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Memorizing Lines…Help!! The Age Old ???

Question:

After reading this, I though it worth sharing. You suggested not to use monologues over 5 years ago? dang that’s pretty hard cuz it’s hard to find monologues that are recent…i guess…

Except for one thing, everything in life is hard. You don’t get an Oscar or a Tony or any Gold by looking for the easy way. Challenging yourself with hot new material is the way to tremendous personal creative satisfaction, it’s called a career. Nobody that eats from acting is doing it by doing revivals. I love it every time I perform anywhere and my heart is in the theatre but feature films are sweet work. In film and TV, the script is breathhing in your hands. You get fresh pages of rewrites handed to you a lot. In TV, you (cast) read it once, have a cup of coffee and the writers have run from the reading and cranked out new pages which have been inserted in your script by the time you get back to the table. They are in a different color so you’ll know you got new stuff coming up. Think about that. It’s kicky. Not quite an improv but you have to think on your feet. There’s a lot more to be said on this but I don’t have time this morning, I’ve got another book to write.   do they have a lot of them at like Samuel French bookstores? French is good, Drama Book Store, and a fav, Applause in New York City have catalogues and wonderful selections.   what other sources do we have?

Dude, your sitting on it. The web is the greatest resourse in history. I still write by hand on a first draft but I run to the computer as soon as the idea takes off. Trying to keep up with your thoughts is impossible, so you need all the speed you can get. The point being, most (except in third world countries and like that) writers have computers. I put out a call for new plays and got hot new stuff on a three hour bounce.  I need monologues and I did buy a book of monologues but I don’t think all of them are up to date.

I tell my students, they call them scene books because they’ve been seen and seen and seen and forever. Boring casting people with old dead material is not the way for an actor to make points. You want to work, do the work. Actually scene and monologue books can only guide you to the complete work, because as an actor, you will almost always every time do it wrong unless you have all the given circumstance and you can only get them by reading the whole script. Ciao, Jeremy http://www.Jeremy-Whelan-Acting.com Spanish Link: http://www.Jeremy-Whelan-Acting.com/sp.html Home Page of New School Acting

Response:

I bought several monologue books, looked through each one a number of times, & found most of what’s in them to be useless. What works for me is to read the entire play, find out what context the monologue was delivered in, & also learn more about my character & the other characters than I would have learned by reading only the monologue. Also, I enjoy hunting book store drama sections, trying to find plays that aren’t as well known. Mary "America isn’t ready for the real me." –Jack Vincennes, ‘L.A. Confidential’

Response:

After many years of backstage work in community theatre, I was asked to audition for a small role. I got it!! Any tips on memorizing lines would be appreciated

I have created DOS programs which cue me.  The programs are simple, using only the "ECHO" and "PAUSE" commands.  I type all the lines around my lines in an echo command, including the character name, with a pause between each echo command.  This results in a program that looks exactly like the script, except with the words "echo" and "pause" added to the left side.  BTW, the typing in is an excellent way to start memorizing.  Sometimes, when I have a small part (which is the usual case), I skip sections I don’t need to go through when practicing. These programs have the following advantage, they pause automatically after every line, not just your cues, so you really have to learn the whole scene.  I can use these programs to practice my delivery, going over my blocking in my head, or I can use them to do speed runs, saying the lines as fast as I can. The other major advantage is I can practice my lines at work, and look like I am actually working! If my description isn’t clear, send me an e-mail, and I can send you a copy of one of my files so you can see what I am talking about. — Aaron T. Gould Forge Theatre Phoenixville, PA

Response:

test – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I have to agree with this. Very oftan a movement or picking up an object can easily be associated with a particular line. I also have a walkman and a tape so that I can clear a big space in the living room and do all the movements as I listen to the lines without annoying the wife, kids, dog etc. I’ve tried listening to it in the car as well but when sitting at the traffic lights people think you are completely mad for talking to yourself!

