Why I‘ll Never Make It

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Ever since I became WINMI's sole host and producer, I have wanted to have an acting teacher on this podcast. Well, it certainly took long enough, but that time has finally come. Terry Knickerbocker has been guiding students for almost 30 years, having trained and taught with William Esper, one of the most respected protégés of Sanford Meisner. And The Terry Knickerbocker Studio is this month's featured Artist Resource. 

You can find a full list of artist resources at resources.whyillnevermakeit.com. 

The studio has four primary objectives when it comes to their actor training, and Terry and I will be touching on these topics throughout today’s episode:

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Follow Terry - Website / Instagram / YouTube 

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Season 5 offers ways to connect with me and the guests as well as other opportunities to grow as an artist:

Why I’ll Never Make It is a Top 25 Theater Podcast on Feedspot, and is also a part of Helium Radio Network and a member of the Broadway Makers Alliance. 

Music in the episode by Borrtex is used under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As you and I certainly know there is so much more to Theater then just what happens on stage. There are those behind the scenes and backstage, contributing just as much to the production of any show. The next four episodes will be focusing on this important work and how we as Actors can collaborate with them. Today’s guest is not only an actress but has worked as a dresser in more than 20 Broadway shows. But for Kimberly Faye Greenberg, performing in a Broadway show is still on her bucket list.

If you’ve ever listened to the very end of one of these episodes, you’ll hear me talk about this podcast’s association with Broadway Makers Alliance. They are a collective of small business entrepreneurs and artists who have all found outlets for their love of theater and especially Broadway. Well, it was actually one of the leaders of Broadway makers that introduced me to today’s guest, and I am so grateful to have met and spoken with Kimberly. And after this episode, you will be too.

Follow Kimberly - Website / Instagram / Twitter 

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Season 5 offers ways to connect with me and the guests as well as other opportunities to grow as an artist:

Why I’ll Never Make It is a Top 25 Theater Podcast on Feedspot, and is also a part of Helium Radio Network and a member of the Broadway Makers Alliance. 

Music in the episode by Borrtex is used under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s really no big secret that having children involved in the performing arts can have a major impact on them in school and out of school. Well, today’s guests are training some of these young artists in a fine arts conservatory down in Miami, Florida called MoonAmie Productions. Monica Rosell and Priscilla Blanco join me to discuss their important work and the creative home they provide their students. 

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My conversation begins with Monica, Owner and Artistic Director, who holds both a master of fine arts and a bachelor of arts. She’s taught script analysis and theater history it has been both a private acting coach as well as director of many musicals and plays in South Florida. While MoonAmie productions focuses on stage work and musicals, they also produce short films with their students Who are receiving highly structured and individualized instruction, and this really sets moonamie apart from most other theater schools for young artists.

"How the Performing Arts Benefits Kids" - Scholastic

I then bring on Music Director Priscilla, who has a Bachelor's and Master's in music education, and she works as a vocal coach and accompanist throughout South Florida. She was also in the public school system there and was the president of the Dade County music educators Association. But her work has gone beyond just Florida —she is also the cofounder of Spark music initiative, a nonprofit based in Grand Cayman, which focuses on introducing and igniting students’ interest in music through free workshops and camps that focus on world music, technology, improvisation, and songwriting. And the work she does with the students at MoonAmie is very similar.

join.whyillnevermakeit.com

Follow MoonAmie - Website / Instagram / Twitter 

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Season 5 offers ways to connect with me and the guests as well as other opportunities to grow as an artist:

Why I’ll Never Make It is a Top 25 Theater Podcast on Feedspot, and is also a part of Helium Radio Network and a member of the Broadway Makers Alliance. 

Music in the episode by Borrtex is used under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the last episode we learned the importance of producing our own work as actors. Well today's guest, Joel B. New, will show us that just because you build it doesn't mean people will come. After the hard work of creating, then comes the daunting task of producing and promoting it, getting others to take notice and support that work. Learn how Joel found unique ways to get the word out on one of his own musicals.

"Strong Hands" - performed by Ernie Pruneda

Sign up for the WINMI Newsletter. 

Follow Joel - Website / Instagram / YouTube 

Joel's Birthday Concert - https://joelbnew.com/birthday

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Season 5 offers ways to connect with me and the guests as well as other opportunities to grow as an artist:

Why I’ll Never Make It is a Top 25 Theater Podcast on Feedspot, and is also a part of Helium Radio Network and a member of the Broadway Makers Alliance. 

Music in the episode by Borrtex is used under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At one point or another there is a lesson that all actors have to learn, and this past year has driven home that lesson even more so, and that is the need to create our own work. Today’s guest, Ashley Kate Adams, Not only added producing to her already sizable acting resume, but she put all of her thoughts and lessons learned into a new book called Be Your Own Producer. 

#BYOP - https://amzn.to/3wUPUF9 (pre-order for August publication)

Join WINMI - http://whyillnevermakeit.com

Follow Ashley - Website / Instagram / Twitter 

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Season 5 offers ways to connect with me and the guests as well as other opportunities to grow as an artist:

Why I’ll Never Make It is a Top 25 Theater Podcast on Feedspot, and is also a part of Helium Radio Network and a member of the Broadway Makers Alliance. 

