Mentor: Clark Lewis Jr. |
"Clark Houston Lewis, Artistic Director of Roustabout Theater, received his graduate degree from The Juilliard School as a scholarship student in choral conducting. Clark conducted repeatedly at Lincoln Center and established himself as a professional coach for both classical and pop singers in New York. Immediately after graduating, Clark was discovered in an acting class and was picked up by the J. Michael Bloom agency and began working as an actor in New York. Clark acted Off-Broadway and at regional theaters along the east coast, as his coaching work expanded to include leading actors and singers performing in Broadway shows from Chorus Line and Best Little Whorehouse in Texas to Cloud Nine. Oscar-winner Marisa Tomei says: 'I can tell you from personal experience, Clark knows how to get the best out of you – he’s so smart about actors and acting!'
|
Clark moved to Los Angeles and continued coaching while directing shows at noted theaters such as the Matrix, Tiffany, Cort and Geo. Clark’s coaching clients continue to work on Broadway (Chicago, Parade, Cyrano, et al.) and in national tours (Les Miserables, Sesame Street Live, et al.) as well as in numerous films and TV shows. Since moving to the Bay Area in 2000, Clark has added documentary producing to his work: his latest, which featured Ed Begley, Jr., aired on KCET in Los Angeles and was instrumental in securing the preservation of the Ballona Wetlands in Los Angeles. Clark founded Roustabout Theater in Sonoma County in 2005 with the mission to create a world-class regional theater in the heart of wine country, bringing in the best actors, directors and designers from around the country to perform and teach in Roustabout’s highly acclaimed Apprentice Program, where young actors and singers 11 – 18 receive professional training and the chance to perform every role in the very popular Apprentice shows under the expert eyes of Roustabout’s resident and visiting artists." Source: roustabouttheatre.org/chlbio.htm
Internship Reflection
For my Senior project internship, I played Molly Aster in Nueva’s fall production of Peter and the Starcatcher. I was responsible for memorizing lines and songs, knowing my blocking, developing a character, and making sure everyone felt comfortable with our interactions on stage. A responsibility that was new to me was choosing actions to play; this was encouraged by our director, Clark Lewis.
During this production, I was also participating in two orchestral ensembles and another theater production. This meant I had rehearsals 26.5 hours every week and I had to prepare for them outside of rehearsal. That being said, I had little time to do homework, but I did better than I have in past productions. If I missed an assignment in Statistics I made it up as soon as I could and didn’t fall behind. In psychology, I tried very hard to stay up to speed and did a decent job considering that she gave about 30,000 hours of homework every day.
When the rehearsal process initially began, my British accent went from being mediocre to compliment-worthy thanks to Mr. Lewis. As time went on, Clark really pushed the idea of choosing actions to play on stage. This concept was almost completely new to me, but I really liked it and thought there was a bit of genius about it. I found this task to be most daunting while Clark was blocking a scene with just Eric (Peter Pan) and I. During the first two-hour rehearsal that we spent working on this, Clark devoted a lot of energy getting us to understand and properly execute this method of acting so we only blocked about a page. The second time we rehearsed this, we were much faster and seemed to understand better. This action technique is something that I am continuing to work on and I am very glad to have learned so early in life.
Over summer I was in The Wedding Singer Musical directed by Clark. It was good fun and Clark took a liking to me because I followed directions and learned my parts. I realize now that it is very nice to go into a show knowing that the director has a good impression of you and that you know how to work with them already. This showed me the importance of treating everyone in your work environment with respect and kindness and handling the tasks you are given to the best of your ability because you never know when you will have to work with them again or if they will be responsible for hiring you one day. On top of that creating a positive workspace is a good thing for all parties involved.
I worked very hard in and out of rehearsals to memorize my lines and choose my actions. I got very sick during one of the rehearsals, but I knew I was needed so I stayed. I really can’t think of a time during rehearsal that I didn’t use my time effectively. I would collaborate with the other actors by running lines with them when we weren’t needed on stage and outside of rehearsals as well. There was only one rehearsal that I missed and it was because the rehearsal was scheduled after I had committed to a mandatory orchestra rehearsal. I told the stage managers and Clark as soon as I realized there was a conflict. Because I communicated well, Clark made sure to work on the scenes I was in before the conflict.
Based on my performance and commitment to the show I believe I would be hired again with the possibility of a raise had this been an actual job. This internship experience opened my eyes to the fact that there is a surplus of acting techniques out there and I am just beginning to dip my toe in the water. I have begun to read some theater textbooks and acting articles. Working with Clark Lewis has inspired me to continue pursuing my passion for theater in college and hopefully make a career of it. Overall, this has been a fantastic experience and I am honored to have played a part in it.
During this production, I was also participating in two orchestral ensembles and another theater production. This meant I had rehearsals 26.5 hours every week and I had to prepare for them outside of rehearsal. That being said, I had little time to do homework, but I did better than I have in past productions. If I missed an assignment in Statistics I made it up as soon as I could and didn’t fall behind. In psychology, I tried very hard to stay up to speed and did a decent job considering that she gave about 30,000 hours of homework every day.
When the rehearsal process initially began, my British accent went from being mediocre to compliment-worthy thanks to Mr. Lewis. As time went on, Clark really pushed the idea of choosing actions to play on stage. This concept was almost completely new to me, but I really liked it and thought there was a bit of genius about it. I found this task to be most daunting while Clark was blocking a scene with just Eric (Peter Pan) and I. During the first two-hour rehearsal that we spent working on this, Clark devoted a lot of energy getting us to understand and properly execute this method of acting so we only blocked about a page. The second time we rehearsed this, we were much faster and seemed to understand better. This action technique is something that I am continuing to work on and I am very glad to have learned so early in life.
Over summer I was in The Wedding Singer Musical directed by Clark. It was good fun and Clark took a liking to me because I followed directions and learned my parts. I realize now that it is very nice to go into a show knowing that the director has a good impression of you and that you know how to work with them already. This showed me the importance of treating everyone in your work environment with respect and kindness and handling the tasks you are given to the best of your ability because you never know when you will have to work with them again or if they will be responsible for hiring you one day. On top of that creating a positive workspace is a good thing for all parties involved.
I worked very hard in and out of rehearsals to memorize my lines and choose my actions. I got very sick during one of the rehearsals, but I knew I was needed so I stayed. I really can’t think of a time during rehearsal that I didn’t use my time effectively. I would collaborate with the other actors by running lines with them when we weren’t needed on stage and outside of rehearsals as well. There was only one rehearsal that I missed and it was because the rehearsal was scheduled after I had committed to a mandatory orchestra rehearsal. I told the stage managers and Clark as soon as I realized there was a conflict. Because I communicated well, Clark made sure to work on the scenes I was in before the conflict.
Based on my performance and commitment to the show I believe I would be hired again with the possibility of a raise had this been an actual job. This internship experience opened my eyes to the fact that there is a surplus of acting techniques out there and I am just beginning to dip my toe in the water. I have begun to read some theater textbooks and acting articles. Working with Clark Lewis has inspired me to continue pursuing my passion for theater in college and hopefully make a career of it. Overall, this has been a fantastic experience and I am honored to have played a part in it.