Actor Marcus Guy to Join the CMW All-Student Retreat!

Next Tuesday is our All-Student Retreat! CMW students will be heading to Canonicus Camp & Conference Center for a day of music, games, and a special workshop led by NYC-based actor Marcus Guy. 

Check out the interview below with Marcus about his life as an actor and his approach to teaching.

Can you describe your background?
I come from small-town Scotland, somewhere between Glasgow and the Western coastline. It’s picturesque, it’s small and to many people back home, my being in New York City, pursuing the career that I am, is simply unfathomable. I attended public school through the equivalent to 10th grade before going to Scotland’s only performing arts school to study Musical Theatre. There, I attained my diploma in Musical Theatre performance, but discovered my love was more for truthful storytelling and less for performance in a “showy” sense. I auditioned successfully for Juilliard Drama in my senior year of High School and moved to New York just weeks after my 18th birthday. As a child actor I had a lot of experience in pantomime (something of a cultural phenomenon in the UK) and on Scottish Television and Radio with the BBC but was also always involved with Theatre in Education programs touring Scotland and playing some of our largest arena venues so outreach, in a very broad sense, has always been an integral part of my life and work.

Where are you currently based?
I currently call New York City home, though I have a huge desire to continue traveling. As an actor trained in the theatre, New York City is the best place to continue working in that medium as well as forging exciting professional relationships in films, television, and the commercial world.

Describe your current work.
Most recently I have been developing new work (my own and others’) as well as focusing on outreach and continuous auditioning. In September I travelled to Bangalore with ASTEP, a NYC based organization, to work with students at Shanti Bhavan conducting workshops in the fine and performing arts with students aged 3-18. Right now, I am in Central Florida launching a new part of the stART Program, which offers aspiring performing artists a bespoke college preparation program that really focuses on the specifics of applying to degree programs with a focus in the performing arts. Recently, I have also had the great joy of working on a lot of exciting auditions — taping them on the road and sending them all over the country — and planning out what 2017 might look like.

Can you give us a preview of your upcoming workshop at CMW?
When I think about my immediate connection to music – rhythm comes first. As a child I could not stand still when music came on and love finding how my physical self can relate to an auditory experience. A lot of my actor training was scored with talk of acknowledging and pursuing impulses and this seemed like an idea that exposed both the hallmark of my training and my continued work in the professional work and my relationship to music itself. I hope students will learn to act, react and interact in person, in space and with their instruments in music over the course of the day and also find a level of empowerment in self-expression that moves beyond the sheet music and into something more free form that is imagined on the spot.

Tell us about stART and the inspiration behind it.
stART is really my adoptive child. My friend Evan (a fellow Juilliard alum) started the program in his hometown in 2010 and I joined as a teaching artist in 2011. Since my involvement began 5 and a bit years ago the program has grown from being Evan’s way of giving back to the community that raised him to a true professional breeding ground where young artists, in a variety of disciplines, can make serious and meaningful connections with young and emerging professionals. As we enter our 8th year of programming, we are excited to change the structure of the program to really focus on collaboration between artists of different skill-sets. I am proud to say that our students have gone on to some of the most prestigious performing arts colleges in the country and represent us on the highest level — a student from year 1 was at the Emmy’s this year!

How do you approach teaching acting?
I approach any teaching setting with the idea that I should never ask my students to do something that I can’t do, which funnily enough is a trick that won’t work for me at CMW — I am not a musician! However, my spirit will be the same. I am always willing to try things, to dare, to be playful, to risk and to fail knowing that I’ll have more information for my next attempt. I think students can only take that vital and often daunting leap successfully when they see the person who is supposed to be motivating or inspiring them doing the same thing. I am high-octane, motivated and always willing to say “Yes, and…” to an idea before considering shutting it down.

We are looking forward to Marcus joining us on our all-student retreat!  

–Josie Davis, Violin Fellow