Dear Freeholders,
Behold!
The resurrected Freehold Quarterly Newsletter! This spring brings two faculty spotlights as well as numerous current and former student achievements. Also, please come see "A Walk in the Woods" by our friends at IND this weekend - if you haven't seem our new space yet, this is a great opportunity to see a great show for free and how the show works in our new black box! And just so you know, there are spots left in a few spring quarter classes and workshops, more info below.
Please don't hesitate to peruse and give feedback - we'd love to include the sort of content you're most interested in, so let us know what that might be.
Also, would love to interview past alumni (no matter how long it's been) and current students along with both current and former faculty and staff - please contact us!
Everyone's journey is a little different, and it's always great to know how you got to where you are and what you're doing now. Send us your brags, tips and suggestions as as well:
Email Carolynne
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FREEHOLD FACULTY SPOTLIGHT: SUSANNA BURNEY
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Voiceover Expert, Actor & Teaching Artist
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Susanna moved to the Seattle area at age 10 from Westchester NY, after which she went to Nova alternative high school and worked at the Bathhouse Theatre often as a teenager – “Theatre saved my life!” she says emphatically.
She studied at North Seattle Community College before moving onto a BFA at Boston University, spent most of the 80’s in Boston before returning to the Seattle area and working at several area theatres, such as Annex Theatre, Seattle Children’s, Seattle Shakespeare Co and Book-It Rep, to name a few).
She began doing voiceover work as a supplement to other performance work she was doing. Though it has sometimes been a challenge as the size of the local market and the opportunities available are not as large or plentiful as the bigger areas of Los Angeles and New York, and often, qualified local talent gets passed over for more recognizable names, Seattle still has a decent market, and she has found a passion for lending her talents to audio books in particular.
Susanna loves to work on meaningful projects with like-minded artists who take the work seriously yet also know how to have fun (it’s called a “PLAY” for a reason!) in a respectful setting – working in this sort of environment supports the best art and the healthiest artists!
Best advice for those starting out in voiceover? Take classes and audition, that’s how you get in! You are valuable and unique, there is no one else like you! Train, build your skills and put yourself out there. Use your online resources. Never stop learning and growing. Stay curious and supportive – use your own identity –it is valid! There is so much challenge in our world today, it’s easy to get discouraged – but tap into your creativity and keep your flame alive!
Seattle Casting director Jodi Rothfield got her into
teaching voiceover in the 90’s, and it was an extremely good fit for all her skills.She has been teaching at Freehold for the past 5 years or so, and was part of the Engaged Theatre production of Julius Caesar.
Susanna's VoiceOver class still has a few spots available, if you're interested.
Learn More
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FACULTY SPOTLIGHT: ELENA FLEURY-BARNES
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Actor & Teaching Artist: Basic Scene Study
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Instructor Elena is Seattle born and raised, having graduated from the UW with a Theatre degree and working as a local actor and artistic collaborator for many years! She was recruited by longtime Freehold faculty member Annette Toutonghi, and was able to shadow a few of Annette's classes before embarking on her own teaching artist journey.
She has been an educator at Freehold for approxi-mately a year now (her first gig teaching acting!) and has enjoyed it tremendously thus far, stressing how much teaching teaches the teacher herself, particularly in seeing students struggle through places she has already travelled and improved.
She also appreciates how those students who are exceptionally dedicated raise the level of the entire class and challenge everyone to raise their own game (including the instructor!), perhaps inspiring them to go out and audition for theatre/film, or take more risks in their daily lives. She loves to help students realize their potential and break down barriers to finding and igniting their own unique spark.
Best advice she has for budding actors? “BE YOURSELF! There’s no one else like you, and even when it feels like there are a ton of people in the audition room, your special flame might be exactly what [the auditioners] are looking for, and even if you get rejected, KEEP GOING!"
What Elena hopes students will walk away with from her upcoming Basic Scene Study Class:
- Being able to better understand/interpret a script’s text
- Building on skills from Step I & II
- Becoming a better listener & scene partner
- The feeling they’ve gotten something significant out of it as an artist and human being
She fell in love with theatre as a child – something about being in the space and experiencing the full process of a production, from the first table read through rehearsals, to opening night and strike is what she enjoys most, as well as the sense of completion and satisfaction of a job well done!
Being a teaching artist and performer has been amazing for her, bringing both challenge and joy as well as a feeling of connection to the world at large in a different way, and being able to impart that sense of joy and passion to her students, her work and her audiences brings true happiness.
There are still a few more spots in Elena's Basic Scene Study class!
Learn More
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BLACKBOX SPOTLIGHT: LEE BLESSING'S
A WALK IN THE WOODS
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IND Theatre in the Freehold (Benjamin Logan Bullitt) Blackbox
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We're delighted to let you know free reservations are now available for a special limited run of inD Theatre's
A Walk in the Woods, which will come to Freehold Theatre from Friday 5/3 through Sunday 5/5.
This Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-nominated play by Lee Blessing is directed by
Ken Michels and features
John Ellis and
Joel Underwood. It has been running on Bainbridge Island to full audiences and critical acclaim as a "timely," "riveting" and "relevant" show.
Synopsis: Two arms control negotiators -- Soviet Andrey Botvinnik and American John Honeyman -- stroll in the woods above Geneva, Switzerland in the late summer, away from the glare of the negotiating table. They develop a relationship, although their personalities could hardly be more different. This humorous yet tense tale was inspired by the real-life "walk in the woods" between negotiators Paul Nitze and Yuli Kvitsinsky who left the official Geneva sessions to achieve a breakthrough which was soon rejected by their governments. However, they were credited with laying the groundwork for the subsequent Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty in 1987, which eliminated all of the two nations' land-based, mid-range nuclear missiles. President Trump withdrew the U.S. from the INF Treaty on February 1, 2019, followed a day later by Russia.
