SANFORD MEISNER MASTER CLASS (DVD)
AMAZON REVIEW
Sanford Meisner Master Class: A Sense of Truth, February 6, 2007
FULL DISCLOSURE:
28 years ago, I was one of the young student actors asked to participate in this documentary. And, to provide some idea about how important I think this program is, most of "my" work in this documentary is almost all total failure; and this embarrasses me.
That said:
Until now, I had been very proud of my participation in the documentary about Sanford Meisner, "The Theater's Best Kept Secret." However, with this program, I've just learned: the secret is out!
"The Sanford Meisner Master Class (DVD)," is astounding in its power to not only convey Mr. Meisner's genius for teaching the craft of acting, but as a student participant in this Master Class it is like witnessing the re-incarnation of a most important figure in my life, and of the 20th Century. It is like the great Sanford Meisner has come back to life, and with his teaching powers fully intact.
Though it has been years since I left the acting profession, and a few years since I also stopped teaching The Meisner Technique, Mr. Meisner's influence on all of my adult work has been profound. His most important influence on me, which this documentary expresses so eloquently, is perhaps Mr. Meisner's most precious gift: his uncompromising devotion to helping students develop their own "sense of truth." This 8 hour documentary shows how Mr. Meisner shared his gift of such a highly developed "sense of truth" as a standard for his students to strive toward attaining. He is the perfect model and embodiment of "a sense of truth."
"A sense of truth," that in the art of theater plays out from present moment-to-unanticipated-moment, between human beings, under the imaginary circumstances of a writer's work. And thus, provides humankind with a model for authentic, meaningful, and truthful human relationship.
Did I say, that Mr. Meisner's great contribution that exists in every frame of this 8 hour documentary is the cultivation and great value for a "sense of truth?"
:)
If you care about any of these things: the model of a magnificent teacher; the great value of learning by trial and error; creating an environment where students feel freedom to fail while striving to achieve excellence measured by the highest artistic standards; theater; the craft of acting; a "sense of truth"; seeing genius at work; a model for authentic human relationship, you will enjoy this program immensely and learn a great deal.
In a world so consumed with the artificial, it is no wonder that the legacy of this most genuine of teachers and his approach to art endures so. Right now, as I view it, this program serves as a potent reality check for me.
"The Sanford Meisner Master Class" is a great credit to the vision of Mr. Kent Paul, Mr. Jimmy Carville, and the people at Open Road Films for creating, preserving and sharing this extraordinary work with the world.
If you've ever wondered what all the "brouhaha" is about "The Meisner Technique" . . . behold. This is like watching Piccaso paint.
Word.
José Angel Santana, Ph.D.
-------------------------------
"The final frontier may be human relationships, one person to another." -- Buzz Aldrin, Astronaut
Sanford Meisner Master Class: A Sense of Truth, February 6, 2007
FULL DISCLOSURE:
28 years ago, I was one of the young student actors asked to participate in this documentary. And, to provide some idea about how important I think this program is, most of "my" work in this documentary is almost all total failure; and this embarrasses me.
That said:
Until now, I had been very proud of my participation in the documentary about Sanford Meisner, "The Theater's Best Kept Secret." However, with this program, I've just learned: the secret is out!
"The Sanford Meisner Master Class (DVD)," is astounding in its power to not only convey Mr. Meisner's genius for teaching the craft of acting, but as a student participant in this Master Class it is like witnessing the re-incarnation of a most important figure in my life, and of the 20th Century. It is like the great Sanford Meisner has come back to life, and with his teaching powers fully intact.
Though it has been years since I left the acting profession, and a few years since I also stopped teaching The Meisner Technique, Mr. Meisner's influence on all of my adult work has been profound. His most important influence on me, which this documentary expresses so eloquently, is perhaps Mr. Meisner's most precious gift: his uncompromising devotion to helping students develop their own "sense of truth." This 8 hour documentary shows how Mr. Meisner shared his gift of such a highly developed "sense of truth" as a standard for his students to strive toward attaining. He is the perfect model and embodiment of "a sense of truth."
"A sense of truth," that in the art of theater plays out from present moment-to-unanticipated-moment, between human beings, under the imaginary circumstances of a writer's work. And thus, provides humankind with a model for authentic, meaningful, and truthful human relationship.
