The new program, poised to become one of the top realism
programs in the country, is built on the strengths of its eclectic,
innovative faculty and the conservatory’s long-standing reputation
as one of the top musical theater programs in the country. The
curriculum integrates the realism of the Meisner technique —
considered the next generation model for method acting and the
preferred technique for film and television — with video and
new media technologies to prepare graduates to get good-paying
jobs and build working careers as professional actors. In addition
to learning the skills for authentic acting, students also gain the
knowledge needed to self-produce and promote themselves.
“We’re preparing professional actors to work — in live
performance and across a wide range of media — as creative artists,
not passively waiting around for the next job, but capable of
creating their own art and their own opportunities,” said Ruscella.
The Meisner Technique
The Meisner technique is a behavior-based method, originally
created and later refined by American theatre practitioner
Sanford Meisner, who developed the approach after working with
renowned acting coaches Lee Strasberg and Stella Adler at the
Group Theatre. Meisner served as head of the acting program at
New York City’s Neighborhood Playhouse founded in 1931. His
approach taught that by reacting to the other people on stage, an
actor's performance would be more honest and, therefore, more
interesting for the audience.
“When we tell a story, whether it’s onstage or in front of the camera,
we’re hopefully expressing those apex moments of life, when we have
our most profound experiences,” explained Ruscella. “For artists to
convey that, they must learn to play themselves like an instrument,
to know their chords — almost as if they were a trumpet. To play
the notes well, they need to tap into an understanding of where to
go to bring forth the truth of that experience.”
This step-by-step method, which takes several years to learn,
introduces a series of interdependent training exercises that build
on one another and emphasize in-the-moment authenticity.
Through communication with other actors, students learn to
generate behavior that is real rather than a pretense.
‘Nuts and Bolts’ of the Program
“When young artists come to study with us, we treat them like
novices,” explained Ruscella. “We teach them how to breathe and
speak, as if they never knew how to breathe