Monday, 17 May 2010
6.30pm — 8.30pm
The Clock Hotel, Surry Hills
[More info]
Guest Speaker: John Higgins
Prof. John HigginsProfessor John Higgins has worked as an acting teacher at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), the Actor’s Centre (London), and in Australia at On Camera Connections, The Ensemble Studios, the Actor’s Centre Australia and for the NIDA Open Program.
In Australia, John specialises in teaching standard American and all American dialects. John is also qualified to teach standard and regional British dialects and various European accents. As a teacher John has taught many styles of acting from The Method in New York to Shakespeare in London.
As a dialogue director and accent coach John has worked for Company B with Artistic Director Neil Armfield on Suddenly Last Summer (Tennessee Williams), My Zinc Bed and Stuff Happens (both by David Hare), the last of which won the 2006 Helpmann Award for Best Play, Best Actor for Greg Stone, and Best Supporting Actor for Russell Dykstra.
John has also been the dialogue coach on several American feature films that were shot in Australia. These included: Superman Returns (dir. Bryan Singer), The Condemned (dir. Scott Wiper), and The Quiet American (dir. Phillip Noyce).
John was also the Dialogue Director for the Australian movies Gabriel (dir. Shane Abbess) and The Gates of Hell (dir. Kel Dolan). Both of these films required all of the actors to speak with American accents. All of the actors were Australian.
At Choc Tops Professor Higgins will talk about ten easy rules for actors wishing to speak with American accents.