I’ve been trying to get more TV work. It’s not easy. I only have a little experience as my background is largely theatre. British drama schools seem to offer less time to screen acting and thus I’ve had to learn a lot on the job. The best way to learn? Perhaps. If you’re willing to go through a rather big pain barrier. I did get some invaluable advice from Armin Shimmerman while at UCLA with US Performing Arts. I couldn’t do the advice justice by writing it here but suffice to say someone who’s made hundreds of hours of television has some idea of the medium. Unfortunately the advice was received AFTER my first two forays into screen acting. I might have been saved some minor trauma.The first was the absurdly titled “Tableaux of Love”, an Iranian cop series. They were to film an Easter special in London. I was to play the small featured role of a British Police Officer. At 5″6 and 180 pounds the casting was a bit of a stretch (but not a stretch in my height unfortunately). Speaking of height and to digress for the briefest if I may, I was once accosted by an elderly Director during rehearsals, who suddenly declared that he had “met Laurence Olivier and he was only short so don’t worry about it.” Up to that point I hadn’t worried about it.

They were filming “Tableaux” around the mean streets of Hampstead. A North London suburb so rich and posh that the biggest threat is a spilled Cappuccino. My costume was fitted, except… it didn’t fit at all. I had to constantly free my hands from baggy jumper sleeves in time to hold up my trousers. (or “Pants” to Americans, something we Brits will always find hilarious). Anyway, it was exhausting! Still, I was glad of the experience and opportunity so I soldiered on. One scene simply involved walking away from two Detectives, stepping over a Police barrier and exiting the frame. Fine. Simple…. or so you’d think. The trouble was I couldn’t easily get over the barrier. I kept half tripping or getting stuck. The problem was one of basic, simple measurement. The barrier was higher than my legs! After the third take in which I gave a small, wobbly and decidedly un Policeman like jump over the barrier, the Director yelled cut and I expected I was in trouble and to be replaced at any second. Yet nothing was said and we moved on. Whether this inadvertently comic scene ever made the final cut I don’t know. It’s very hard to get hold of a copy of an Iranian cop show.

My second little venture into TV acting was much more fretful. I was lucky enough to play a student squatter on top Scottish police drama Rebus. One episode, three scenes, two lines of dialogue. Not much but my goodness it was progress. My big scene involved sleeping on a couch, being awoken by an angry Rebus, answering back and then being thrown out of the apartment. I happily rehearsed this in the “living room” with Ken Stott and the Director. All was fine. I relaxed. Twenty minutes later we were called back to film the scene. Except this time there were twenty crew members or more on the set. That’s 40 to 50 eyeballs! All watching you…. an unknown theatre actor working with big successful, charismatic, loved Ken Stott! As they said “Rolling” my heart rate shoots up. As they say “Action” I forget all about character and technique. My mind is flooded with but one thought….. “DON’T SCREW THIS UP!” Not the best state to film in, according to Michael Caine relaxation is the best state to be in. Well, he’s had 123 years of filming experience, not me! I was out of my comfort zone without a safety net and…. I was awful. Inevitably I was a bit “Stagey” and not terribly natural. I was about as believable as a Politicians promise.

The Director was kind and patient but there was no time and my biggest scene was cut. However, the good thing for me was that I learnt so much. We learn from our failures as Marcel Proust once said…. or was it Oprah? By the end of my two days filming I felt ready to do the job. “The readiness is all” as Hamlet likes to say. Of course when the filming is over the readiness has arrived rather late.

Learning by doing is SO true. Jumping in, being happy to make mistakes and then….. getting better. However, if you CAN do this BEFORE working on a highly rated UK TV show, so much the better.

I have been so busy that I can’t believe more than a week has gone by since I’ve written a blog. So I’m stopping for a minute and filling you in on what’s going on.

Winter Workshops: Everything is in full swing in the preparation of the Acting for Film with UCLA School of Theater, Film & Television and Contemporary and Popular Music at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music. It is going to be an incredible artistic and cultural experience for the fortunate students who attend.