Did I say, that Mr. Meisner's great contribution that exists in every frame of this 8 hour documentary is the cultivation and great value for a "sense of truth?"
:)
If you care about any of these things: the model of a magnificent teacher; the great value of learning by trial and error; creating an environment where students feel freedom to fail while striving to achieve excellence measured by the highest artistic standards; theater; the craft of acting; a "sense of truth"; seeing genius at work; a model for authentic human relationship, you will enjoy this program immensely and learn a great deal.
In a world so consumed with the artificial, it is no wonder that the legacy of this most genuine of teachers and his approach to art endures so. Right now, as I view it, this program serves as a potent reality check for me.
"The Sanford Meisner Master Class" is a great credit to the vision of Mr. Kent Paul, Mr. Jimmy Carville, and the people at Open Road Films for creating, preserving and sharing this extraordinary work with the world.
If you've ever wondered what all the "brouhaha" is about "The Meisner Technique" . . . behold. This is like watching Piccaso paint.
Word.
José Angel Santana, Ph.D.
-------------------------------
"The final frontier may be human relationships, one person to another." -- Buzz Aldrin, Astronaut
posted by José Angel Santana, Ph.D. at 6:33 AM
3 Comments:
José,
What a tremendous honor to have been part of this project! Some of the comments you read in the Amazon.com review are actually part of my review for my own website, The Mirror Up To Nature. It seems we have a similar idea to share what we know about the theatre and acting with the world via this wonderful new tool called the "Blog".
Anyway, I just wanted to let you know you can find my site listed below (http://www.mirroruptonature.com). You can also find our audio review (in two parts) on our weekly podcast, The Inexplicable Dumb Show. (http://dumbshow.mirroruptonature.com) It is also available via iTunes.
Thanks for the opportunity to plug my own sites, but most of all, thank you for putting your journals online in this format. What a treasure!
I hope to talk to you soon!
Tee Quillin
Yes, Tee and somehow seeing as how Mr. Meisner is gone, and due to the efforts of Jimmy Carville, and the folks at Open Road, this DVD being available, it seems like a much greater honor than I would have imagined. Yes, I saw your blog and your review on your great site, but for some reason it's hard for me to get at it via the net, again. Only the cached version. I'd like to place a link to it on this blog but alas no luck, yet. Please, when the link issue gets resolved, let me know because I want to link to it and your site from here.
Meanwhile, enjoy the Journal, it's full of surprizes.
Let's keep in touch,
José
From: http://www.mirroruptonature.com/
theatre-blogosphere/coming-soon
Posted on Friday, Febrary 9th, 2007 at 10:17am
"Coming Soon!!
We are pleased to announce that we will soon be featuring an interview with José Angel Santana, Ph.D on the podcast!
Why, you ask? Well, it just so happnes that a younger Dr. Santana was one of the featured students on the Sanford Meisner Master Class DVD. We will be talking with him about that very experience and the projects he’s been working on in the interim.
What? You haven’t seen the DVD? Why don’t you buy it from Amazon?
Anyway, be on the lookout for it of at the Dumb Show. In the meantime, check out Dr. Santana’s website and tell him you got there from here!
Speaking of the Sanford Meisner DVD, you also need to be listening to the podcast for your chance to win a copy of the DVD thanks to Open Road Films! Information on that will be coming soon!"
----
José Angel Santana Says: February 9th, 2007 at 10:45 am
I look forward to this Tee. You have a great site. I really enjoyed the fun and informative nature of your podcasts.
It will be great to share my thoughts about the amazing Master Class DVD. I had not known of it until quite recently. And when I saw it for the first time, just a week ago, it reminded me of the wonderful documentary “The Mystery of Picasso,” where viewers get a glimpse of one of the major figures of the 20th Century at work. Yet, at 8 hours in length, this Master Class, is much more than a glimpse, it’s a historical document of the essence of Mr. Meisner’s gift to the arts. And, like I wrote in my comments about the program already, I urge people to see it, despite what I consider to be a less than flattering sample of my abilities. We all have our vanity.
Yes. I look forward to our podcast conversation next week.
All the best,
José Angel Santana
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