Actorfest hit Los Angeles last week with so many offerings that it was mind-boggling, especially for an aspiring actor — which I’m not. After perusing the schedule, I decided to observe a workshop with three acting coaches — not teachers, mind you — to assist selected participants with whatever piece they brought to explore.

Since I was early, I sat in on a panel that was in progress. Everyone in the audience was raptly listening to the actors on the panel uproariously and animatedly sharing stories of their worst auditions where they outwitted some casting director, thereby getting the last laugh…but not the job. And the joke was on whom? I sat there watching the audience, which was infinitely more interesting. What a cross-section of humanity, but I knew that was going to be the case, and that was why I chose to attend. There were traditional-looking types with their black portfolios which I knew were stuffed with various head-shots and resumes, depending on what the situation required. Then there were those who were definitely making a fashion statement and thought that might get them noticed. Believe me — it did. As I sat there looking around and wondering about the hopes and dreams of the audience members and who really had that single-purpose raw ambition, not to mention talent, to do the work required, my attention was caught by one of the panel members. A well-modulated female voice with the required Mid-Atlantic accent perfected by Voice and Diction coaches profoundly stated: “The thing that you’re doing, is the thing that you’re doing.” And I silently finished the statement with, “…and whatever you decide will be your decision.” I discreetly went back out in the hall to wait for my appointment.

There really was no wait, but had there been, it would have been worth it. I spent the next half-hour chatting with Aaron Speiser who has made the journey from young, inexperienced and untrained actor from the Bronx on “bus and truck” tours to getting a BA at CCNY and eventually a “full-ride” scholarship to Brandeis University to earn an MFA, back to being a working actor now with unlimited finely honed technique (which he didn’t tell me but I certainly could infer as much), to his current position as the “Everyman” of acting coaches with his own studio.

My time with Aaron (no “Mr. Speiser” here) covered theatre from the late ’60s to the current trends in TV and film. Theatre in the late ’60s! Oy! A far cry from touring companies of Bye-Bye Birdie and The Fantasticks. This genre of theatre was Dionysus in ‘69, Grotowski and Towards a Poor Theatre, Living Theatre, Antonin Artaud’s Theatre of Cruelty, and most of the faculty of NYU’s theatre department at the time that specialized in soul-searching, body-baring realism. I always referred to it as “primal hootchie-kootchie,” “artsy-fartsy,” and “avant gertie,” with the participants as having “avoir de poids” –- Heavy with a capital H. Aaron’s recollections were similar to mine, from his non-traditional theatre arts program at CCNY. It wasn’t what he wanted to do. As a working actor with an MFA in Theatre, which was a much more classical education, great instincts, and a lot of talent, he wanted to learn more about technique, and that’s what he did. While seeing a production of David Mamet’s American Buffalo starring Robert Duvall, Kenneth McMillan, and John Savage, Aaron saw something he wanted to know how to do and didn’t know how. He went backstage and spoke to McMillan who became his mentor and helped him to “unlearn” so he could learn to make the impossible…possible. And that’s what I was looking forward to seeing him make available for those in the workshop who were willing to take the risk.

Before we headed off to the workshop, there were a couple of things I just had to ask about: buzz words and phrases heard from acting teacher/mentor characters in TV and film. “Acting adjustments,” “play the moment,” “don’t act end-result,” “don’t telegraph the feeling” –- what do these phrases mean? His answer was basically that they mean nothing in and of themselves because of their lack of specificity. By the by, we don’t have much use for telegraphs anymore. Get the picture? Well, good! I’m glad I finally got that clarified for me after hearing those phrases in performances where there is an acting teacher trying to extract something from some young actor who is already having a “flop sweat” moment.

The first thing in the workshop was to arrange the chairs in a more informal manner, which was a great idea. Then everyone who wanted to participate was given a piece of paper and wrote his name. Selections were made randomly. There was such a variety of actors that at first I thought the ones chosen were “ringers”…but I was wrong. The four actors who worked were from their early 20s to late 70s, and all walks of life. I found that some of the advice given to them involved listening to the coaches talk about their own experiences and interpretations first, except for Aaron. I saw him give very simple, succinct suggestions that got very productive results and sometimes startling revelations for the actor. He didn’t provoke or intimidate the actor into making changes; he helped them see that there was another way. He also gave suggestions that work for film and television. This is Hollywood. Time is of the essence. These actors are interested in auditioning in that arena — not theatre, which is a different discipline and where there is more time to explore.

The workshop went quickly and it was fairly easy to see those who came away with something. I know I did. I don’t have what it takes to be an actor, even if I were lucky enough to study with Aaron Speiser.