Win Copies of Milton Katselas’ “Acting Class: Take a Seat”

October 17, 2008 by dennisbaker 

We know you just love the chance to win something, so here at DENNIS BAKER LLC we want to start rewarding our loyal readers.
milton katselas acting class
The first giveaway is of Milton Katselas new book Acting Class: Take a Seat. I try to only giveaway books that I’ve read and would actually recommend. I have began to read it and do enjoy it, a full review will be coming soon.

“Previously only available to Katselas’ students at the prestigious Beverly Hills Playhouse, Acting Class presents the concepts and methods that have helped lead a generation of actors to success on stage, in cinema, and on television. Now for the first time, this all-encompassing book is available to the general public, taking readers and sitting them in the legendary acting class of Milton Katselas, where he not only covers techniques and methods, but also includes valuable discussions on the attitude any artist needs to fulfill his or her dream.”

Now you know you want to win it, right? Good, because we have 2 copies to give away!

How to enter this contest? Simply leave a comment below and we’ll randomly pick 2 winners (deadline for entry is 6pm ET Friday, Oct. 24th).

That’s all you need to do! And, if you’re not a lucky winner, you can be a winner anyway by picking up a copy of Acting Class: Take a Seat for yourself.

Filed under: Acting, Auditioning, Books, Film, Los Angeles, Teaching, Theater/Theatre
Tagged:

Read/Watch/Listen

August 5, 2007 by dennisbaker 

I just got done reading Declan Donnellan’s book, The Actor and the Target. It is one of the best books I read about acting. He addresses major questions actors deal with when working on a role and then proceeds to change the actor’s viewpoint in how to ask the question and then how to respond it it. My notes are too long to type and I will not do it justice. Cheek by Jowl, Donnellan’s theater company, has a good review and excerpts from the book. Go check it out!

Debby Allen wrote an article about me before I left for New Jersey. She has republished it over at The People’s Media Company. It was originally written for our church blog.

I came across a pretty cool website, American Theater Wing. They are the organization that created the Tony awards. They produce various television and radio interviews from the New York theater community. It is worth to see some great interviews. I just watched the interview with Jeff Daniels (”Blackbird”), Brian Dennehy (”Inherit the Wind”), Liev Schreiber (”Talk Radio”) and Kevin Spacey (”A Moon for the Misbegotten”). They discuss a wide array of topics, including whether the prefer rehearsal to performance, their experience in long runs and how great plays can carry actors along, the acting opportunities of appearing in many plays by the same author, how they find new challenges, whether they can still enjoy theatre as a member of the audience, and if its harder to do their work now that they’re well known.

Filed under: Acting, Books, New York
Tagged:

Summer Reading and Such

July 8, 2007 by dennisbaker 

If you have not noticed in the right column I have added buttons for books, music, and movies. This summer, more than others, I have been more conscious in doing as much of these three as possible.

In the area of reading I was introduced to a great website called goodreads.com. At the website you can rate books you read, add books you plan to read, and add friends to see what they are reading. I already have a pretty good list going. My goal is to read a number of plays as well as books. With an hour plus commute into the city three times a week, this give me a good opportunity to get some reading done.

In the area of music, last.fm has been the website that I have been using. It tracks the songs I play on itunes and then creates a radio station that fits my taste. This is great because at work I can play last.fm and it plays all the bands I love plus introducing me to artists I have not heard of, or songs I have not heard from the artists I love. We were also able to go to a David Wilcox concert this summer in north New Jersey. I was introduced to this folk singer back in college and can not get enough of him. We have been to two concerts in San Diego and was stoked to see him in the east coast. He is a must listen to. Also my friend introduced me to Lucy Kaplansky. We were able to see a free concert of hers at Madison Square Park in NYC. She is a folk artist as well. I enjoyed her music, but have not been able to listen to her too much yet. She is definitely on the list. Also over at the Burnside Writers Collective they created a great Summer Mix Tape 2007. You can download all the songs for free.

Last is movies. We use Netflix as there is a distribution plan right here in New Brunswick, which makes for them to be pretty fast in the email. I am finishing up the first season of LOST as I never saw it, yeah I know it is the best season. I have enjoyed it, but it is hard to fully be into it as I know what is going to happen. We are counting the days till February.

Filed under: Books, Film, Music, New York
Tagged: