tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39237555113491772632011-11-26T16:13:57.052-08:00Under the greenwood tree Who loves to lie-with me, And turn his merry note Unto the sweet bird's throat, Come hither, come hither, come hither: Here shall he see No enemy But winter and rough weather. Wm Shakespeare - As You Like ItMolly Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16710815460300077480noreply@blogger.comBlogger261100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3923755511349177263.post-76048220987654690122011-11-26T15:52:00.001-08:002011-11-26T15:54:32.487-08:00

Green Wood Studios is joyfully opening its virtual doors after a hiatus while Artistic Director, Molly Lyons, took on the role of caregiver for her mother. New home base: ChicagoNew websites: www.GreenWoodStudios.org http://www.facebook.com/pages/Green-Wood-Studios/281518891889977 New phone: 773-304-4321We can teach in any city, just contact us.We can offer private lessons around the world, Skype

Molly Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16710815460300077480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3923755511349177263.post-12953995471808824902009-05-26T16:13:00.000-07:002009-05-26T16:14:20.174-07:00

You've got to learn your instrument. Then, you practice, practice, practice. And then, when you finally get up there on the bandstand, forget all that and just wail. ~ Charlie Parker

Molly Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16710815460300077480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3923755511349177263.post-53740139807856436402009-05-06T10:08:00.003-07:002009-05-06T10:11:27.852-07:00

A colleague recently wrote me and asked: On the subject of auditioning, I could use some advice. The audition I have coming up is a cold reading from the script. In that situation, what would you say the casting director is looking for most - character or ability? Also, do you have any tips for how to distinguish myself from the other audtioners?I'll answer in order of what I think our focus in

Molly Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16710815460300077480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3923755511349177263.post-78983994079633783052008-10-11T10:06:00.001-07:002008-10-11T10:06:31.979-07:00

When Winston Churchill was asked to cut funding for the arts to finance the war effort, he asked, “Then what are we fighting for?” War is being declared on the arts in all kinds of ways. Here're some notes about that. From me: Molly LyonsTheatre ArtistI told my dad when I was little and we were arguing about Vietnam that I wanted to declare a Culture War. "A Culture War?" he asked, "How would

Molly Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16710815460300077480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3923755511349177263.post-85795763780847273072007-12-06T13:18:00.000-08:002007-12-06T13:19:22.734-08:00

Dear Friends, Colleagues and Supporters of the Actors International Retreat Experience (AIRE),The Green Wood Studio is currently in what I will call a “Development Year” and we have decided for a variety of reasons to postpone this year’s annual AIRE event scheduled for January 2008. I am in the process of making some important decisions professionally and am actively pursuing teaching,

Molly Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16710815460300077480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3923755511349177263.post-49613687245669688902007-09-11T22:22:00.000-07:002007-09-12T11:06:26.556-07:00

As we head into our 9th annual event of the Actors' International Retreat Experience and are already receiving registrations from as far away as Washington DC, I thought I'd post our 2008 instructors and some quotes from A.I.R.E. alumni.2008 A.I.R.E. InstructorsTed Hoerl - Act One Studio instructor & Casting Director, teaching Auditioning with prepared monologue from contemporary theatre. Molly

Molly Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16710815460300077480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3923755511349177263.post-63293776125926254902007-09-06T10:30:00.000-07:002008-12-10T09:28:52.764-08:00

As I reflect back on my recent work at the Shakespeare Festival, where I have had the pleasure of working for three seasons, my mind races with all the valuable lessons I learned during this one paradoxically glorious and tumultuous summer.As the season began, I was full of doubts as to whether or not I was up to the task of playing Nurse in Romeo and Juliet and Hippolyta/Titania in A Midsummer

Molly Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16710815460300077480noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3923755511349177263.post-22031181177782557772007-08-16T09:28:00.001-07:002007-09-09T12:45:56.671-07:00

This is my farewell note to the company of this summer's St. Lawrence Shakespeare Festival.A quick farewell and wish for the future ....Some events of recent days, & indeed of the summer, have left me feeling a real need to value what little time we truly spend on earth and to ensure that people know the impact they may have upon my life.Several of you are responsible for getting me hooked onthe

Molly Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16710815460300077480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3923755511349177263.post-19317833666024771452007-07-21T06:14:00.000-07:002008-12-10T09:28:53.493-08:00

