Acting program – LATTE Theater

On Developing Your Stage Versatility and Persona

To thine own self be true! As you continue to succeed in acting, it is so crucial that you decide what type of mentor you one day wish to be. What influence as a leader would you like to have? Which of your directors would you want to emulate? Which ones would you not want to be? As you develop your on-stage brand in the acting industry, it is important to delve deep and ask the right questions.

What kind of versatile actresses and actors would you want to be considered like as you age? What sort of roles do you respect? Look at the versatility of Benedict Cumberbatch and Meryl Streep. They do not allow themselves to be pigeonholed into only acting one type of role but develop a multitude of skills to give them the ability to conquer within the industry.

What sort of demographics do you tend to gravitate to? Who are your stage and screen target audiences? You may think that you’re just starting your acting journey, but asking deliberate questions, in the beginning, can save you a lot of frustration in the middle. You should also reassess your progress and growth as you add more diverse roles to your acting toolbox.

And though these questions are challenging to answer, they present much motivation into what sort of characters you create on stage and what kind of character you are offstage. what emotions you gravitate to presenting on stage, and which ones you want to get more confident with.

Just as an artist paints with very broad strokes of a brush in the beginning, you need to be able to know how to start creating your artwork on the stage. As you spend more time in the industry you want to deliberately create the masterpiece that is you.

So who would you like to be? And what feedback have you been given to help you grow, stand out, self-assess, and acknowledge your weaknesses so you can develop them…. and your strengths? This is vital to your success on stage, and in life.

WHAT MAKES LATTE CHICAGO’S TEEN ACTING CHOICE

The LATTE Theater Acting Program stems from the conviction that Teen Actors can be trained with similar rigor and discipline as adults. As teens establish internal stage discipline (while having fun), they also are taught emotional wellness tools to allow them a healthy self-awareness as they are developing their stage characters to protect the psyche.

This acting training technique is specifically designed for young people’s personal triumph on and off the stage. The Pfluger Empathy Movement Method focuses on spherical growth in all aspects of character building, physicality and stage interrelationships , commanding voice and speech intonations, muscle activation, micro-expressions, and improvisation… all while developing personal stamina and directing skills. Curiosity and questions are encouraged for collaborative growth. Teens are included in the dramaturgy process and given a voice from the start of the acting intensive to the final curtain call.

Coaching for healthy stage intimacy and interrelationship creates a holistic stagecraft approach where teens are not only acquainted with the core elements of acting training, but actively mentored from a cultural, historical, literary, and psychological basis. Exploration of character interrelationships allow each teen to gain healthy insight as an actor or actress – for through stage we celebrate our humanity, challenge ourselves, find comfort… create healthy opportunities to learn and make lasting memories.

For more information on our Teen Acting Program, Auditions, Acting Workshops, Summer Teen Camp, Acting School, LATTE Theater Performances, and Acting Intensives, please contact us at 708-655-0989 or email lattetheater@gmail.com.

HOW DO YOU CHOOSE THE RIGHT ACTING PROGRAM FOR YOUR TEEN?

Ask yourself, what you want out of the program. And what does your teen want out of the experience? I would suggest choosing a program WITH your teen, since the teen’s voice should be part of the process, so they will feel more internally motivated for the best buy-in. Some programs are crammed as full as possible to give photo ops. This works for some, but not one that facilitates change and growth. If you are looking for a more serious and challenging program that helps teens channel their talents and master their craft, then there is much more to consider.

ACTING EDUCATION THAT FOCUSES ON THE WELL-BEING OF THE TEEN

So many programs piggyback teen programs on adult programs. Teens develop emotionally and intellectually daily on and off the stage, and the program should honor this. A Movement Method can be excellent if it includes self-awareness and empathy building. Also, beware of Method Acting as it is dangerous for teens… and many adults. Your checklist should include if the director can instill confidence, encourage collaborative creativity, and teach teamwork. Students of the craft should thrive off-stage in life and in the spotlights. The best competition is when students compete against themselves, trying to get a little better than yesterday. Make sure the student has “a safe place to fail”. For instance, in LATTE Theater, the focus is “progress, not perfection”, so that they have permission to explore what works best and enjoy the journey.

REPUTATION

Stay away from schools that sound like a pyramid scheme. Payment for different levels does not automatically mean the student is learning anything – or the lessons are internalized. Check online and word-of-mouth recommendations, and see if you can attend a rehearsal to see what it’s like behind the scenes. Acting Training actually is training, not gift wrapping.

BUILDING REALISTIC AND AUTHENTIC SKILLS

Many programs have you imagining applause and enjoying the spotlights. Yet, the best ones set you up for real life with advocates in the field who can mentor you, a realistic understanding of what it all takes, and how these skills and abilities transfer to other industries. Any director will tell you the audition begins from the moment you arrive on the property. A good program prepares you with a complete set of skills in your tool belt, resilience, assists in internal motivation, and helps the teen develop discipline.

A HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT

Make sure that your teen feels safe and comfortable where they are creating. Best case, the student and cast ensemble work together collaboratively to create a quality scene with the director. Teens need a nurturing, energizing environment that facilitates healthy emotional wellness at its core. It should be nonjudgemental, yet challenging and FUN! At LATTE, we focus on high-level learning… with laugh attacks and realness. Because in an environment of trust, the most incredible shows happen… and real, sustainable growth can take place.

Choosing an Acting Program with your Teen – The Developing Brain and Stage

Acting in the teen years can be an incredible experience. Otherwise, I never would have created the LATTE Theater Company or the Empathy Movement Method to help young actresses and actors thrive. So let’s take a beat and talk about why teens need additional safety around their stage experience and character creation.

Teens are exploring and defining who they are. Trying to do this hard enough in this age of tech and social media. When you are on stage you are creating a character that has its own separate emotional responses, physicality and personality. That is complex to any age, let alone when the brain has not hardwired (till the mid to late twenties).To make things all the more challenging, often acting schools teach method acting or fail to teach the teen to approach character development as a healthy exercise with aesthetic distance.

Look at the cautionary tale of Heath Ledger and how he lost himself in the character. Look at actors and actresses who fall in love – with each other’s characters, unaware in that moment that they aren’t falling in love with each other. If adults easily have fallen into these pitfalls, don’t we owe it to teens to give them a safe and nourishing framework to thrive on stage – and off?

Thoughts to percolate:

As you choose a program that will in influence your teen, ask how they help the teen grow on stage and off. How do they protect the psyche of the teen as they bring a show to the spotlights?

Celebrating 15 Years – Not “Just” an Incredible Acting Troupe

LATTE Theater, the La Grange Area Teen Theater Ensemble, is proud to have brought its Pfluger Empathy Movement Method of stagecraft and life development to La Grange and Chicagoland for 15 years1 We recognize the potential in each teen and the ripple effect on our community volunteers and audiences. We are grateful for making a difference in our community through performances in partnership with our local libraries, historical societies, soup kitchens, and more. We won the 2019 Illinois “Leading Age’s Honoring Excellence Award” for our community impact and our long-term intergenerational partnership with Plymouth Place.

Being “a LATTEer” means we pay it forward… and backward. It nurtures real friendships and allows a measurable impact on Stage and off. For LATTE believes in “Learning by Doing”, and champions the future of each teen and family. It creates an opportunity through high-level theatricality for teens to compete against themselves, for volunteers to laugh and create with us, to reach every member of our community through family-friendly, demanding shows for all ages, and to help us all have a safe place “to be”.

In the last 15 years, over 800 teens have been part of our program through our teen outreach, acting workshops and 45 theater shows that teach resiliency and life-skills through stagecraft. We have helped 74 volunteers and interns to full-time, paid employment. We have helped families heal and grow and form friendships. And we had 27 senior citizens who came to laugh and enjoy “the life in the kids” through being a “practice audience”. LATTE Alum have come back home to support teens they don’t even know on Stage, and our Stage Professionals share their gifts seeing the difference in growth from the first workshop to the curtain calls.

Through our quality performances, LATTE entertains with full-length comedic and dramatic shows and explores real emotions and current issues. Family dynamics, relationships, domestic violence, aging, emotional wellness and mental health, literacy, estrangement, alcoholism, Alzheimer’s, social responsibility, free will vs. comfort, and abandonment are themes we have brought to the Stage in works that range from Shakespeare through Neil Simon. These thought-provoking shows amuse and entertain our wonderful community, fuel great discussions, and give a beautiful launch point for discussions and introspection.

Thanks a LATTE for your support in making our dreams come alive on and off the Stage,

Felicia Pfluger

Founder/Artistic Director/Producer, LATTE Theater

The Java Jive: Fatal Flaws and Fantastic Strengths.

As you develop your character, think of them in terms of their strengths and weaknesses. What fatal flaws will they conquer? Which of their strengths will help them triumph? What other characters of the stage have complimentary faults that together, could be their undoing? Which combined strengths could be used to help them triumph over adversity? Tag team with your fellow ensemble to create this. Are the tensions internal or external? How can they be heightened? When the audience is sitting in the darkness, what “magic” you created will make them lean forward in their seats?

Create an emotional scavenger hunt for the audience. Before the “moving action” of the play takes place, ask where can you embed foreshadowing. Where might you build tension early on to give the audience inklings of what might happen? Remember, it is only through your action, and little “tells” that anything can be visualized. Your breathing. Your eye contact – or lack of. Your posture changes. Yes. these gifts to the audience allow you to create the backstory to bring forth the tension and build the dynamics of your role, so that the play is going someplace.

Challenge to Percolate:

Pick up a script and take some time to “play”. Choose two areas to build tension as “the stage is being set” in the first scenes.
Think about your favorite movie characters. Write down bits about her that make her/him character authentic – that make you “root” for them well before the crisis.
Choose a character in a show you hope to act some day. Create a few journal entries, in their voice, over a week. These can even be from a decade before or after the story we know takes place. There are no limits. Just have fun! Play!
Look at the relationships between family members in the show. What habits stretch generations? Which are a character developing their autonomy or rebelling?

~ Felicia Pfluger