I love being an Actor.  I love it because it gives me a chance to do multiple things at once.  A short list of those things - connect with multiple people at once, to tell a story, to have an impact, to entertain, to try something new, to discover new things, etc.

Something that most people (I think) don't know about me that I'm going to tell you is, I have a hard time connecting with people, aka social anxiety.  I love people, I'm just scare of them sometimes.  My training as an Actor has helped me in a lot of ways with that.  It's helped me still be myself, but read their cues and learn to connect with them.  

That's something we have to do as Actors - analyze and react quickly.  We're give a note or notes from a Director or Acting Teacher and quickly have to see if we know how to adjust and make it happen.  It can be a useful tool to have actually.  I don't feel it equals talent, but a skill that shows you're able to take direction well. At the same time, I strongly feel Actors need to have tools in their toolbox to show their own interpretation and bring that to the character(s) they play as well.

Another thing about me is I love to learn about Acting.  I'm a geek to the core when it comes to this.  I enjoy reading Actor Memoirs, books about Acting techniques, theatre history, theory and critiscm, and mostly importantly plays.  I started reading books on my Kindle because I don't have enough room for books and play scripts.  (I prefer to read play scripts in a paper copy.) So part of my blogs will be my own reflections on what I'm reading and what I think about them.

That last thing I'd like to share in this blog is that I'm also a teacher.  I always had this drive to want to teach theatre and acting.  I got this opportunity when I finished my Master of Arts in Theatre and got a position as an Adjunct Instructor at the University of Southern Indiana.

I was blessed to have had that opportunity to teach while I was there.  After I moved to Colorado, I didn't get rehired anywhere teaching.  Intead I did a few other things, and realized I missed teaching.  I won't go into all the reasons why I started my own acting studio, but that's what I did.  I'm the owner of The Morse Actor Studio.

Not everyone has to be an Actor to experience theatre.  I do believe we all need to be exposed to it and understand what it is and why it's so important to our world.  When I taught at USI, I told my students this, "not everyone has to be on the stage, we need audience members too."  

It definately helps to have a deeper perspective on what you're experiencing on stage, then just to be entertained for a couple of hours.  Take an Acting class, read a book about theatre history or analysis, look at theatres and Actors of the Global Majority, attend a Q&A session after production.  Don't just take for granted the talent of the cast and crew, understand why we do what we do, and hopefully have a better appreciation and understanding for the art and why we love it so much.

I'm glad you're here.  I hope we get to learn more about each other over time.  I hope you are able to take away something new when you read my blog too.

Until next time, break a leg! - Amelia