Theatre--Master Class

Lee Strasberg: “The Method is simply what all actors have done when acting well.”

Caroline McGee is announcing a Master Method Acting Workshop for local actors on November 23rd-25th to take place on the campus at UL-Lafayette. Building on the success of Professor McGee’s July 2009 acting workshop at ULL, which introduced 18 actors of various ages and levels of experience and training to the rigors of the Method acting technique, this session will focus on the often eccentric and zany characters in the plays of Anton Chekhov. Modern adapters of Chekhov (Tom Stoppard, David Mamet, Lanford Wilson, Michael Frayn and Tennessee Williams!) will be used. The work will culminate in a presentation of “The Cajun Chekhov” at ULL in December 2009. For more information and/or applications to the workshop, e-mail  mcgeec50@yahoo.com

From Angelina Jolie, Adam Sandler and James Dean to Marilyn Monroe, Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro, the great actors have studied and applied Strasberg’s exercises to invoke a sense of truth and an original interpretation devoid of clichéd and dull expression. Beyond specific actor training, the Method inspires the personal growth of each student in developing self-discipline, concentration and creativity.

Caroline McGee, an alumna of ULL & UNO, served as Director of The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute, NYU Tisch School of the Arts Drama Studio and Stonestreet Studios for Film & TV professional program in New York City. Additionally, she is currently offering workshops in the famed Moscow Art Actor Training techniques with members of the Studio Six Company, in residence at The Baryshnikov Center. The MXAT studio school was created by Stanislavski and was the first company to perform Chekhov’s plays. Their current program builds upon that legacy, while also incorporating the subsequent techniques of Meyerhold, Michael Chekhov and Grotowski, among others.

Professor McGee holds a Master’s Degree from the University of California at Berkeley in Directing, Theatre History, Literature & Criticism; actor training with Robert Lewis at The Yale School of Drama; a 2-year acting certificate at the Conservatoire Nationale in Strasbourg, France, on a CODOFIL scholarship.

She studied acting professionally in New York City with master teachers William Esper , Michael Howard, Stella Adler, Wynn Handman and Elaine Aiken (the Strasberg Method).

She has performed at Yale Repertory Theater, Williamstown Theater Festival, NY Shakespeare Festival, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, and in films by Woody Allen and Norman Jewison, with Gregory Peck, Gina Rowland and Gregory Peck, among many others. She is a member of all three actor unions, Actors Equity Association, Screen Actors Guild, and AFTRA.

Caroline’s parents are Sylvia and Dean McGee, retired farmers in the Richard area; 4 siblings, folklorist and local historian Dr. Donna McGee Onebane, Advantage Wealth Manager Gary McGee, Liz McGee Smith, mother of six, and Joseph McGee, a medical courier, all of Lafayette.