Schitt's Creek
I was approached by the Inimitable Patrick Lenton at Junkee about the curious uniqueness of Catherine O'Hara's character of Moira Rose on Schitt's Creek.
Prior to this approach I had never watched the show. I couldn't hold back, and unleashed my most technical and fascinating responses. Not all of them made it into the final article, but here we see how I as a director, balance the intensely technical with the deeply artistic.
Voice is acting, acting is voice.
All is artistry.
Prior to this approach I had never watched the show. I couldn't hold back, and unleashed my most technical and fascinating responses. Not all of them made it into the final article, but here we see how I as a director, balance the intensely technical with the deeply artistic.
Voice is acting, acting is voice.
All is artistry.
A View From the Bridge
Eddie Carbone is devoted to his wife Beatrice and his niece Catherine. When Beatrice’s cousins Marco and Rodolpho enter the US illegally, desperate to find work having fled the poverty of Sicily, the pair is welcomed into the Carbone home. But as Rodolpho and Catherine fall in love, Eddie’s adoration of his niece is no longer touching, but terrifying.
Simmering with jealousy and obsession, Italian-American immigrant life of 1950s Brooklyn colours Miller’s searing drama of tragic proportions. The universal story of family, immigration and justice cuts deeply in this gripping, award-winning independent production from the Old Fitz Theatre. Don’t miss it.
Winner of Best Independent Production, Best Male Actor, Best Supporting Female Actor & Best Newcomer, 2017 Sydney Theatre Awards.
“Grittily passionate… incredibly intense….a long, slow-burning fuse is lit and we watch the explosive result with fascinated horror.” The Australian
Originally produced by Red Line Productions at the Old Fitz Theatre in 2017.
At the Ensemble Theatre, July 18th to August 24th.
Director: Iain Sinclair
Cast:
Giles Gartrell-Mills
Anthony Gooley
Scott Lee
David Lynch
David Soncin
Zoe Terakes
Janine Watson
Buy Tickets: https://boxoffice.ensemble.com.au/WEBPAGES/EntaWebShow/ShowDatesCombo.aspx
Simmering with jealousy and obsession, Italian-American immigrant life of 1950s Brooklyn colours Miller’s searing drama of tragic proportions. The universal story of family, immigration and justice cuts deeply in this gripping, award-winning independent production from the Old Fitz Theatre. Don’t miss it.
Winner of Best Independent Production, Best Male Actor, Best Supporting Female Actor & Best Newcomer, 2017 Sydney Theatre Awards.
“Grittily passionate… incredibly intense….a long, slow-burning fuse is lit and we watch the explosive result with fascinated horror.” The Australian
Originally produced by Red Line Productions at the Old Fitz Theatre in 2017.
At the Ensemble Theatre, July 18th to August 24th.
Director: Iain Sinclair
Cast:
Giles Gartrell-Mills
Anthony Gooley
Scott Lee
David Lynch
David Soncin
Zoe Terakes
Janine Watson
Buy Tickets: https://boxoffice.ensemble.com.au/WEBPAGES/EntaWebShow/ShowDatesCombo.aspx
Studying and Graduating
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Me with Katerina Moraitis, Head of Voice, NIDA, 2018
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I managed to organise, by the skin of my teeth to convert my Graduate Diploma in Dramatic Art (Voice Studies) to the brand new Masters of Fine Arts (Voice), now the only course of its kind in Australia.
Openly I will say that my Grad Dip taught me a lot, but did not teach me to be a teacher. My MFA showed me so much more about how we as human beings learn and has made me an enormously better judge and guide of actors and performers in order to enable them to do their best work. My art is much clearer and more straightforward thanks to this study.
Openly I will say that my Grad Dip taught me a lot, but did not teach me to be a teacher. My MFA showed me so much more about how we as human beings learn and has made me an enormously better judge and guide of actors and performers in order to enable them to do their best work. My art is much clearer and more straightforward thanks to this study.
A Sabbatical
Cast members from Sense & Sensibility. Photo via Playmakers
I've just returned from working at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the United States. While there I was working with the Head of Voice and Speech at the Department of Dramatic Art, learning all about how they approach voice over there! I also did some work with the Head of Voice at the Graduate Program at NYU Tisch which was incredibly rewarding!
I was brought on as the Co-Vocal Coach for Playmakers Repertory Company's production of Sense & Sensibility, directed by Taibi Maghar. I worked hard with the cast,, comprised of graduate students, professional actors and company members helping them refine their Received Pronunciation to bring to life the world of Jane Austen on an American stage. See more information about the production on the Playmaker's website.