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WORKSHOP SPOTLIGHT: AUDITIONING FOR THE CAMERA
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May 3 - May 11 with John Jacobsen
May 3, 4, 11 // Fri 6:00PM-9:00PM, Sat 9:00AM-12:00PM (9 hours total, no class on May 10)
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Auditioning well is a special skill set unto itself, but it can be an intimidating process to performers on any level. Nerves, distractions and the unpredictability of the situation conspire to undermine your performance, so being relaxed and comfortable in the casting process is essential because looking unprepared or unprofessional at an audition is a red flag that could cost you the role.
Auditioning for the Camera
is for any actor who aspires to be a working on-camera actor and it’s also good for working actors who want to sharpen their auditioning skills.
This workshop, which offers a lot of on-camera time, will teach you how to audition through monologue prep, cold readings, and best practices when trying to land your next role for film, television, commercial, web series, or corporate gigs. Learn how to prepare, break down a scene, and give them what they want. This class will also touch on the biz of acting (headshots, networking, agents, resumes, cover letters, etc…), landing roles, getting the attention of an agent, and how to present yourself as a professional actor. It will provide insight as to what casting directors are looking for and how to make the most out of not-so-great copy.
Know what you are doing when you go in, and show them the star you are.
More info
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Student/Alumni Accomplishments & Brags
"I am currently in this show touring the Puget Sound region. (
MORE INFO
)"
Sameer Arshad
"Took two playwrighting courses with [Freehold] in 2017. 14/48 featured me as a playwright at their summer 2017 food theatre festival with my short play,
Millennitopia
. In summer 2018, Annex Theatre produced my full length play,
Crewmates
, for a three week run and I was told that it was a commercial success and had a couple of positive reviews. I am currently working on three more plays. I also had a few small acting roles here and there. Very much enjoyed my rewarding time at Freehold."
Alyssa Kay
"I've been taking stage combat classes through Geof Alm/Freehold for a number of years now, and have started not only performing professionally as a stage combatant (most recently in
Il Trovatore
at Seattle Op-era) but also choreographing fights for various local shows (soon to include
Man of La Mancha
at Harlequin Productions and
Romeo & Juliet
for Seattle Shakes - Wooden O). I was also recently appointed NW Regional Representative for the Society of American Fight Directors (
SAFD
)."
"I took a scene study class with
Andy McGinn
in 2016 and he had us each pick a scene from a dream project. I had been wanting to do a particular play for YEARS, even shopped it to a few theatres. And now: I’m producing for the first time to act in my dream project—
Blackbird
by David Harrower. It’s going to be at 18th and Union this May/June."
I've written three full lengths and a few shorts since my experience at Freehold in 2016."
"I took Playwriting 1 & 2 with Elizabeth Heffrron. They were loads of fun, got my creative wordsmithing flowing, and let me meet some great people in the community. Last month, NWTheatre.org was born, which is a platform for different kinds of theatre writing. I do the administration/$ outlay, and some writing. We even had a reunion, as
Julieta Vitullo
was one of the first interviews, and Freehold got a shout-out in it. 😊
READ ARTICLE
"
"I am currently enrolled in Directing for the Camera, as an actor, with instructors Robin Lynn Smith and John Jacobsen. Just this year I've started a new a Theatre Company in Seattle with my friend and colleague
Corynn Carignan
. We're
Weasel Productions
.
We've landed a sweet property for this coming fall, the PNW premiere of
George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead™ Live!
Opening Oct 15th. It marks my first directing credit since graduating from
Cornish College of the Arts
.
I've also had the pleasure of working with
Tonjia Atomic
in an upcoming film called
Raw Meat
. Thank you for asking Freehold. :)"
"I won best Actor in the 2018 Seattle 48 after taking Acting for the Camera with Robin Lynn Smith and
John Jacobsen
. And I'll continue to brag until the next Seattle 48. A special shoutout to
Matt Smith
because his Improv class is one of the best things I did for my acting and creative process."
"Directing an adaptation by Susan Lieu of Thi Bui's graphic novel for the Seattle Public Library on behalf
of Book-It. Also performing in
Centrifuge
(
MORE INFO
) with Infinity Box Theatre Project May 3 - 4 at Theatre Off Jackson and Sandbox Radio on May 6."
"I won the Best of Fringe award for highest ticketing average at Seattle Fringe 2017, for a solo show I began writing in a class at freehold. I'm now in my second year of an MFA in Performance at Arizona State University. I graduate in May 2020, with a specialty in devising as an "actor-creator". I also teach Acting 101 for undergrads, and draw often from what I learned in the Meisner Inten-sive."
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Freehold's Fundraising Gala is
next Monday, 5/6/2019!
We hope you can join us for this unique Night in the Roaring 20's, an opportunity to dress up, dance, drink & dine with your friends, enjoy quality entertainment from
Waxie Moon,
Unsinkable Heavies, &
The Femme Fatales Trio as well as current and former students, and of course, something for everyone to bid on from the many amazing live and silent auction items available (including local and international vacation packages, meals, outdoor experiences and MORE), and of course our exciting *ticket frenzy*!
There's no need to fear missing out when you can actually be there with us.
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