Incidental music in this episode by Borrtex is used under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today’s podcast journalist Marcus Scott shares his love of telling stories and how he suddenly found himself writing musicals. 

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Real life writing, that’s really the best way to describe the kind of work Marcus does. It’s something of the moment. It's meaningful, insightful, and true to the experiences that Marcus knows firsthand or has researched down to a minute detail. And one of the most ever present issues affecting Artist right now is the pandemic, and even through this hardship Marcus continues to grow as a an artist and a writer. 

Besides the pandemic, the social justice and race issues of the past year have been particularly inspiring to Marcus‘s writing.

Follow Marcus - Website / LinkedIn / Twitter 

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Season 5 offers ways to connect with me and the guests as well as other opportunities to grow as an artist:

Why I’ll Never Make It is a Top 25 Theater Podcast on Feedspot, is a part of Helium Radio Network, and is a member of the Broadway Makers Alliance. 

Music in the episode by Borrtex is used under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

While natural talent certainly plays a part in the capabilities of any actor to perform, there’s one skill that has to be learned and nurtured for any actor to really make it in this business, and in part two of my conversation with Joyce Hshieh, she talks about this all important ability to learn and memorize lines. 

As an actor she struggled with memorizing lines, but as a trivia enthusiast she learned several simple and easy techniques to boost her memory. She studied and researched the science of memory and learning and figured out what works and what doesn’t. She shares what she learned and the program she created to help actors, called OFF BOOK IT.

Watch the free masterclass - Line Memorization Without the Stress and Headache!

Sign up for the free WINMI Newsletter and get your Members-Only Bonus Episodes starting at only $3/month.

Topics and references in this episode:

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Season 5 offers ways to connect with me and the guests as well as other opportunities to grow as an artist:

Why I’ll Never Make It is a Top 25 Theater Podcast on Feedspot, is a part of Helium Radio Network, and is a member of the Broadway Makers Alliance.

Music in the episode by Bortexx, Chad Crouch, and Blue Dot Sessions is used under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Almost every actor would seize upon the opportunity to be in a big TV show. But even with a BFA in acting and conservatory theater training, none of it had really prepared Joyce Hshieh for one of the biggest roles of her life, Becoming a three day champion on the game show jeopardy.

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In part one of my conversation with Joyce, we talk about her theater training and her struggle to find fulfillment as an actor. She shares how surprising it was to find herself on Jeopardy and how similar it is and isn’t to her work as an actor. In part two, we’ll talk about the course she created all about memorization and how Actors can better learn lines and retain scripts.

Follow Joyce - IMDB / Instagram / WeAudition / Website

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Season 5 offers ways to connect with me and the guests as well as other opportunities to grow as an artist:

Why I’ll Never Make It is a Top 25 Theater Podcast on Feedspot, is a part of Helium Radio Network, and is a member of the Broadway Makers Alliance. 

Music in the episode by Bortexx and Blue Dot Sessions is used under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On December 23, 2020, Broadway and musical theater lost one of its most beautifully talented leading ladies, Rebecca Luker. In the second half of my conversation with Sally Wilfert, we talk about their close friendship and the last project of Rebecca’s life, a duo album called All the Girls. 

We also touch on what made her such a unique and special individual who touched the lives of so many. We also share personal stories of knowing and working with Rebecca, and discuss the legacy she leaves behind.

Sign up for the WINMI Newsletter.

Follow Sally - Website / Instagram / Twitter 

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Music in the episode by Bortexx is used under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Other music from YouTube:

Season 5 offers new ways to connect with me and the guests as well as new opportunities to learn and grow as an artist:

Why I’ll Never Make It is a Top 25 Theater Podcast on Feedspot, is a part of Helium Radio Network, and is a member of the Broadway Makers Alliance.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sally Wilfert is a Broadway actress and an amazing vocalist who understands the rigors and demands of performing at the top of her game. In part one of my conversation with Sally, she and I discuss the difficulties, injuries, and self-doubts she’s endured. 

Sign up for the WINMI Newsletter. 

Unlike other jobs like accounting, engineering, or even medicine, singing is uniquely personal, expressing parts of ourselves that may go unspoken or unknown at any other time except through the music and lyrics that we bring to the stage. But for Sally singing was something that she did in private, a secret enjoyment just for herself. As she slowly began to let others hear it, though, it changed not only that enjoyment but gave her added purpose as well.

Follow Sally - Website / Instagram / Twitter 

—————

Season 5 offers new ways to connect with me and the guests as well as new opportunities to learn and grow as an artist:

Why I’ll Never Make It is a Top 25 Theater Podcast on Feedspot, is a part of Helium Radio Network, and is a member of the Broadway Makers Alliance.

Music in the episode by Bortexx and Blue Dot Sessions is used under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Other music from YouTube: "Unworthy of Your Love" from Assassins https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRD1OJDxC1k, "Anytime" by William Finn https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVLV654tUD4  

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices