SARATOGA SPRINGS — Home Made Theater (HMT) will once again offer diverse summer programming for children and teens, ages 8 through 18 beginning in early July. Programs include Improvisation, Scenes from Great American Plays, Scenes from Great British Plays, Shakespeare (Macbeth) for Young Actors, and a new program for ages 14 and up- Stage and Film Acting Technique Lab.
Registration is taking place now. For details, cost, dates, times and other information, visit http://homemadetheater.org.
Returning for his fifth consecutive year is Instructor Paul Sigrist, a New York City-based actor with substantial credits and awards in theater, television and film. For more information about his career, visit www.paulsigrist.com. He spoke with us about his return to Saratoga Springs and HMT.
What led you to begin teaching classes here in Saratoga?
“I went to college at Skidmore and after attending graduate school at New York University, I returned to the area and lived in Saratoga throughout my twenties. After moving back to New York City, eventually becoming a professional actor and singer, I still maintained my connections to the area. In 2005, Valerie Lord, then the director of the Lake George Opera Camp (later known as the Opera Saratoga Summer Intensive) hired me to direct a student production of “Trial by Jury” because of my extensive professional experience with the works of Gilbert and Sullivan. I stayed on as a yearly summer stage director for the student shows at Opera Saratoga, the last being “The Gondoliers” in July of 2011. Also in July of 2011, I was hired by Stacie Mayette-Barnes at Home Made Theater to take over as guest teaching artist for their summer classes. During that first summer of teaching the HMT classes, I offered two week-long sessions of Shakespeare scenes. It went well enough that I have been hired every summer since then—this will be my fifth summer teaching for HMT. The courses have expanded since 2011— It’s going to be a very busy July!”
How do you feel about returning to the area to teach?
“I’ve had a long association with the city and intimate relationships with many of Saratoga’s classic institutions: Skidmore, the Adelphi Hotel (where back in the day I was the sous chef in the restaurant and a bartender during the off-season), Bethesda Episcopal Church (where I was a paid singer in the choir for years), Yaddo (I was on staff - writing the catalog of its furniture and art collection that is still in use today) and others.
Saratoga is my second home—it’s a beautiful place, I still have many friends and associates here and I genuinely look forward to coming back every summer to teach, coach and direct the kids. Working with kids is a fascinating process—they bring so much bald honesty and boundless enthusiasm to everything they do. Most kids can’t wait to be challenged and they always rise to the occasion. This is why I have always felt kids should be given adult-level material to perform without exception—no diluted, dumbed-down, “kiddie version” stuff. Let them tackle the actual words of Shakespeare, Wilde, Gilbert, Albee, O’Neill, whomever. So many times the kids have proven to me that they totally understand what the writer is expressing faster and sharper than many adults tackling the same material. I never cease to be amazed by so many things when I work with young performers.”
How do you transfer your vast experiences and skills to the classroom?
“Prior to coming to Opera Saratoga in 2005, I had only ever performed with or directed adults. I was extremely apprehensive about working with kids—so I made the decision to treat the kids as though they were adults; I didn’t alter my vocabulary or talk down to them. And, more importantly, I would treat them exactly as I would treat adults—with the same expectations and responsibilities I would take as a given when working with professional adult actors. And in my experience most young actors thrive in this disciplined environment. Even in my sometimes less-controlled Improvisation classes where free-flowing creativity is an absolute must (and a somewhat less strict atmosphere aids this energy flow), the students learn that there are specific rules that must be obeyed when performing improv. There must be order, even in chaos—so I really do try to instill in the students the same sense of order and control that has been important to me, a professional actor/singer, even when they think they are just horsing around and having fun. It must be working—I always have a large percentage of kids who return from previous years.”
What is your favorite thing to teach?
“I truly enjoy teaching all my classes — HMT has graciously allowed me to decide what I would like to teach each summer and as long as we think there will be interest in it, onward we go with the class. Shakespeare is near and dear to my heart, as I was exposed to it at a young age by a forward-thinking teacher who understood that kids absolutely understand the ideas, concepts, situations and types put forth in the plays. This year I’m doing “Macbeth” with the students, and I’m very excited. All that drama and intrigue and supernatural energy. And we’ll even be learning some basic stage combat moves for a couple of the scenes.
What is next for you in your career?
To soldier on — like every other working actor in New York: Auditioning, studying, practicing — trying to make a living between gigs (and sometimes even during gigs!). The quest to be a better actor, a better singer, a better director, a better dancer, a better anything is on-going. It just never stops. I imagine that I will continue working on “Saturday Night Live,” where I have been since 2009 as an additional actor for sketches and pre-taped segments. And there are always auditions for film, TV and commercial work—they never stop and I have a few lined up (I just worked in a fun Samsung commercial). And I continue to sing—I’ve been very much involved in the professional Gilbert and Sullivan world in New York for many years (indeed, after I finish this I run off to play Pish-Tush in a concert performance of “The Mikado”) as well as doing church singing jobs, concert work, stage work, etc. And recently I’ve had some performing colleagues who have asked if I might consider teaching an acting technique class here in the city patterned after the adult class I’m teaching for HMT in July, so I’m thinking about that. An actor’s life can sometimes be a very full plate indeed—a life that can be exhausting, but often wonderful and creatively satisfying in so many ways.”