Summer Workshops: I stand amazed everyday at the number of registrations we already have for our ‘09 workshops. There’s no doubt that we will reach our capacity in our most popular workshops early this year. The good thing is that we’re adding more sites and that’s always exciting for us. More sites and more workshops that you love means more opportunity for you to participate and benefit from your studies. All of our great faculty is returning and we’re adding some new ones that will challenge and stimulate you.

Web: Jay has done a great job getting our Facebook and MySpace pages up and he tells me he’s looking for interns to help him keep our information current. YouTube is full of our films. One I just love watching is the mockumentary, Five Angry Campers, from our Pepperdine Digital Film Camp. We’ve also finished our own “mini-docs” for most of our sites and workshops. We all love having them because they’re a good way to show exactly what you experience when your at camp. There’s a huge amount of planning going on with some new things that we’ll be unveiling soon too. So I encourage you to keep coming back to our website to watch for the announcements!

T-Shirt Design: For years we’ve talked about having you design our camper t-shirts. Finally we have the means to do it. If you’re not an artist find someone who is and give input. We can hardly wait to see the designs. If you don’t want to be part of the design stage then at least check back in late January to vote on the final designs. We’ll send you a reminder when the shirt designs are posted.

That should give you some idea of what’s going on here. Don’t forget to update your profiles and if you haven’t filled out the profile information please do it now so that our whole community will know what you’re doing.

For years parents and students have asked us if we would consider offering our workshops during school breaks. It’s not an easy task. First, it seems as though no two schools take their holiday breaks at the same time. Then, there’s the issue of housing. Our programs are mostly residential and there is a curricular reason for that. Where would we find housing when college students are taking up all the dorm space, even if they are on break? So for years we waived off the question. This year however, we decided to take a serious look at what it would take to plan a winter session.

As always, our partners at UCLA were the first to jump in with us. They could see the advantage to a winter offering and the benefit to the student to become infused with an intensive two weeks of training mid-year. Since these workshops will take place during the academic year we also decided to add another kind of educational experience to the curriculum. A planned cultural exchange with a performing arts group from another country! In this case, Australia.

USPA has contracted with an Australian teen tour group to bring talented young artists to the US to join our students in workshops at UCLA. The workshops will be conducted by UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television in Acting for Film and we have an exciting new venture: Contemporary and Popular Music taught by UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music! So for any of you garage band players (guitar, bass, keyboard, sax, vocalists) or solo players who want to be part of a pop band, come join us.

The dates for both the Acting and Music Workshops are December 7-22, 2008. It might mean you have to take a couple of days off school but the educational value is real. To list just some of the benefits:

• A college visit
• Instruction by renowned professionals
• Immersion in your craft
• Improved skill
• A Work in Progress screening for actors
• A Work in Progress live performance of bands
• A cultural exchange with like-minded teenagers from another country

And how did we solve the housing question? The Australian teen tour company, who has been conducting teen tours to America for many years has agreed to include our students with their Australian students. All students will be housed at a close-by hotel at double occupancy, chaperoned to our high standards, transported to campus by commercial bus, enjoy trips to Disneyland and Universal Studios and other out of class recreational activities.

I think we should have done this a long time ago!

My co-founder, Craig Patterson, is really a 35,000 aerial foot thinker. He is always, always, looking at the big picture. I love that about him…and I also hate that about him! I love expansive thinking. I like to believe that’s one of my strengths but he out does me in spades. He never lets me get bogged down in the minutia and for that I’m grateful. But he’s also like a dynamic whirlwind when he comes through the office. We have to hang on for dear life just to stay focused on any task as he germinates new ideas and new excitement.

Craig has always understood the importance of networking and connectivity. He’s the one really responsible for our blogs, our presence on FaceBook and MySpace and other ventures that we’re developing with the use of technology. Of course he probably doesn’t go to bed at night feeling guilty when he hasn’t had enough hours in the day to write a new blog like I do.

