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Actors Training Institute: Give the gift of enhanced performance
Please note that our current address is 174 Main Street (Route 35), Crystal Brook Professional Building, Eatontown, NJ 07724. This article has been modified to reflect our current address.
Searching for a wonderful gift idea for that creative person in your life? The Actors Training Institute, [174 Main Street (Route 35), Crystal Brook Professional Building, Eatontown, NJ 07724] is fast becoming the premiere acting school in New Jersey. John Eyd, artistic director and veteran actor and director, with over 40 years of experience, says give the gift of acting for the holidays. "New students come on a regular basis, from six to eighty-six years of age, and we have beginner, intermediate and master levels. We now have one hundred and fifteen children, and my message to parents is - what are we giving them that they cannot use? To walk, to talk, to confront, even if the children do not become professional actors, but lawyers, or medical professionals, or anything else, these are still important skills."Eyd goes on to say that his classes are especially good for the shy kid, and he can even remedy the one who cannot stop talking, by teaching control. He recommends purchasing a month's worth of lessons as a gift, then waiting to see what happens. Eyd's distinguished background includes studying with acting teacher greats Stella Adler, Sanford Meisner and Lee Strasberg, after graduating from Fordham University in New York City. He has fifty-eight legitimate productions to his credit, twenty as a director, and the rest as an actor. Eyd started out by being invited into the area by a former student who was working as an agent. She wanted him to work with some clients, and then kept adding more - "and here I am," Eyd interjects. Eyd takes what he does very seriously and wants to give back what he has gained by trying to make a difference. The adult workshops offered are all based on the Stanislavski technique, basically defined as realism in acting. Eyd explains, "Everything that is done is put under a microscope. You ask why you do something. All that you do comes from the realities of life." Workshop one lasts for sixteen weeks and introduces Stanislavski acting as interpreted by renowned actress and teacher Stella Adler. The actor learns to use body, speed, motion and emotion. Workshop two, lasting for twenty-four weeks, also known as the intermediate level, teaches the Meisner technique, creating real behavior within an imaginary theatrical world. Workshop three, the master level, lasts for an open period of time, working on expressing genuine emotion in scene study through Strasberg's method acting. This third workshop remains open; the actor can then come back periodically after working to continually hone his or her craft. Eyd observes, "We will show students all they want to know about the art, to prepare them for television, live stage, commercials and film. We get many high school and college students from the area." ... The Actors Training Institute celebrates its fourteenth anniversary this year. John Eyd's target is to patent ATI to be New Jersey's representation of New York City's Actor's Studio. He is passionate about his business, cautioning people to take care when choosing an acting school. "Students too often come to us with less than adequate training. They can actually be hurt because of improper training; it's an emotional thing. People should shop around; check credentials and experience," Eyd explains. In addition to former young students going on to Broadway, ATI's adult students have been spotted on such television shows as Oz, The Sopranos, Sex in the City, Law and Order an NYPD Blue. For more information, call (732) 578-0055. |
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