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