The Promo and the Tag
There is a great similarity between a promo actor, and a commercial actor. In both cases truth casting applies.In the so-called old days, “promo guys” were all cut from the same cloth. Either the Ernie Anderson basso, or the Casey Kasem sweet, sweet, “California Crackle.” Both of these men, for many years, led the way....
Read More Keeping it Together (as a professional, that is)
Firstly, here comes the disclaimer: Who am I to offer advice on how to keep it together? Yes, I do have a lot of work experience, the kind you might think would help me to be an expert on the subject of how not to become a sniveler, sappy, crybaby, girlie-man who cries when he...
Read More Who Am I
What is it that helps you identify a person by the sound of his or her voice? Sure the first and probably best answer would be “familiarity.” That one’s the easiest to remember. If you chat with a person often enough, you most likely will be able to recognize their sound after just hearing a...
Read More A Recent Disturbance
Not bad, I would say; after nineteen years of not keeping my love for the United States of America a secret, only one person who partakes in the services being rendered by Kalmenson & Kalmenson has voiced an objection to our generous displays of our country’s flag. The man who did so actually put his...
Read More To Tell the Truth
Remain natural. Be yourself. Don’t go for it. The toughest assignment for an actor is to remain natural. As a young director, I was warned by my mentors to try to stay away from asking an actor to be themselves. I was told that many actors haven’t a clue to who or what they really...
Read More Goals and Aspirations
I’ve been privileged to work and be taught by some of our industries most recognized dynamos. I consider myself a gleaner. If a guy or gal had even a modicum of success, the Kalmenson sponge (that’s me) was there to look and listen. Many of da harv’s tricks are nothing more than observances of some...
Read More A Penny For Your Thoughts
Remembering back a few years ago, when I started on my journey into never-never land, kind of makes me cringe today. Without the foggiest notion of what acting was truly about and armed in my own personal cape of blissful ignorance, it was high gear all the way, until the money ran out. What I...
Read More Thanksgiving
Our thankfulness is daily, almost to the point of continual celebration over the blessings far more than Cathy and I could ever perceive as our entitlement. So on this Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 2010, we say an additional thanks for all the friends, colleagues, and those of good nature who have provided us with an...
Read More Truth Be Told
The magic of the truth. When the truth is there for you, certainly no explanation is necessary. The lack of explanation regarding the recognition of the truth has always been the same. Truth has always been the actor’s goal. While the word truth or its study thereof by a theatrical production company may differ dramatically,...
Read More Why Improvise; You have a Script
“You should tell them about the time, right in the middle of the third scene, when a cue was misinterpreted and the clock began to strike a full scene ahead of schedule.” Okay then, get off my back. I’m going to tell them now! (The actor who happened to be on stage is far too...
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