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Classes open Monday and Tuesday nights.
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Also coming soon to The Sport of Acting:

AGENT SUZIE TOBIN
Peter Strain and Associates Inc.

GEORGE DEL HOYO
One of the best known voice over artists in the industry.

News

On Saturday December 12 2009, SPORT hosted a casting workshop Intensive with Emmy Award winning Casting Director Deb Barylski.

It was a fantastic day!

Twenty actors strutted their stuff and every actor read for Deb a minimum of three times. We started the day with some short scenes and split into several groups. Each actor in his or her group then performed opposite a reader for Deb. After each group finished we were all given re-direction and were given the chance to perform the scenes again. We then discussed the choices people had made and were individually given notes and advice on how we could have made different choices and intentions to make our auditions stronger.

We were handed out longer scenes before we had a break where Pizza and drinks were provided and all the actors could discuss what they had learnt.

This also gave the actors the chance to talk with Deb in a relaxed atmosphere.

After giving our bodies some sustenance by eating yummy pizza and salad from Taste Chicago, each group was sent outside and each actor came in individually for a mock audition. A reader was chosen from another group and after auditioning you could stay in the room and watch the other actors in your group perform.

It was a fantastic opportunity for everyone to watch and learn from other actors as they performed and were then individually critiqued.

Deb gave valuable comments as to whom she would call back from their audition and why. She also conveyed to us what worked, what didn't and what we, as actors, could do individually to enhance our auditions. I think everyone gained very valuable information from the intensive.

Deb's honest but very actor-friendly approach meant that the actors taking the intensive went home with worthwhile information that they could place in their toolboxes and use in future auditions.

THE SPORT OF ACTING was proud to have hosted Deb Barylski and I hope we will see her again soon.

By Michael G Welch

Events like these are one of SPORT's signatures and have already included:
"An Evening with Deb Barylski"
"An Evening with Joe Mantegna"
"An Evening with Steven Banks".

CLICK HERE to read about these events and see video footage.

A photo of a button NEW: SPORT OF ACTING PODCASTS. LISTEN NOW!

The Sport of Acting

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THE SPORT OF ACTING Fundamentals

...Vinny understands the fundamentals, knows what the actor’s job is, and is great at communicating with the actors.
No matter what method they were taught, the fundamentals, as distilled by Vinny at THE SPORT OF ACTING inform as well as inspire his students...
CLICK HERE
TO VISIT THE TEACHERS PAGE AND READ MORE

THE SPORT OF ACTING welcomes students from all over the world.

Current members are a mix of students from the USA, Australia, England, Mexico, Norway, Brazil, and Germany to name a few.
As such, our students are sensitive to the concerns of other international students providing a great opportunity for the sharing of helpful information and networking.
The guest seminars that Vinny offers internationally encourages students from all over the world to find a home at Sport.

SPORT IS GOING TO COLOMBIA

Vinny will be teaching an international workshop at Stars Colombia in
Bogota Colombia, March 2010

Stars columbia
Giuseppe Campanella

"Were I working with young people today, I could think of nothing better than exposure to and collaboration with a great working actor - Vincent Guastaferro has worked in all media for thirty years, and knows from the battlefield the answers to a student’s deepest questions."
DAVID MAMET, Playwright

"Vincent is one of those rare and wonderful individuals who have that capacity to teach and influence others in a myriad of positive ways."
JOE MANTEGNA, Actor

"Vinny has much to offer students with his extensive background in the theatre, film, movies of the week, episodic sitcoms, and soaps. Above all, he is a professional with great integrity."
FRAN BASCOM, Casting Director, Los Angeles

"Mr. Guastaferro is an inspiring and demanding teacher, capable of working with beginners and advanced performers. His wide range of experience and depth of knowledge provide the basis for his work with students. He is an experienced artist of the highest caliber."
DAVID AVCOLLIE, DePaul University, Chicago

 

 

 

THE SPORT OF ACTING supports:

American Diabetes Association Cancer Society Arthritis Foundation Austism Society of America
Billy the Mime Taste Chicago Chocolate Fortunes Pergolina Noho Printing
carrie Freeman

With Vinny Guastaferro

♦ Why The Sport of Acting? ♦

A photo of Vinny Guastaferro

A batter steps into the batter’s box.
A golfer sets up for a drive.
A diver pauses at the end of the platform.
A football player holds a suspended state of readiness before the ball is hiked.
A tennis player sets himself not knowing where the serve will come from.
A soccer goalie maintains a heightened state hoping he won’t have to act.
A runner sets his feet in the blocks before the start whistle.
A boxer steps into the ring with an intention and an obstacle.

Everything that led to this moment was based on their preparation.

As athletes come to know the limits of their abilities they adapt and base their new training regimen on improving: overcoming their weaknesses, developing new skills, and practicing their craft - all to play the game better.

So must actors.

In most cases athletes are never asked to get into a baseball state of mind, a football mentality, a runner’s head, or a golfer’s mindset. Instead, they are asked to focus on the perfect execution of each task, moment by moment; for an athlete those moments add up to a good game, and ultimately, a win.

An actor also wants to win.

Win his intention - get the girl, defeat the enemy, overcome the odds, save her child, save a marriage, win independence, reach the moon, achieve greatness.
An actor must keep playing that intention, physically, until it is accomplished or defeated.

- Just as a football player can’t stop running until the whistle is blown.
- Just as a batter who is down 0-2 must keep fighting off bad pitches.
- Just as a gymnast on the balance beam prepares for a dismount.

Sometimes they are tackled, or strike out, or fall.
When that happens, they go back to work, adapt, and practice with renewed intensity.

We improve by:
- Revisiting old skills.
- Developing new skills.
- Practice – the practical application of the skills.

The classes at THE SPORT OF ACTING are designed to give actors an opportunity to do just that.

 
 
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by Mia Welch, 2009
Email: miawelch@ymail.com

THE SPORT OF ACTING
Phone/Fax: 818-782-7231

Email: thesportofacting@aol.com
All content and material © to Vincent Guastaferro, 2009