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Tony-award winning actress spends time at MU
Eric Woods performs a monologue for critique by Tovah Feldshuh, a Tony Award-winning actress, during a Master Class titled "Audition: Stopping the Conveyor Belt" presented by the Marshall Artists Series and the Marshall University Department of Theatre Sunday, March 8, 2009, at the Joan C. Edwards Playhouse.
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HUNTINGTON -- Several Marshall University theatre students shook off the grogginess from daylight-saving time Sunday morning for an opportunity to spend a few hours with Broadway actress Tovah Feldshuh.
About 25 students and faculty members attended the master class, which Feldshuh titled "Audition: Stopping the Conveyor Belt." It was held at the Joan C. Edwards Playhouse.
Feldshuh was fresh off her performance Saturday night in "Golda's Balcony" at the Keith-Albee Performing Arts Center. The one-woman Broadway play was presented by the Marshall Artists Series.
"Golda's Balcony" tells the story of Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir and her experiences in 1973 during the Yom Kippur War when Israel was invaded. Feldshuh's performance in the play earned her a Tony Award nomination in 2004 for best actress. The Tony Award nomination was her fourth.
Feldshuh spent the first half of the class telling students how to study for a role and perfect it. She said their work should boil down to a nine-word mantra: "Get it accurately. Get it excellently. Get it effortlessly."
That means going beyond a script. To excel in acting, Feldshuh said, one must research. She noted that she visited with Meir's family members in Russia and visited her grave before she took on the role in "Golda's Balcony."
"You have to get underneath a script," Feldshuh said. "It's only a pinhole in the reservoir of a larger experience."
She also stressed to the students that they should never generalize with their roles. Each character they play should be crafted in a unique way.
"Every action you take in life is an opportunity to create a work of art," she said.
Feldshuh also observed six students give monologue selections on stage and gave each some direction. One of those students was Katie Cavias, a 19-year-old sophomore from Fairmont, W.Va.
"It doesn't even seem real," Cavias said of her experience with Feldshuh. "The Marshall Artists Series always has an excellent lineup, but it's rare to have someone of this caliber. Then, to have a workshop with her is very surreal."
Jack Cirillo, an associate professor of theatre at Marshall, said Feldshuh is the definition of a consummate actress. She also was fortunate to work with the late Uta Hagen, who is regarded as one of the greatest acting coaches of the 20th century, he said.
Cirillo said he hoped Feldshuh's visit showed his students the dedication it takes to become successful in acting.
"This opportunity for our students is like anything else in life," he said. "Mom and Dad can tell you something, but you may not believe it until someone else tells you."
