12 Actors Who Inspired Me to be an Actor
Jack Nicholson
Michael Keaton
Kevin Costner
Jeff Goldblum
Tom Hanks
Al Pacino
Val Kilmer
Kevin Kline
Bruce Willis
Kevin Bacon
John Malkovich
Gary Sinise
My Work as a Chautauqua Scholar and Historical Education Performer
What Is Chautauqua? Chautauqua (named for Lake Chautauqua, where this historical education format was first started in 1874) is a unique way to present historical characters. A Chautauqua scholar typically spends 18 months to 2 years preparing a historical character. This includes research (first-hand documents if possible, scholarly research, site visits, interviews, etc.) They then write a 35- to 50-minute monologue (each hiring organization is different) to be presented to an audience. There is some debate about whether this is a lecture in costume or a theatrical performance, with most scholars somewhere in the middle. I prefer to treat it as a theatrical performance, looking as much like the character as possible, using an accent or otherwise changing my voice, and writing the monologue with a broad spectrum of experiences that allow for a variety of emotions. After the monologue, there are two Q and A sessions, lasting 10 to 20 minutes each. One as the character and o...
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