Response:

Visualize your entire scene in your mind.  React to the lines given to you (I.E: Listen to the dialogue within your scene and react as if it were a real life conversation). Learn spontenaity (don’t look on stage as if you’re waiting to say your line). And the best tip…SIT DOWN WITH YOUR SCRIPT AND MEMORIZE YOUR LINES! George Cummings http://www.canyontheatre.org – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – After many years of backstage work in community theatre, I was asked to audition for a small role. I got it!! Any tips on memorizing lines would be appreciated

Response:

I have to agree with this. Very oftan a movement or picking up an object can easily be associated with a particular line. I also have a walkman and a tape so that I can clear a big space in the living room and do all the movements as I listen to the lines without annoying the wife, kids, dog etc. I’ve tried listening to it in the car as well but when sitting at the traffic lights people think you are completely mad for talking to yourself!

Response:

Without a doubt, the tape technique I created is the best way to learn lines, but that requires having the cast involved, or at least some other actor. If you take this basic approach to learning monologues and adapt it you can get at least part of the advantage. Simply put in the other characters by altering your voice. If you can get other actors involved, you can download the tape technique from my home page, meanwhile try this. WTT MONOLOGUES Monologues are such an important part of the actors life and marketing program that they really must be worked on as if you already have the part. I’m not a fan of monologues, I’d rather see you improvise with another actor, but they are a necessary evil in the actors life and if your going to play the game you had better have two in your pocket at all times, one comedy, one drama.  Each should be about a minute and a half long and you should be able to do either at a moments notice. As with any part, you can’t really do anything until you know all the given circumstance. If you don’t understand given circumstance or their importance, you should refer to that section now, before you try to go any further with this. Page ??? OK, you have all the givens, you’ve read the whole script and wrote them down, took every inference you could from them and your ready to work on the monologue itself. You need your basic tools for this. A tape recorder, and for this, A set of earphones would be nice, a single earphone will due. A dark place you can lie down in. Tape the monologue Go to the dark place and lie down Put on the earphones Start the tape and as you listen with eyes closed, see yourself in character and in the space where the monologue takes place.  See any other people who are supposed to be in that space with you.  Watch What You Do,  Where You Go, What You Touch,  What You’re Wearing, What It Smells Like In That Place, Temperature , Etc.   When you’ve finished that re-tape and do it again, same way, only this time you are to look at only YOUR FACE IN CLOSEUP,  the entire time through.  What is going on in your eyes, how is the light hitting your face, do you turn to look, at what? How does what you see affect the look in your eyes, do your pupils get bigger smaller, is that a tear starting to form in your eye? After these two runs, go and tape it again.  this time, no headset. Rough out any kind of set you can with whatever props that are available or could be simulated,  i.e. a stick is a gun, soda can is a wine glass, whatever.  So now you’ve got set and props and anything that might represent costume should be worn.  Start the tape and act it out the way you would doing the tape technique with other actors.  Use the space, meaning, take the repels-impels-compels.  If there are people there,  see them, use them when the impulse strikes.  It’s a normal WTT run-through except it’s a monologue. Do that three or four times. You should be pretty close to something (character and lines) by now. Next record the monologue on a mini-cassette.   Stand in your set and using the single ear plug, do it following the rules for WTT Dramatic Audition. Just put the single ear plug in and start the tape.  As you hear your voice on the tape, say the line out loud.  You are acting out the monologue, saying it out loud as you hear it coming off the tape. Remember, it’s just like singing along with your walk man. You hear it and say it at the same time.  Anybody will pick this technique up pretty quick, but I advise you to speak at least thirty percent slower the first time you try this or you will probably not be able to keep up with the tape.  After a few times through like this you should be comfortable enough to do the speech at any speed you want. Adding your own live voice, hearing it on the tape and saying it simultaneously out  loud, will intensify the experience quantum. Don’t get discouraged if you don’t get in synch immediately, it’s just like learning how to ride a bike, with or without a motor.  Go slow at first. By the time you do this version, mini and ear plug, a few times, if you’ve done each step as it was laid out, you probably know the lines to the monologue and you’ve gotten some deep insights to character and whatever relationship they might have to any other character present during the monologue.   And now, as you would with any character, it is time to dig in for some serious research. Work hard on your monologues, if you are close enough to them to do a monologue, you are very close to having something very good happen in your career, don’t blow it by being unprepared.  Keep your monologues sharp, if you have a few good one’s they will last a year after that, trash them. Get some new one’s.  Some actors use the same monologues forever without realizing how stale they’ve gotten and how out of synch they are with new styles of writing.  Don’t be lazy, keep monologues sharp and up to date. I have a basic rule for scenes and it applies to monologues as well, this is aimed at people looking for a professional career but it is good advice for actors seeking work on any level.  Take your Shakespeare classes and all that, but if your looking for real work, DON’T USE ANY MATERIAL THAT WAS WRITTEN OVER FIVE YEARS AGO. Ciao, Jeremy http://www.Jeremy-Whelan-Acting.com Spanish Link: http://www.Jeremy-Whelan-Acting.com/sp.html Home Page of New School Acting — Ciao, Jeremy http://www.Jeremy-Whelan-Acting.com Spanish Link: http://www.Jeremy-Whelan-Acting.com/sp.html Home Page of New School Acting

Response:

After many years of backstage work in community theatre, I was asked to audition for a small role. I got it!! Any tips on memorizing lines would be appreciated

I’ve found that the easiest way to memorize lines (and this is after trying everything- going over lines with a tape or another person) is to write them down. Look at your cue while covering up your line and write it down. If you got it wrong write it over and over again until it’s correct. Then move on to the next line. Each time you learn a new line go back to the beginning of that scene and go over them all. I found that by using this method I can learn my lines within a very short period. When you can think of the lines faster then you can write them you are set.                Break a leg!                       Jennifer

Response:

I agree. Of course, the most effective technique for memorizing lines probably varies somewhat from individual to individual, but for me at least, the key is repetition. Eventually, you don’t think about the lines at all and become free to listen and respond in the moment. This keeps the lines fresh, and the experience "new" each time. I know a lot of people who use tape recorders, but I really don’t like that technique precisely because, as Cinemage says, the spontaneity is lost in performance. Yes, consider the text, think about your character’s objective(s) and the intention behind the lines, but give yourself the freedom to listen and respond in the moment each time you perform it. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – When memorizing lines, I always read in a monotone. Just repeat them over and over until it’s almost subconscious. That way I can concentrate on characterization later. If I try to memorize ever single inflection, some of the spontaneity is lost is lost in performance. ___Cinemage___ "When I said ‘roll camera’, I didn’t mean it literally."

Response:

When memorizing lines, I always read in a monotone. Just repeat them over and over until it’s almost subconscious. That way I can concentrate on characterization later. If I try to memorize ever single inflection, some of the spontaneity is lost is lost in performance. ___Cinemage___ "When I said ‘roll camera’, I didn’t mean it literally."

Response:

(Skipnet96) writes: After many years of backstage work in community theatre, I was asked to audition for a small role. I got it!! Any tips on memorizing lines would be appreciated

I find that when trying to learn lines, especially a large number of them, it is a good idea to read through your part several times all at once, each time perhaps varying and trying new ways of expressing them.  This way you think about the character and what their motivaiton and reasoning behind each line is, while at the same time you are sub-conciously taking in each line.  It is also very useful not just to speak the line but also to move around and think about your actions because this provides a connection between the line and your movment and can therefore be used as a stimuli for remembering them.  This method may at first seem like you are getting nowhere, but believe me it does work and when you come to learn the lines solidly you will be surprized at how many you know already. I hope this is of some help and I wish you luck with the part. Ila

Response:

After many years of backstage work in community theatre, I was asked to audition for a small role. I got it!! Any tips on memorizing lines would be appreciated

Response:

After many years of backstage work in community theatre, I was asked to audition for a small role. I got it!! Any tips on memorizing lines would be appreciated

what works for me is tape recording a passage of both my lines and the lines of the other characters leaving appropriate spaces for exits and entrances and stage movement and then listening to it. -jason

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