While I was Stateside I also directed the cast of Red Line's A View from the Bridge, directed overall by Iain Sinclair, on their New York dialects, and managed to help a number of my regular clients back home on the few occasions that the time difference allowed!
I am now in the process of reorganising my schedule to be able to accommodate private clients at home again - please bear with me!
I was brought on as the Co-Vocal Coach for Playmakers Repertory Company's production of Sense & Sensibility, directed by Taibi Maghar. I worked hard with the cast,, comprised of graduate students, professional actors and company members helping them refine their Received Pronunciation to bring to life the world of Jane Austen on an American stage. See more information about the production on the Playmaker's website.
While I was Stateside I also directed the cast of Red Line's A View from the Bridge, directed overall by Iain Sinclair, on their New York dialects, and managed to help a number of my regular clients back home on the few occasions that the time difference allowed!
I am now in the process of reorganising my schedule to be able to accommodate private clients at home again - please bear with me!
e-baby AT THE ENSEMBLE
SYDNEY PREMIERE
For Catherine, a wealthy Australian living in London, the missing piece in her perfect life is a baby. Across the Atlantic in Massachusetts, mother of two Nellie is willing to help her – for a price. Sharing the highs and lows of pregnancy via Skype, email and telephone, these two very different women will ultimately have to decide: who does this baby really belong to?
This funny and moving new Australian play explores the intricacies of the modern family and one of the century’s most emotionally charged dilemmas.
Mature themes. Recommended for ages 12+
Written and originally produced by Jane Cafarella.
Original season direction and dramaturgy by Anna McCrossin-Owen.
DOWNLOAD THE e-baby MEDIA RELEASE
PLAYWRIGHT: JANE CAFARELLA
DIRECTOR: NADIA TASS
DESIGNER: TOBHIYAH STONE FELLER
LIGHTING DESIGNER: NICHOLAS HIGGINS
STAGE MANAGER: DANIELLE IRONSIDE
WARDROBE: ALANA CANCERI
Book tickets here.
For Catherine, a wealthy Australian living in London, the missing piece in her perfect life is a baby. Across the Atlantic in Massachusetts, mother of two Nellie is willing to help her – for a price. Sharing the highs and lows of pregnancy via Skype, email and telephone, these two very different women will ultimately have to decide: who does this baby really belong to?
This funny and moving new Australian play explores the intricacies of the modern family and one of the century’s most emotionally charged dilemmas.
Mature themes. Recommended for ages 12+
Written and originally produced by Jane Cafarella.
Original season direction and dramaturgy by Anna McCrossin-Owen.
DOWNLOAD THE e-baby MEDIA RELEASE
PLAYWRIGHT: JANE CAFARELLA
DIRECTOR: NADIA TASS
DESIGNER: TOBHIYAH STONE FELLER
LIGHTING DESIGNER: NICHOLAS HIGGINS
STAGE MANAGER: DANIELLE IRONSIDE
WARDROBE: ALANA CANCERI
Book tickets here.
I'VE JUST WORKED ON...
A hiatus! You may have noticed that my updates have been very infrequent, and mostly non-existent for quite some time. I have taken a hiatus from private coaching, but I have not be idle! I've been loving working on productions all around Sydney in this time - I've updated my Voice & Dialect page with recent credits, and will be updating my Testimonials page as well soon!
I've coached a heap of plays at my long-term collaborators the Ensemble Theatre. I've also coached a lot at the Old Fitzroy Theatre through their new custodians Red Line Productions. I've worked on a couple of TV commercials in this time as well, and that has been a wonderful experience! I was the principal voice teacher at the Actor's Pulse for all of 2014, covering RP, London, GenAm and New York for their Intermediate students. I began teaching voice at AFTT under my old voice teacher, Jill Brown. I'm currently the main voice teacher for Federation University's Musical Theatre course being run out of Eora TAFE in Redfern, which is also connected to my early acting training as my first year acting school teacher, Fiona Press, is the head of the Acting course. We're focusing on storytelling and accent for this term - Standard American, some New York, German, Spanish and I think one of them has to speak Russian for their 2nd year production of "Bells Are Ringing" - and they're doing brilliantly.
