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Event
MEISNER
Playhouse West~Philadelphia is proud to have the opportunity to present the Philadelphia area premiere of Jim Jarrett's critically acclaimed, one man tour-de-force play, MEISNER, about legendary acting teacher Sanford Meisner and his over 60 years training some of the most successful and prominent actors on stage and screen. This show will be a fundraiser for the Playhouse West~Philadelphia Acting School and Theater.
Performances
Saturday, September 13 at 8 p.m.
Sunday, September 14 at 2 p.m. matinee
Center for Performing and Fine Arts Atrium Theater
211 Carter Drive, Suite C, West Chester, PA 19382
Admission
$20 General Public
$10 Playhouse West Students & Military Veterans
$16 Group Discount (12 or more)
Through Jarrett's passionate play "Sandy's" classroom literally comes to life the same classroom where seats were filled for over a half century by the likes of Gregory Peck, Geraldine Page, Grace Kelly, Joanne Woodward, Robert Duvall, Steve McQueen, Diane Keaton, John Cassavettes, Eli Wallach, Jeff Goldblum, Mary Steenburgen, Susan Sarandon, Sydney Pollack, David Mamet, Mark Rydell and all the rest who've gone on to change the world of acting, theater and film.
Simply put, Sanford Meisner was a man of passion and integrity for the craft of acting as evidenced from the following excerpt from the play: "Life beats down and crushes our souls and theater reminds us that we have one, at least the type of theater I'm interested in that is, theater that moves an audience. Actors have the opportunity to literally impact the lives of people if they work on material with integrity. But these days, most actors simply want to be famous. Being an actor was never supposed to be about fame and money. Being an actor is a calling because you've been given the ability, the gift to inspire humanity. Think about that on the way to your Soap Opera audition."
Play Setup
Act I
Meisner at 50The play opens on a classroom at The Neighborhood Playhouse School of Theater in New York City, September 14th, 1957. Sanford Meisner is 50 years of age.
Act II
Meisner at 80In 1977, Sanford Meisner was hit by a delivery truck while standing on a street corner in New York City and dragged two city blocks. While in the hospital in critical condition, he was also diagnosed with throat cancer and had emergency surgery to have his larynx removed. Sandy not only fought back, he continued to teach until the morning of February 2nd, 1997 when he died in his sleep at the age of 91. Act II opens eight years after the accident, November 29th, 1987. The old lion is now 80 years of age.
CRITICS REACTIONS
"We'd like to congratulate Jim Jarrett on his outstanding and accurate portrayal of Mr. Sanford Meisner. His play is everything Sandy stood for and we support his production wholeheartedly!" (Bob Carnegie/Jeff Goldblum Co-Founders of The Playhouse West Acting School & Theater, Los Angeles)
"Jim Jarrett is the closest you'll ever get to experiencing the genius of Sanford Meisner" (Academy Award winner Jon Voight)
"****A MUST SEE!" (San Francisco Chronicle)
"INCREDIBLE! TOTALLY ENGROSSING! AN ABSOLUTE MUST-SEE!" (Seán Martinfield, SF Sentinel)
"INSPIRATIONAL!" (Annette Lust, BACC)
"BRILLIANT! STUNNING! A TOUR DE FORCE! (Academy-Award Winning Director Mark Rydell)
"GREAT ACTING! A MASTER CLASS IN MEISNER'S TECHNIQUES!" (Chad Jones, ANG Newspapers)
"A FANTASTIC EVENING OF THEATER!" (Bradley Horowitz's "Elatable" blog)
"INSIDE THE ACTORS STUDIO TAKEN TO THE NEXT LEVEL!" (Nathaniel Eaton, SF Weekly)
"FABULOUS!" (Mario Echevarria, SF Tribune, Bay Area Critics Circle)
"A MUST-SEE! And not just for actors but for any lover of theater" (Brad Erickson, Theater Bay Area)
"Jarrett's show is what constitutes real acting that rare occurrence of great actinga master class in Meisner's technique." (Chad Jones, ANG NEWSPAPERS)
"A MUST SEE!. Jarrett aims to acquaint you with the work of his mentor, an acting teacher whose students included Grace Kelly, Gregory Peck, James Woods, Diane Keaton, Eli Wallach, Susan Sarandon, David Mamet, Michelle Pfeiffer, Robert Duvall" (Sam Hurwitt, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE)
"A beguiling multilayered show. Jarrett channels his teacher with deft precisioncaptivating and confrontational. Jarrett's presence and charisma is what constitutes real talent. He command your attention." (Nathaniel Eaton, SF WEEKLY)
"The strength of this play on acting is the inspirational motivation that Jarrett communicates through a kind of channeling of his former master, Sanford Meisner, who has influenced many of our finest actors. In fact, MEISNER'S message on the values one should adopt in acting may also apply to other arts and domains. Not only actors but stage directors, writers as well as artists and individuals in other occupations leave inspired to bring out the light inside of themselves through a truthful search for authenticity rather than by superficial values of commercial or immediate success." (Anne Lust, Bay Area Critics Circle OAKLAND TRIBUNE)
Mario Echevarra Bay Area Critics Circle SF TRIBUNE says
"MEISNER is a performance by the talented actor, director and playwright Jim Jarrett who stages some of the lessons given by his theatrical mentor, Sanford Meisner Jarrett is fabulous in his interpretation of legendary acting teacher Sanford Meisner and his play gives us not only the intellect, but also the spirit of the great professor.
What we see on the stage is a strict teacher who detested the absence of enthusiasm for what he considered a sacred craft: becoming an actor. Jarrett's performance is impressive, all-in-all a magnificent solo presentation. It delights from the beginning to the end of its two-and-a-half hour running time.
Arthur Miller said of Meisner, "Whenever I read new actors I can easily pick out those who have studied with Sanford. His actors are honest, real, simple and they are not acting. In other words, I believe them. There is no better praise that an actor can receive."
As he is portrayed in MEISNER, the master teacher could be brutal in his critiques. However, his motivation was always to find the truth in his acting students. MEISNER is a dynamic, rapid-fire and philosophical look at Meisner as portrayed by Jarrett."
Jim Jarrett spent four years as Sanford Meisner's student in Los Angeles, after Meisner moved his classes to Playhouse West Acting School in 1987. At the end of his studies Jarrett received many offers to act in TV/radio commercials and movies. What came along, however, was an opportunity to work on Leonard Nimoy's (of Star Trek fame) one-man play Vincent about the life of painter Vincent Van Gogh. Since then, Jarrett has been performing Vincent to sold-out audiences around the world, along with the play Meisner. He is the founder Jim Jarrett Productions, and the Meisner Technique Studio in San Francisco.
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LocationCenter for Performing and Fine Arts (View)
211 Carter Dr.
West Chester, PA 19382
United States
Categories
| Minimum Age: 12 |
| Kid Friendly: No |
| Dog Friendly: No |
| Non-Smoking: Yes! |
| Wheelchair Accessible: Yes! |
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