niro
Warren Beatty (Honorary Chair)
Martin Sheen
Benicio Del Toro
Kevin Costner
John Ritter
Christopher Guest
Salma Hayek
Candice Bergen
Melanie Griffith
Bryce Dallas Howard
Harvey Keitel
Mathew Modine
Judd Nelson
Mark Ruffalo
Cybil Shepard
Holland Taylor
Many others: http://stellaadler.com/alumni.html

If I even could add a list of students of her students, the students of those students, and so on, it would leave out few professional actors. To give you some idea of her impact on the art of acting, check out what Robert De Niro and Marlon Brando had to say:


Robert De Niro on Ms. Adler (beginning at 5:20): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTCH-Zeppj4&feature=related

Marlon Brando on Ms. Adler (Preface to her book, The Art of Acting, compiled and edited by Howard Kissel):

"To me, Stella Adler is much more than a teacher of acting. Through her work she imparts the most valuable kind of information - how to discover the nature of our own emotional mechanics and therefore those of others. She never lent herself to vulgar exploitations, as some other well-known so-called "methods" of acting have done. As a result, her contributions to the theatrical culture have remained largely unknown, unrecognized, and unappreciated.

As far as I know, she was the only American artist who went to Paris to study with Konstantin Stanislavski, who was himself a skilled observer of human behavior and a most prominent figure in Russian theatre. She brugh back to this country a knowledge of his technique and incorporated it in her teaching. Little did she know that her teachings would impact theatrical culture worldwide. Almost all film-making anywhere in the world has been affected by American films, which has been, in turn, influenced by Stella Adler's teachings. She is loved by many and we owe her much.

I am grateful to the inestimable contributions she has made to my life and I feel privileged to have been associated with her and her family professionally and personally throughout my life.

-Marlon Brando"


And finally, if you have some time, I encourage you to watch the American Masters special on Ms. Adler. This documentary gives a detailed account of the history that culminated in today's Stella Adler Studio of Acting. It is divided into six sections so that it could be posted on Youtube:


Part 1 (w/ Mark Ruffalo as student): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k61Nkvy-QCw&feature=related

Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQscEf7KBM8&feature=related

Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBkexBVgdhg&feature=related

Part 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiD2mQOtEsE&feature=related

Part 5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBUHEIq0SB0&feature=related

Part 6: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5mFWZjBGas&feature=related


Thank you all for your interest in the program we are trying to create. I hope that we can pack the Free Open House discussion on March 9th at 8pm. And again, if you have any questions or comments, feel free to contact me directly.

Sincerely,

Dusty McKeelan

Dusty McKeelan
404.966.6336
dusty@stellaadler.com