Skills and Scene exploration with Andrew Start
Andrew trained in acting pedagogy and taught at the esteemed Deborah Hedwall and Co in NYC after receiving his MFA in acting at Rutgers University. Andrew is the first teacher that Deborah has trained to teach alongside her in a lineage of great American realism that includes her being a 6-year protege of Uta Hagen and training with Sanford Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse. Andrews additional teaching includes: Rutgers University, Centralia College and McCarter Theatre Center among others.
Studio class utilizes the language of Uta Hagen, Sanford Meisner and other greats of American Stanislavsky to work with scenes as vehicles to explore tools of acting. It is not a Meisner technique class, though the training lends itself to our work. Skills explored include: working from and understanding deep human truth, connecting to and utilizing core circumstance, exploring relationship and meaning, the reality of doing, dramatic action, text and subtext, character (never caricature), curiosity and imagination. Respect and trust are paramount to the success of each student and the group. Scenes, partnerships and adjustments are tailored to the individual - as all actors are at different places in their journey with the craft.
This is not an on camera or 'biz of the biz'/audition technique class.
Go to the Queerosity Fall 2023 class landing page here. All info & contact is easily navigable from there.
of Uta Hagen and Sanford Meisner, each actor was pushed to find the richness and nuance of the scene that they were currently working on. Implementing his vocabulary to my work, both in rehearsals for his class, and in the professional world, has allowed me to acquire a toolbox of techniques that have been serving me since I started taking Andrew’s class. Andrew is not only an excellent teacher, but an excellent student. I have watched him grow in Deborah’s class, when I was auditing to decide between different studios, and was confident, from his work there, that he would be able to guide me towards becoming the kind of actor I’ve only dreamed of being. If you are thinking about taking his class, or shopping around between different studios, please consider, and more importantly, register for Andrew’s class. You will be remiss if you miss out on what he has to offer you."
Latoya Edwards - Actress; Miss You Like Hell (The Public Theater), The Get Down (Netflix), School Girls, or, the African Mean Girls Play (MCC), BFA Pace University
"Andrew Start’s class was my return to acting after graduating college. I wanted to build a solid acting foundation, and was looking for a studio that would be able to teach the kind of technique training that I felt my university lacked. Although Andrew’s class was the pre-cursor to Deborah Hedwall’s advanced course in NYC, there was nothing introductory about it. Utilizing the techniques
Tad D'Agostino - Actor; Daddy Day Camp, She's All That, BFA Marymount Manhattan College, Upright Citizen's Brigade
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"Andrew is a sensitive and beautiful teacher. He pushed me to be my best while always being calm and kind. His class is extremely artistic and supportive. He focuses on acting as 'the artistry of creativity.' I always think about the great lessons and anecdotes he gave me."