The Beverly Hills Playhouse
254 South Robertson Blvd.
Beverly Hills,
California,
United States
90211



Phone: 310-855-1556
Email / Website
 
The Beverly Hills Playhouse
Beverly Hills, California
 
Description

The BHP strives to train each actor in real-person-real-place, behavior-oriented, moment-to-moment acting work in the tradition of great American actors.  In an era when many actors don't see a need for training, or where the training is geared towards booking an audition tomorrow, the BHP is a standard bearer for old-school scene study programs focusing on an authentic kind of acting that is rarely seen today.  It is a training ground for serious artists who aspire to long-term careers.   

Rather than emphasizing any one technique or school of acting thought-such as Stanislavski, Meisner, Adler, Strasberg "sense memory", etc.- the BHP utilizes a down-to-earth approach developed over 40 years by its creator, renowned director and teacher Milton Kayselas.   

Different actors have different ways of tackling the craft of acting, and the BHP recognizes this important fact by teaching over 20 different concepts, ideas, and techniques that actors of all shapes, sizes and experience levels can learn and utilize to master whatever challenge faces them, whether from the nature of the role or the nature of the project.   

Our product is an actor who can deliver an authentic, rich, believable performance no matter the circumstance, from arduous film shoots where there may be very little rehearsal, to plays where there may be weeks of rehearsals, to the audition that gets you either of those jobs.   

Administration: 

What are you doing to get professional work?  In what work are you interested-TV,Film, Theatre, and what kind?  What parts are you really right for?  What is your relationship with the industry professionals who can help you?  What are you doing to create your own projects?  The BHP is very interested in these questions, and your answer to them.  Each actor has a specific dream that led them to this profession, and the BHP tries to get each student to identify this dream specifically, so their career administration has a focus, an energy, and a purpose.  If sending out endless headshots, postcards, and other promotion has seemed a fruitless exercise, if you have never really thought specifically of how to get this acting carrer moving, or if you are a working actor who is looking to change the nature of the parts you are booking, then BHP's approach to Administration will help.   

Actors in BHP classes have access to support groups, comprised of fellow classmates who get together once a week to encourage each others' career administration.  Quality of administrataion is emphasized over quantity-instead of sending out 500 postcards to an impersonal mailing list, identify the five people you really want to reach, research them, and write the personal communication that can truly have an impact.  Persistence is the key, as well as knowing that there is no such thing as "no."  The only "no" is the one that exists within you.   

Attitude: 

What is your viewpoint of this business?  What is the viewpoint of those around you about this business?  Many actors deal in daily fashion with rampant negativity about their profession, from within the business, as well as from their friends, associates, and family.  If your agent has ever said, "We can't get you in," if you have ever said to yourself, "My agent isn't cutting it," or "If only I could get a better agent," or "I'll never be able to get an agent," "if your family has ever asked, "How long are you giving this acting thing?", or if you have said or heard any one of the million-and-one variations on blame, doubt, suppresion, or actor-as-victim, then what the BHP has to offer you in handling Attitude is for you.   

Attitude is a state of mind.  The BHP wants to train actors who know how to keep an even keel, who know how to right the ship even in stormy seas.  A career is a long-term journey, and your attitude will play a huge part in how that journey plays out.