The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
REPETITION AND FUN
Local actor shows aspiring thespians the tricks of the trade
Oneida, N.Y. — Professional actor Tim Collins recently lent his talents to young actors at the Oneida Public Library. Collins taught two classes, one for elementary school students and one for students in middle school.
Collins is a 1992 graduate of Vernon-veronasherill High School. Since graduating from college he has been acting professionally for 20 years. His performances include stage productions and also public service presentations. These include bullying prevention, bystander intervention and suicide prevention seminars.
The exercises Collins runs are simple, but they are designed to teach acting techniques through repetition… and fun.
“We want to emphasize eye contact with the audience, and also confidence and energy on stage,” he said.
Collins began his lessons by having his students gather in a circle. His goal was to give them exercises to get them warmed up and ready to interact with each other. he had one female student make eye contact with him for 13 seconds. Then, he had the group repeat “Red leather, yellow leather” over and
“We want to emphasize eye contact with the audience, and also confidence and energy on stage.” — Professional actor Tim Collins
over. The goal was to help with pronunciation and strengthen their focus. Both disciplines are essential to competent acting.
Collins often uses an exercise called “What’s in the Box?” A student will open an empty box but hide its contents from their exercise partner. The partner asks, “What’s in the box?” and the person with the box describes a pretend object.
“It’s a great exercise for improvisation and description,” Collins said.
Dean Gallinder, 12, is a sixth-grade student at Otto Shortell Middle School in Wampsville. He recently played Oliver in the “Oliver Jr.” play at the school.
Gillander said he hopes to act professionally someday. His acting role model is Tom Holland. Holland is an English actor and has most famously played Spiderman. His roles include “Spider-man: Homecoming” in 2017 and “Spider-man: Far From Home” in 2019.
Gillander said he enjoyed the lessons Collins taught. Those lessons include the discipline of ignoring nerves and focusing on their stagecraft.
When you first get on stage, it’s a little nervewracking,” he said. “But once you get on stage and acting you manage it and get on with your performance.” Like Gillander, Collins had admired an actor. Bruce Willis has recently retired from acting after developing aphasia, a condition that affects someone’s ability to speak and understand written and spoken language.
“I always liked Bruce,” Collins said. “‘Die Hard’ was one of my favorite films growing up. It’s too bad we won’t see him in “Die Hard Eight,” or “Die Even Harder.””