OPENING: I wanted to make an entertaining movie about the monologue class that would show how much fun monologues can actually be. I was lucky enough to have 9 excellent New York actors, 7 very knowledgeable and articulate industry professionals, and the brilliant web humorist Ze Frank to help me. Here are excerpts from their experiences doing and watching monologues.

CHOOSING MATERIAL: In these samples from the Choosing Material section, actors share what is difficult and what is fun for them about finding monologues, and the industry pros reveal what they like and don’t like to see actors do during auditions. They had so much to say about it, we included an additional Choosing Material section in the bonus features of the DVD.

DIRECTING: The monologue class originally came about because I realized that so many problems that actors have with monologues come from a lack of clear, fun physical staging. Once these choices have been made – whether an actor ends up moving a liittle or a lot in a piece – actors’ nerves start to decrease, and they can actually start to enjoy doing monologues!

ACTING: This section of the DVD shows how to choose a simple action for a monologue, and how to play that action just as truthfully as if you were acting with a live partner. This answers the question: How can I act when there’s no one there? On the DVD we see each of the 9 actors perform monologues in their entirety - everything from Bogosian to Shakespeare.

AUDTIONING: We start by looking at how to confidently enter and exit the room. You’ll learn how to turn your self-evaluation after auditioning from negative and punishing to positive and productive, so you can always make the next audition even better. There is no tool that will better prepare you for the industry.We also demonstrate some audition exercises you can practice with your friends.

BONUS MATERIAL: In the 30 minutes of bonus interviews, our seven industry professionals give actors tons of additional advice on everything from clothing choice to college and graduate school auditions. Also in the bonus features: Philip Galinsky of the Manhattan Monologue Slam, and checklists and other info to download!

Click Here to see Ze Frank’s hilarious credits for the video.