Teacher
| Jonathan Marten has taught acting, privately coached actors and stand-up comics, as well as offered Acting for Business seminars for companies around the country for almost 40 years. He has also been a guest lecturer at colleges and universities, most recently for undergraduate and graduate students in the Loyola University Film Dept., in Chicago. | ||
| He began his teaching career as a Guest Instructor for the PACE performing arts program at his alma mater, Mamaroneck High School, in Mamaroneck, NY. Later, he taught Scene Study for the Hampton Roads Center for the Performing Arts in Virginia Beach, VA, as well as privately, and with Academy International, a modeling and acting school, in Norfolk, VA | ||
| Back in NYC, he taught Advanced Scene Study for the Creative Acting Company, as well as the very popular Audition Boot Camp class, designed to help actors make dynamic choices in auditions by honing skills with monologues for the stage, as well as cold reading techniques for the camera. Audition Boot Camp also helped actors learn to market themselves successfully by putting together a solid resume and learning how to pick the right headshot. At CAC, he worked with a number of experienced professional actors, as well as many just coming out of the MFA programs at schools such as The Actors Studio, Yale University, Juilliard, and numerous others. | ||
| Following his stint at CAC, Jonathan brought both his Advanced Scene Study and Audition Boot Camp classes to the Actors Repertory Theatre, where he assumed the role of Artistic Director. He continues to offer these classes, periodically, as well as continue coaching actors privately. | ||
Jonathan’s Philosophy On
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I’ve always believed no two human beings are the same, which translates in my mind to, no two actors are the same (I admit, I may be stretching it a bit, equating actors to humans, but what can I say — I’m an optimist!). That being the case, I’ve never understood why any two techniques for working as an actor should be exactly the same.
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| It’s been my experience that most people teaching the craft of acting in this country, are steeped in one of the many variants of “The Method,” as perpetuated throughout the 20th Century by people like Lee Strasberg, Stella Adler, Uta Hagen, Sanford Meisner and their disciples. These teachers pass their version of the method on to their students as gospel, attempting to fit each actor to their specific technique. | ||
| These techniques work very nicely for some actors. But for many, when they find a technique doesn’t work for them, there are very few teachers who will say, maybe you just need to find a method that works for you. | ||
| Any acting technique should be fitted to the unique personality, qualities and needs of the actor utilizing it. Those who develop and teach specific “methods” as dogma may make great gurus, but the truth is, they’re not very helpful for actors who want and need the tools to allow them to create their own method for working — one that can grow and change organically, as we all do, pulling from any and all available techniques — using what works for them, and discarding what doesn’t. | ||
Student Comments On Jonathan |
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“Working with Jonathan was one of the most wonderful experiences of my life…his expert skills and outstanding techniques, especially his private coaching, prepared me to audition for the role of Marie Vitelli in the film “Deuce Coupe,” a part I got, and wow em! Good teachers bring out the very best in us all! I should really say GREAT TEACHERS bring out the absolute BEST in their students. Jonathan is one of these.” —Ann Dorman
Actor-Teacher Nashville, TN |
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