Caymichael Patten Studio

Current and former students, there is still availability for January zoom classes so if interested, please contact the studio ASAP. Audition class is BACK and scene study continues! For those new to the studio, welcome! Please send us an email to schedule your interview with Cay; we look forward to working with you. ... Contact: [email protected]

We don't need to remind you of the myriad changes and challenges we've all been through these past months, but sometimes change and challenge present unexpected, and welcome, opportunities. Over these past months, we've not only learned new technologies, like Zoom, but how to utilize those technologies, which allow us to rehearse, self-tape, and hold effective, meaningful classes. We've also learned that it's a good thing that we are learning, because we'll be seeing these te...chnologies as part of our theatre community for a long time to come. Our current inability to gather together to practice our craft in person has, by necessity, steered us toward true and literal distance learning. But because of these limitations, we are now able to reach out and connect with actors across the country in a way we never have before. Because of technologies like Zoom we are able to welcome students, previously limited by geography, into our classes and into our Studio. We will begin a new year, as well as a new month, of classes the week of January 4th. Cay teaches Scene Study on Monday nights, Wednesday afternoons, and Thursday evenings. Kieran’s Beginning Acting class meets on Tuesday evenings, and Fred leads Drill on Friday afternoons. Additionally, Cay will be teaching an ongoing Audition class, beginning Tuesday afternoon, January 19th, at 1 o'clock. This class is for those students who have already completed Cay's initial, eight-week Audition class, and will cover business and interviews, a system for approaching the text, the monologue, and self-taping. If you're a familiar face, we'd love to see that face again (deposits for returning students are due on Monday, December 28th). If you're new to the Studio, please reach out, regardless of zip code, so that we may set up an interview via Zoom or FaceTime, to see if we would be a good fit. And, most importantly, no matter where you lay your head, happy holidays and please stay well. The Caymichael Patten Studio

"Ring the bell, close the book, quench the candle." You might wonder why I'm starting this holiday letter with a version of the phrase that excommunicates someone from the Catholic Church. While trying to write this holiday letter, I couldn't find an opening to express how much I wanted 2020 to be over. Stalling, I turned on the television and there on TCM was BELL, BOOK, AND CANDLE, a scene in which Ernie Kovacs quotes this line, explaining that it was used by the church t...o start an exorcism. Perfect, I thought. Let's exorcise 2020! A lot of people would like to do that. So I watched the rest of the movie, a 1950's technicolor feast expanded from the Broadway play of the same name for Jimmy Stewart and Kim Novak, did a little research and started this letter. Turns out the screenwriter was using the phrase incorrectly; it's not used to start an exorcism, but an ex-communication from the church. So while Hollywood stretched its meaning; let's go with it anyway as the beginning of a partial exorcism of 2020: Partial because amidst all the grief and loss the year has brought, it also spurred reconnections with former colleagues, mastering new devices and techniques, and a reimagining of what good work is and how it can be taught online. For these things I am very grateful, particularly the joy of having different generations of studio students working together in virtual scene study. So even though we won't have a holiday party this year, I submit two requests: First, let's have a big ol' party when we can gather again - date to be determined - and Second, let me hear from you about your 2020, the good and the bad. We can share a drink over Zoom, commiserate via email, and celebrate one another. Because I do: I celebrate all who work hard to tell stories well, who open themselves to swapping all sorts of boundaries with colleagues and audiences to have the communal experience before returning to day to day life. Happy holidays to you all and hope to be in touch soon! XXCay P.S.: Ring the bell, close the book, quench the candle. A letter about classes in the New Year will follow next week.

Hello all, You don’t need us to tell you what crazy times we’re living in or that the past few months have been passing strange, but many of my best moments have come when teaching virtual class. Zoom has its pluses and minuses, but overall, it has provided a vehicle to continue our workand dare I say, important work it is. In the face of so much change, human beings still want and need to tell stories and we need to be able to deliver them. Brilliantly. So we work on our c...raft, our humanity and strive to deepen what we can bring to a role. We’ve been learning how to utilize technologies which allow us to rehearse, self tape and work with actors remotely. They come from all parts of the country and from many different generations of class from the studio. I love the mix of students and find it inspirational and nourishing. Here are our offerings for the fall: Scene Study, taught by Caymichael Patten, Section 1 on Monday nights starting at 6:30 PM, Section 2 on Wednesday afternoons, starting at 1:00 PM and Section 3 on Thursday nights starting at 6:30 PM. Classes are three hours long, ten to twelve in a class, you work every time and I make the assignments. As in our in person classes, people bring their scenes in at different stages of rehearsal and continue working on a scene till we agree that what it was assigned for has been achieved. Four classes per month, continuing monthly on a rolling basis until mid December. Then we’ll see what January holds. Beginning Acting, taught by Kieran Mulcare, on Tuesday nights at 6:00 PM, also four classes per month on a rolling basis. The Drill Class, taught by Fred Waggoner, on Friday afternoons at 2:00 PM, but we are no longer offering a class card to those who are in scene study. Enrollment in Fred’s class is on a month to month basis and, like all our classes, is priced at $200 per month. There are places available in my Thursday night class, in Kieran’s class, and in Fred’s Drill class. Returning students can call or email to reserve a spot; new students are admitted by interview. Please call or email to arrange a Zoom meeting. Take good care, let us hear from you, and stay safe above all else. Cay

Hello all, It is with mixed feelings that I write to tell you we’re giving up the space on Eighth Avenue. We’re giving up the space, not the studio, rest assured. We will continue with online classes until such time that we can safely gather again. So, with some sense of loss and much relief, we’ll say goodbye to the noise upstairs, the clanking, hissing radiator, and having to return furniture and props, as if we were on a submarine. I’ll miss the special things we did to ...make the place our own--the tin ceiling, the wood floor, the copper division between studio and office--but I think we’ve left the vibe of the place better for the work that we--you, Fred and Skuggi and our studio team--did in it. For the time being, you can find us online at www.cpattenstudio.com or on Zoom, where we have a couple of Scene Study classes, a Beginning Class and, soon, Drill. Take care of yourselves and let me hear from you. Onward and upward with the arts! XXCay