Molly Lyons as Nurse & Perry Mucci as RomeoRain no obstacle to Star-Crossed LoversBrockville Recorder & TimesBy RONALD ZAJACStaff WriterPRESCOTT -- The Fort Town's first taste of Shakespearean tragedy is hardly bitter.The St. Lawrence Shakespeare Festival's Romeo and Juliet, which opened last night despite the vagaries of nature, is first of all a perfect opposite to A Midsummer Night's Dream in

Molly Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16710815460300077480noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3923755511349177263.post-74004030205595955922007-07-21T05:59:00.000-07:002008-12-10T09:28:53.892-08:00

Molly Lyons as Titania & Craig Walker as Bottom St. Lawrence Shakespeare Festival off to first-rate start Brockville Recorder & TimesBy RONALD ZAJAC, Staff WriterPRESCOTT -- Of all the Bard's plays staged at the Kinsmen Amphitheatre so far, this one is arguably the most apt.A Midsummer Night's Dream, which opened the St. Lawrence Shakespeare Festival's fifth season on Saturday, is a romp through

Molly Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16710815460300077480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3923755511349177263.post-81361537926516533612007-07-06T06:30:00.000-07:002008-12-10T09:28:54.081-08:00

Greetings,Here are some audience reviews of a recent performance in Ottawa. In short, it was the 50th anniversary of Duke Ellington's suite to Shakespeare, called Such Sweet Thunder. Ross Neill, Ian Farthing and myself, all from the St Lawrence Shakespeare Festival, were asked, along with another Shakespeare company, to perform with the Impressions in Jazz ensemble.I learned a great deal during

Molly Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16710815460300077480noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3923755511349177263.post-16554443334514708772007-05-08T17:14:00.000-07:002008-12-10T09:28:54.293-08:00

“El arte lava del alma el polvo de la vida cotidiana.” Pablo Picasso(The art washes away from the soul the dust of the daily life.)The above quote was given me by Silvana Goldemberg, the mother of playwright, Muriel Faifman, whose new play, Waves of Immigration, we just workshopped last week in a collection of one acts called Sea of Stories. The stories were commissioned by the Gateway Theatre in

Molly Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16710815460300077480noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3923755511349177263.post-88789594663427750622007-04-18T14:05:00.000-07:002007-04-18T20:19:54.729-07:00

When my mentor, Bill James, was advising me on becoming a teacher and my nose wrinkled, as if to say, “but I’m an ARTIST,” he said: "those who can, do; those who can do better, teach." Recently, when seeing the work of my several of my fellow teacher / artist peers, I fondly remember how wise my mentor was.I saw David Smukler, AIRE voice instructor, in The Seagull in Toronto in February. I

Molly Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16710815460300077480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3923755511349177263.post-77053226544990829272007-04-18T13:57:00.001-07:002007-04-21T20:06:08.235-07:00

David: Sorry I don’t have a review of Seagull !!The WeirSignal's The Weir opened last week to critics' raves and enthusiastic applause.The Daily Herald's Barbara Vitello writes, "Prentice's discreet, graceful direction underscores a wonderfully understated production from Signal, a relative newcomer to the Chicago scene and a company that bears watching. So convincing is this well-acted,

Molly Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16710815460300077480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3923755511349177263.post-56959009025676002822007-04-18T11:30:00.000-07:002007-04-18T11:34:14.321-07:00

'Frozen' asks if evil or injury drives killerTHEATER Virginia slayings could make audience cool, even to hot performancesApril 18, 2007BY HEDY WEISS Theater CriticWhat a difference a day makes. Until Monday's slaughter at the Virginia Institute of Technology, the ideas about violence, retribution and forgiveness in Bryony Lavery's 2004 "Frozen" -- a London and Broadway hit now in a stunningly

Molly Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16710815460300077480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3923755511349177263.post-87968786793488807392007-01-30T10:23:00.000-08:002008-12-10T09:28:57.407-08:00

"Clumps" - part ofShakespeareWorkout Carolyn Cox - Seattle Vicky Drake - SeattleValerie Sing Turner - VancouverLisa Levan - SeattleTricia Rogers - Chicago Louise Carnachan - Orcas IslandLiz Bagby - ChicagoNorm Stamper - Orcas IslandKristen Nedopak - SeattleKara Whitney - SeattleEmi Clark - ChicagoEleanor Crowder - OttawaChristi Proffitt - SeattleBetty Lorkowski -Chicago BertSteinmanis -

Molly Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16710815460300077480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3923755511349177263.post-64441525477796270472007-01-27T21:54:00.000-08:002007-01-28T08:51:18.546-08:00