It’s been interesting to see how right Craig is though. I keep a mental checklist and he is often way ahead of the curve when it comes to trends. The blog was a good case in point. He actually bugged me about it for over a year before I got around to writing and finding others in our network to do the same. Have you read Elliot James’ blog yet or Sarah Smithton’s or Cherene Snow’s? I am totally amazed at the number of people that read our blogs. It’s a great feeling and for me a great responsibility.

FaceBook is another good example. I love talking and connecting with people on FaceBook. It’s a good place to learn more about what our customers want and to hear what they’re saying to others. It’s great to be in a business that considers surfing both FaceBook and YouTube work!

I have no idea what the “tornado” will bring tomorrow but I know I can rest assured that it will be innovative and exciting.

After another glorious Summer with US Performing Arts it is time to get back to England and into the groove of things. My groove is an odd and slightly wobbly one as I spend a lot of my life on the road. The touring life isn’t for everyone of course. Months away from home, staying in strange towns (especially in Belgium), missing loved ones, performing MANY shows each week. However, you do get to escape the mundane of day to day routine, you can forget about bills and the armpit in face peril of the London Tube…. and also you get to perform MANY shows each week.

For a few years now I have taken plays and educational work shops across Europe and the experiences are as varied as Brad and Angelina’s collection of children. Sometimes you’re staying in a beautifully furnished country house with access to restaurants galore and perhaps even a hot tub. Other times you are in a small medieval hovel with minimal heating and barely enough electricity to work a small kettle. All you may have to eat is a random and decidedly mangey pasta affair from a local garage because that was the only open establishment for many miles. It occurs to me that this randomness of touring life style greatly echo’s the life of an actor in general. One day it’s curtain calls and caviar, the next it’s unemployment and a building hatred of your phone as the naughty thing refuses to ring. Sigh. This is of course why Actors need great resilience. It is not unusual for an actor to say such a thing as “What on EARTH has happened to my Agent, they must of died.” Hence when you DO work it’s all the more gratifying of course.

Anyway, the touring life! Strange things can happen on tour. I remember doing a weeks worth of Shakespeare Work Shops somewhere in Switzerland and we were to stay with a Teacher called Hans. Now Hans was a nice enough chap, he had a nice house and a very sweet Dog…. unfortunately his house was also full of less lively animals. Dead animals in fact. Stuffed of course, this isn’t THAT macabre. A large bird would greet you in the hall way. A fox watched you eat with literally eternal patience. A rather cruel looking Elk type of thing stared at you as you slept. If the Natural History Museum was redesigned as a waking nightmare, this was it. Not only were there beady eyed dead things on display, so were the guns that made them beady eyed dead things! I had a little trouble sleeping I must admit.

Ahh well, such is the nature on life on the road. I’ve had severe flu in Belgium and accidentally eaten Bulls tongue in France (the dip was nice)…. and yet…. I love touring. The romance of it, the sense of adventure, the giddy fear of experiencing the German Autobahn. And also but of course the opportunity to perform for so many kinds of audiences. It is quite interesting. I must confess that the Dutch CAN be quite bonkers, the English SOMETIMES a little cynical and the French, well….. very French. (No disrespect, I adore them, they have wonderful baguettes). Yes the national clichés can be true because cliché’s must hold a degree of truth by the words very definition. Indeed it’s a cliché to say “Cliché’s are true” AND it’s a cliché to say “It’s a cliché to say that cliché’s are true” but let’s stop there before one completely ends up in the tunnel of the surreal and elliptical.

AUDIENCES however, I must say, are fundamentally the same. A good farce in Finland is just as appreciated in Wales. A gory, titillating Titus Andronicus just as enjoyed in Salzburg as in London. A good play, a good story has universal appeal and that IS a comforting thought. It also makes you relish taking a good show to a new place because you know it CAN work.

Someone once said that a good production should be like a fine meal, prepared carefully, courses planned, nice napkins, etcetera. A play should never be like a dodgy Ready Meal from a Belgian garage… oops a daisy, tunnel of the surreal again. Apologies.

I shall be off on tour again soon and gladly welcome all that that entails… though perhaps I will avoid Bull’s tongue in future, however good the dip.