<p>First and foremost I want to think everyone for their insights to my last thread, I have spoken to some great people which has increased my insight on the auditioning process for BFA programs in acting ten-fold. As such, I need to pick your brains a bit more. </p>
<p>Does anyone have a referral for an acting coach in the DC area who:</p>
<ol>
<li>Lives in the D.C. metro area (not a great believer of teaching movement over the net).</li>
<li>Has an excellent track record for preparing high school students for auditions to BFA programs in acting. (And of course proof of said students getting into those programs).</li>
<li>Can work with my son on both Classical and Contemporary pieces.</li>
<li>Can understand that they will be a fresh pair of eyes and with insights to pieces that will have been work shopped in a monologue class by another coach by the time they get to them.</li>
<li>Does not have two truckloads of Kids already</li>
<li>Might charge an arm but hopefully only half a leg</li>
</ol>
<p>I hope I am being as straight forward as possible - so let me be honest and say I am not looking for philosophical insights or questions about one coach, or two, or three - that chicken has flown the coop. Again I am trying to help my son be in the best possible position to get into the schools he wishes to audition for.</p>
<p>I don’t know about acting coaches, but I took classes at the Studio Theatre, and their teachers are phenomenal. Perhaps you could call and ask if any of them coach? I don’t know when your son’s birthday is, but I highly recommend he take classes there once he’s 18 (the Young Actors Ensemble is also great, but the adult classes are even better). It’s a moderately intense time commitment, especially with travel time added in, but it was so worth it in my opinion. It worked out pretty well for me second semester of my senior year, because its intensity was the opposite of how much work I had for school–earlier is easier, when school was harder, and then the class got harder/more intense later on, when school was easier. There were only one or two weeks that were rough, and I made it through. So yeah, I’d definitely check with Studio and see if any of their teachers coach. I know George F-S teaches a class there and does workshops, but he’s mostly musical theatre. Studio’s curriculum includes classes on auditioning, classical, comedy, realism (which is by and large contemporary), voice, movement, and more, so I think your bases should be covered. All the teachers do teach in person at Studio, so they’re either from the area or commute to DC enough that it shouldn’t be a problem (I know one teacher lives in Baltimore, but she teaches at Ellington and Studio, and I think a few colleges as well). I don’t know how much they would charge, but I find the price of the classes there to be pretty reasonable, so I don’t know why coaching wouldn’t be as well.</p>
<p>I turned 18 this past January, and it worked out quite well, as the new semester begins in February–one of my first classes was actually pushed back a week because of the snow storm!</p>
<p>unfortunately, it’s not super Metro accessible, and parking around there is expensive and not fun (welcome to DC, I know you’re shocked). I live along the orange line, so it was a bit over half a mile from McPherson Square. Another student in my class lived along the red line, so he walked about the same distance from Dupont Circle. The walk isn’t that bad, and I never felt like I was in danger. Just use common sense and street smarts late at night. The surrounding neighborhood is nice, too, and I can’t even count how many delicious dinners I got at Whole Foods.</p>
The surrounding neighborhood is nice, too, and I can’t even count how many delicious dinners I got at Whole Foods.</p>