Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Actor helps provide moment in spotlight
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Get your moment.
Actress Joyce Meadows repeatedly gave Roanoke County theater students that advice last week in a workshop on monologues.
Meadows coached the students to visualize or mentally rehearse to prepare for what happened in the play the moment before the monologue.
"It is an instant connection to your character," she explained.
Meadows has appeared in more than 200 TV shows and movies, has performed on Broadway and currently does a one-woman show of Shakespearian sonnets titled "Will Will Fulfill." She visited the Burton Center for Arts and Technology in Salem three mornings last week to coach acting. "She's given me a lot of insight I can use when I audition," said Laura Blades, 17, a senior at Cave Spring High School.
Because Meadows had less than five hours to spend with the students, she asked them to mail her the selected monologues so she could familiarize herself ahead of time.
"I wanted to make sure they received something they can take wherever they prepare to audition," Meadows said.
Blades chose a monologue by the character Amanda from Tennessee Williams' "Glass Menagerie" for the workshop. Of the roles chosen by other students in the group, Meadows said Blades' was the most difficult.
"You have the biggest challenge," Meadows told Blades. "Motherhood. To play a mother because you're not a mother."
She instructed Blades, who is interested in pursuing dance in college, to research maternal topics to help her develop the character before formally auditioning the piece.
Meadows learned something upon arriving at the school: Not all seven high school seniors she worked with plan to pursue acting. One girl said she plans to study business.
"That is the joy of acting," Meadows said. "They have already learned how to get out of themselves and be comfortable around people. It gives you an edge."
Carol Lyn Webster is the musical theater instructor at the county's Center for Performing Arts, which is located at Burton. Meadows is a friend of Webster's father, who helped draw the experienced actress to the school.
Meadows' appearance is the first in a guest artist series that will continue through the school year. Actors Caroline Munro, Trey Mitchell and Kathy Garver will visit in December, January and April, respectively.
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"Not As Good As You Think," a film by the Pacific Research Institute about school choice, will be shown at 7 p.m. Monday at Virginia Western Community College. The free screening in Whitman Auditorium will be hosted by the Conservatives, a student club.
