"How to Study Acting"
I don't know how other teachers do it, but I figure that actors who study with me want to be paid to act. Even if a student's aspirations reach only to community theatre or acting-class-as-a-recreational activity, I still am going to push her toward the level of work I believe is necessary to be cast on Broadway or in major films.
Given that standard, here is what I expect from all of my students:
1) Commitment. It's okay with me if you are a beginner. We all have to start some place. There is no right age nor time to begin acting any more than there is a right age or time to begin playing the piano or painting. I am particularly interested in working with people -- beginning or experienced -- who are respectful of acting as an art form, who want to make a difference in the world, who are adventurous.
2) Do Your Homework: Learning lines is the least important part of acting. I expect you to do the work that supports the written word. Acting is like an ice berg. 85% of it is under water. But if that 85% is not there, you wind up with ice cubes instead of an ice berg.
3) Support Your Fellow Actors: If you are not feeling good and are contemplating being absent from one of my classes, ask yourself if you are sick enough to miss a show. Would you call the stage manager and tell her you can't make it? If your sickness doesn't pass that litmus test, go to class.
4) Above all, I treasure people who believe, as I do, that acting is not only an honorable thing to do with ones life -- but is fun.