A young artist I don't know well recently sent out a mass email asking for people to offer "criticism" & feedback on his new play. Below is my feedback and it goes for any of you who are developing new creations. Please be good to yourselves.--ML**************You may not believe that this is the kind of feedback you want but, in my opinion, it is.I am neither going to read your script just now

Molly Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16710815460300077480noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3923755511349177263.post-3552427705048391672007-01-15T16:45:00.000-08:002007-01-15T17:09:19.527-08:00

I have attached photos from the scenes in performance at our winter retreat. My ability to take photos was limited so am hoping that my colleagues also snapped some good ones.I must say that I was not only pleased with the actors' work but found the material very rewarding. Included were a good range of classics, European realism and a variety of both Canadian & American contemporary plays. Given

Molly Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16710815460300077480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3923755511349177263.post-46054402814321885652007-01-14T19:36:00.000-08:002007-01-15T11:29:26.607-08:00

On this, closing day of our annual winter acting retreat, I sit in great satisfaction about the work accomplished. I received the quote below from Ted Hoerl, our audition/cold reading instructor, which he read in a magazine on the plane ride home, about a woodworker:I figured out that this wasn't the contest against my tendency to screw things up after all. It was about aligning my mind and my

Molly Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16710815460300077480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3923755511349177263.post-9732283336415804422007-01-01T11:44:00.000-08:002007-01-01T11:47:38.586-08:00

This is an essay published last year in The Soul of the American Actor. For those of you attending the retreat, you are on your way to refilling the well.--ML******************In a world where everything is fast, solutions are quick, pain is instantly relieved and grief is a 3 day bereavement leave, I have discovered that many artists also resort to the quick fix for their creative processes. As

Molly Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16710815460300077480noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3923755511349177263.post-51454474052813556502006-12-21T13:34:00.000-08:002006-12-21T13:48:52.137-08:00

The quote below is from Giovanni Battista Lamperti, the "father" of BelCanto singing technique. As I am getting ready for the retreat, I wanted to share these beautiful similes for the sensation of being "ready" to perform. -- ML ***** What is the sensation of being ready to sing?It is a subjective feeling associated with the insistent desire to sing!Like that of a "tight-rope walker" as he

Molly Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16710815460300077480noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3923755511349177263.post-83887902284153154202006-12-19T23:56:00.000-08:002006-12-20T09:15:07.409-08:00

The forms of things unknown, the poet's penTurns them into shapes, and gives to airy nothingA local habitation and a name.Wm Shakespeare - A Midsummer Night's DreamI was asked this week, while casting actors in their scenes for AIRE, if a certain playwright was my “favorite” because it was observed that I frequently use the playwright’s work for actors at the retreat. Well, when one can offer

Molly Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16710815460300077480noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3923755511349177263.post-17625388886783597872006-12-14T10:56:00.000-08:002006-12-28T11:34:24.252-08:00

A collection of quotes which inspire me ... from the sublime to the ridiculous ... so I will approach the work seriously and so that I don't take myself too seriously. As we approach the retreat I find myself always needing inspiration - some in seeming-contradiction. Please comment and add quotes. I always hunger for more inspiration or a good laugh. -- ML*******Action is eloquence. -- William

Molly Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16710815460300077480noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3923755511349177263.post-54897326394713435102006-12-11T09:08:00.000-08:002008-12-10T09:28:57.515-08:00

This is from a letter I recently sent to the teachers who influence me the most. One cannot receive the letter, for he is gone from earth, so I think I'm posting this so others will know he is not forgotten and, here at this site, so that retreatants know why I do what I do and why this event is such a dream come true for me.ML**************I am writing to some of you who have been mentors/

Molly Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16710815460300077480noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3923755511349177263.post-27786088777593985632006-12-05T19:55:00.000-08:002006-12-11T08:56:03.380-08:00

Green Wood Studio is entering into an exciting season: preparing for AIRE - Actors' International Retreat Experience.Short of the wonder of the retreat week itself, this is my favorite season at the studio and this month each year finds me full of anticipation, excitement, preparation and even frustration. I am processing registrations, assigning actors their rooms, small groups, scene

Molly Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16710815460300077480noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3923755511349177263.post-8716428163475164492006-12-05T19:14:00.000-08:002008-12-10T09:28:57.634-08:00

We are thrilled to introduce a new instructor to the AIRE faculty for our winter 2007 retreat event. I have heard such amazing things about David, from colleagues, friends and strangers, which lead me to believe he will be a perfect fit with our already wonderful group of instructors. --ML DAVID SMUKLER, one of the senior voice teachers in the Canadian theatre, is on the faculty of York

Molly Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16710815460300077480noreply@blogger.com1