The Maggie Flanigan Studio recently announced it had begun accepting applications for the Fall 2019 Two-Year Acting Program. The most comprehensive acting training available in the United States, the studio’s elite actor-training program features the Meisner Technique and is overseen by Executive Director and Head of Acting, Charlie Sandlan. Applicants of any experience level are welcome, but are encouraged to begin immediately by applying online. Classes begin every September and always fill up quickly.
Maggie Flanigan Studio: The Art of Acting
“I train actors for a living: that’s what I do. I train actors and I train artists, and the first question that I really put to my students is what kind of artist do you want to be?” said Charlie Sandlan, Executive Director and Head of Acting. “You want to be an actor, but what does that really mean? Do you want to be an artist? Because if that’s true, what contribution do you want to make to your art; especially if you really want to be doing this for the next 30 or 40 years of your life. The Maggie Flanigan Studio can help you answer these questions by setting you on the path to understanding yourself, and your art.”
Within the Two-Year Acting Program, the first year is spent exploring the fundamentals of craft. Students learn to transform class knowledge they receive into improvisational action. While learning to identify scene context and subtext, students are also provided all of the techniques they need to emotionally connect with other actors while remaining true to the source material.
The second year of the program is dedicated to script and characterization. Students practice inhabiting the physical and mental spaces of their characters, while accessing the nuance and multifaceted aspects of the human condition. Second-year students also learn important professional development skills like rehearsal preparation. By the end of the two-year program, students have all of the tools they need to launch a professional career in acting.
Maggie Flanigan Studio: Meisner Technique
The Maggie Flanigan Studio teaches the Meisner Technique of acting, an approach that emphasizes truth, emotion and imagination.
“What is Meisner, and what does it offer? Basically, it gets at the core of acting itself: the ability to do, truthfully, under imaginary circumstances,” explained Charlie Sandlan. “Most actors simply indicate — they pretend. But really good actors learn to create organic, vivid human behavior. And that’s what we teach our students.”
Many graduates of the Two-Year Acting Program have gone on to rewarding and fulfilling careers. And student reviews of the two-year Meisner program have always been overwhelmingly positive:
“Having just finished the two-year program at Maggie’s, I can honestly say coming here was the best decision I’ve ever made in my life. Initially I thought the studio was just going to teach me how to act; I had no idea that it would help me find myself … Not only do I understand now who I am as an actress, I also have the fundamentals needed to carve out a successful career. The in-depth training and different classes they offered exceeded my wildest expectations….” — C. Perez, recent graduate.