Singer and Actor: Acting Technique and the Operatic Performer

by Alan E. Hicks

Overview

Current market forces in the performing arts, such as aging audiences, electronic media, and HD broadcasts, have changed the operatic landscape. Young opera singers entering the workforce find themselves navigating difficult and highly competitive waters. Previously ignored skill sets become assets – and, in many cases, requirements – in casting. But most singers graduate from college having never taken a formal acting class and knowing little about acting technique as it pertains to their craft.

Singer and Actor demystifies theatrical acting technique stemming from Stanislavsky's Method of Physical Action and provides singers at all levels a roadmap with which to complete character preparation, using a clear and organized progression based on the work of Franchelle S. Dorn and exercises and examples (recitatives, arias, and ensembles). Singers (including choristers) are given the necessary tools to prepare auditions and inhabit a character from rehearsal to final performance.

Singer and Actor also provides a history of acting from its beginnings to the present day, including a survey of acting techniques from Stanislavsky, Meisner, Hagen, Strasberg, Larry Moss, and others. Drawing additionally on the writings of composers and other creators of opera, the book deals with the misconception that only the singing matters in opera and includes a discussion of previous approaches to operatic acting.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781574672015
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	11/01/2011
Series:	Amadeus
Pages:	216
Sales rank:	837,189
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Alan E. Hicks (New York, NY) has worked as a professional opera singer, award-winning stage director, and teacher of singing. He is a former faculty member of the Actors Studio Drama School and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Hicks' students have performed in major opera companies, on and off Broadway, on all major television networks, and in major motion pictures.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

Acknowledgments xvii

Introduction xix

Part I Background

1 An Argument for Opera as a Theatrical Art Form 3

2 A Brief History of Acting Across Disciplines 7

3 A New Model for Training Singers 27

Part II An Acting Primer

4 The Method of Physical Action 37

5 Imagination and the Magical, Creative If 43

6 Relaxation and Concentration 47

7 The Importance of Listening 55

Part III Action and Feeling: Theatrical Synergy

8 Action 65

9 Affective Memory 69

10 Units, Bits, and Beats 79

11 Objectives, Obstacles, and Actions 87

12 Libretto Analysis 95

Part IV A New Process For Role Preparation

13 Preparing Auditions and Performances 111

14 The Process and Recitative 161

15 "Being" the Third Girl from the Left-Acting for Choristers 173

16 A Word About Physical Appropriateness 177

Epilogue 179

Selected Bibliography 183

Index 191