“One of the biggest misunderstandings about this business, and one of its best kept secrets, is just how much hard work it takes for an actor to create something that appears simple, subtle, easy, and spontaneous. An audience sees the final result: a performance that looks effortless, alive, and emotionally raw. What they do not see is the depth of commitment behind it. They do not see the hours, days, months, and years of training and self-exploration. The truth is, the craft of acting takes work. Plain and simple. It requires talent, imagination, professionalism, passion, dedication, devotion, commitment, curiosity, exploration, empathy, compassion, vulnerability, courage, tenacity, consistency, accountability, responsibility, an unrelenting desire to grow, and a very strong will. An actor cannot just think about the work. The work must be done. It cannot live in theory or in the mind alone. It must live in the body, the breath, and the soul. Craft is not a finite thing. It is a lifelong, ongoing cultivation. Craft is what allows the actor to be consistent. It allows an actor to perform eight shows a week or deliver sixteen takes in a row. It is what marries skill to innate talent. It becomes the backbone of readiness and confidence. When craft is deeply ingrained, there is no need to hope things will go well. The actor knows and trusts they will, because the muscle has been built. That kind of preparation grants the freedom to let go and live, moment to unknown moment.” ~Mario A. Campanaro

“When the actor truly begins to understand the craft of acting in a visceral, practical, tangible, executable, HUMAN way…and how it mirrors the way we humans live in this beautifully complex thing we call LIFE…they can begin to experience the delicious breath of freedom it provides. Craft is meant to free the actor so they can truly live moment to unknown moment circumstantially. The craft of acting provides the ability to be CONSISTENT in the work. That consistency supports the actor’s ability to truly listen through the filter of the character’s wants and needs and therefore have stimulated justified circumstantial responses, reactions, instincts, impulses and spontaneity within the gap of the moment. Craft allows for the actor’s talent to be married to skill. The actor’s skill makes it possible for their instrument to experience the freedom of living the character’s life as it unfolds moment to unknown moment…as oppose to their hope white-knuckling onto luck that it will all go well and the magic might happen. The craft of acting provides the backbone of confidence for the actor to know like they know like they know that it will go well each and every night or each and every take…Because the actor’s endowed skill fully supports the work and provides the security that the actor can truly live moment to unknown moment as a given story and its circumstances unfold. When the actor really experiences that kind of freedom in the work, the initial passion, love, and inner joy that attracted them to this glorious art form…The Craft Of Acting… inevitably grows stronger and brighter. That’s what craft does. But it is a craft. It is a skill. It is a profession. One that demands constant learning, exploration, discovery, experience, growth and evolution…Just as this beautifully complex thing we call LIFE does.” ~Mario A. Campanaro

"I believe that talent is a very precious gift that can only take the artist as far as they are willing to cultivate it, nurture it, invest in it, and put it to good use. The artist’s talent can only take them as far as the professional accountability they maintain to do something remarkable with it. There are not many professional acting jobs out there where the actor is not expected to come in well-prepared to do the work they were hired and getting paid to do. So why in the world would a professional actor ever train without the intent of those same professional demands? Our work, this thing called Acting, is not for the faint of heart. And it is not trivial or substance-less. It is pregnant with the human condition! And with that invested, mindful, committed work, we must remember that the word ACT means TO DO! And the artist perseveres when it may make sense to want to crumble. The artist perseveres because by the very nature of being an artist is to create…to move forward…to give birth to something from something and because of something." ~Mario A. Campanaro

"Life itself is going to always create the need for stories. It is going to create many very human beautifully-complicated-layered-heart-wrenching and also victorious stories. And everybody’s story has the right to be heard and witnessed in some way. Every single one of our stories is backed by the pain we have endured and experienced during some season in our life and all of what we have done to try and overcome that pain and suffering to make it through. Tough times and tough circumstances will always try our most vulnerable point. And that is a beautiful and very human map as to what needs our attention…our awareness. It is our awareness, observation, and the exercising of what we learn about ourselves, others and the human condition that will inevitably inspire and inform how we live honestly, truthfully, and authentically in our work as actors. And let’s face it, a lot of the time this may feel/be inconvenient, difficult, tedious and maybe even heart-wrenching work during the process…during the season…especially when there is not an immediate payoff. But the more we stay on track…the more we continue to persevere…the more we continue to align, refine, and cultivate our craft…the more we continue to grow and expand…and the more the payoff will eventually and inevitably come. It is about persevering through. Even during those moments when we feel like we don’t want to or think we can’t persevere through. It’s not about going around it. It is not about going over it. It is not about going underneath it. It is about going through it and knowing we will indeed make it through. It is about being religious (meaning disciplined) in our approach to what we want to achieve as artists. Being focused, disciplined, and holding ourselves accountable within and throughout the process because we love what we do. And because we know there is…always has been…and always will be greatness within each of us worthy of doing the work that we love with all our heart and soul." ~Mario A. Campanaro

"I remember that night like it was yesterday. The theatre was this huge castle across from a big lake. You had to drive through these crazy small winding roads to get to it. When we pulled into the parking lot, it was like seeing something I had always seen in my imagination. This castle was spectacular. As soon as I stepped foot into the theatre, I felt right at home. It felt like it was home. It was strange. It was so new but it felt so familiar…like I had been there my whole life. It was majestic. It was extraordinary. It was breathtaking. As a little kid, my eyes were wide open taking it all in like a sponge. The huge stage. The massive theatre lights on the ceiling. The red velvet house seats. The audience together. And then the lights faded to black…The orchestra fired up…The curtain rose…And the stage lights illuminated an entirely different world from the world I was in. Time and space stopped. I was transfixed. Mesmerized. Awe-Inspired. Found. It was at that exact moment that I realized that everything that I had been searching for…Everything that I loved…Everything that I was passionate about…Everything that gave me so much un-named joy…was finally defined as acting. In that moment, the theatre became my driving force…my spine…the passionate fire behind that powerful question, 'Why?'. To say that I was creatively driven would be an understatement." ~Mario A. Campanaro

"Our work, this thing called Acting, is not for the faint of heart. And it is not trivial or substance-less. It is pregnant with the human condition! And with that invested, mindful, committed work, we must remember that the word ACT means TO DO! And the artists perseveres when it may make sense to want to crumble. The artist perseveres because by the very nature of being an artist is to create… to move forward… to give birth to something from something and because of something. All of us, in our darkest of times, are spending much of our time being moved by the actor, in our homes or other venues where the actor’s work lives. This is why we must take our work (acting) seriously and with responsibility. The actor can’t forget what he or she does…why he or she does it… and what it serves. It is a rite. It is a responsibility. It is a gift. And it matters! Our darkest moments will be the greatest inspiration for our most important artistic endeavors and creations!" ~Mario A. Campanaro

"Class is about exercising the actor’s instrument. It is about going to the gym, artistically speaking. It is not a class about having the pressure to perform for an audience, or about necessarily getting the job or being perfect. It is there for the actor, as a safe space to get messy, to get specific, to struggle when he or she needs to struggle within the work, to celebrate diving into obstacles/blocks equally as celebrating breakthroughs/successes, and most importantly to CULTIVATE CRAFT! It is about exploring and telling all the stories about the human condition in all its grit and glory. It is about doing the work without judgment so the actor can continue to learn, grow and expand as an artist. I know I said it earlier, but I really believe it is worth repeating. I truly believe, and I have seen its magic in the work with those I work with, that “There is not THE way to get there! But there is A way. And that way is the way that resonates and stimulates with the actor’s instrument to do honest, exciting, sophisticated, and unpredictable work in relation to the circumstances at hand. It is about learning and being able to use a craft that never fails the actor. It always has the actor’s back. It supports the actor in the knowing and therefore in his or her freedom within the unknown of the moment. That is the craft an actor wants and needs to cultivate. That is the craft the actor wants to continue to work with! That is the craft that will sustain the actor throughout his or her entire career.” ~Mario A. Campanaro

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