I'm hoping to post some specific images and reviews of what I've been working on these past few years - it's been busy! In the meantime, thank you for checking out my site, and if you are looking for help with your accent, please drop me a line via my contact form. The hiatus message is still there because my schedule is very hectic and I don't want to promise things I can't deliver - it's great to be in demand, but I acknowledge that I have been swamped and some people have not been responded to. If you get no response initially, please contact me again because I am most definitely NOT deliberately ignoring you!
With thanks for your support, and love for your journey!
Nick Curnow
I've coached a heap of plays at my long-term collaborators the Ensemble Theatre. I've also coached a lot at the Old Fitzroy Theatre through their new custodians Red Line Productions. I've worked on a couple of TV commercials in this time as well, and that has been a wonderful experience! I was the principal voice teacher at the Actor's Pulse for all of 2014, covering RP, London, GenAm and New York for their Intermediate students. I began teaching voice at AFTT under my old voice teacher, Jill Brown. I'm currently the main voice teacher for Federation University's Musical Theatre course being run out of Eora TAFE in Redfern, which is also connected to my early acting training as my first year acting school teacher, Fiona Press, is the head of the Acting course. We're focusing on storytelling and accent for this term - Standard American, some New York, German, Spanish and I think one of them has to speak Russian for their 2nd year production of "Bells Are Ringing" - and they're doing brilliantly.
I'm hoping to post some specific images and reviews of what I've been working on these past few years - it's been busy! In the meantime, thank you for checking out my site, and if you are looking for help with your accent, please drop me a line via my contact form. The hiatus message is still there because my schedule is very hectic and I don't want to promise things I can't deliver - it's great to be in demand, but I acknowledge that I have been swamped and some people have not been responded to. If you get no response initially, please contact me again because I am most definitely NOT deliberately ignoring you!
With thanks for your support, and love for your journey!
Nick Curnow
I've Just Worked On...
A remount of my very successful one man show Fully Committed, this time at the Old Fitzroy Hotel in Wolloomoolloo. It's a rare gift for an actor to get to revisit a character you've played before, but to get to revisit 38 of them is a rare gift indeed! It's also great to continue working with Alexander Butt and Brevity Theatre after the success of Wittenberg.
After a highly acclaimed season at the 2013 Sydney Fringe Festival, Fully Committed has an encore season at the Old Fitzroy Theatre for one week only. This sharp and funny one act play follows a day in the life of Sam Peliczowski, an out-of-work actor who mans the red-hot reservation line at Manhattan's number-one restaurant. Amid the barrage, Sam's got his own needs to contend with-his recently widowed dad wants him home for Christmas, and he's up for a choice part at Lincoln Center. While juggling scheming socialites, name-dropping wannabes, fickle celebrities and egomaniacal bosses, can he manage to look out for himself?
Season runs 24 February - 1 March 2014
Mon, Tues, Wed at 8pm
Thurs & Fri 7pm and 9pm
Sat 2pm and 8pm
BOOKINGS HERE!
We did three shows as part of the Sydney Fringe Festival at the New Theatre, and had great houses. Here are some of the reviews from that run:
- Lisa Thatcher - "...one of the most impressive feats of comic performance you are ever likely to see. Curnow is in full command of his challenge...
[He] races around the desk answering loud, imposing, dominating phones as he physically transforms into each of the personas he embodies. Speed, wit and comic timing are in perfect balance in a performance that almost can’t be improved upon."
- Theatre Red - "Nick Curnow is superb, creating thirty eight characters in fifty minutes... Curnow’s ability to delineate such an enormous cast of characters is awe inspiring. The laughs come thick and fast. His vocal work is nothing short of extraordinary... This is silver service satire."
- Jane Simmons (Shit On Your Play) - "Curnow’s vocal skills were terrific. We recognised each character immediately and his nuance and range was impressive...It's a performance marathon."
After a highly acclaimed season at the 2013 Sydney Fringe Festival, Fully Committed has an encore season at the Old Fitzroy Theatre for one week only. This sharp and funny one act play follows a day in the life of Sam Peliczowski, an out-of-work actor who mans the red-hot reservation line at Manhattan's number-one restaurant. Amid the barrage, Sam's got his own needs to contend with-his recently widowed dad wants him home for Christmas, and he's up for a choice part at Lincoln Center. While juggling scheming socialites, name-dropping wannabes, fickle celebrities and egomaniacal bosses, can he manage to look out for himself?
Season runs 24 February - 1 March 2014
Mon, Tues, Wed at 8pm
Thurs & Fri 7pm and 9pm
Sat 2pm and 8pm
BOOKINGS HERE!
We did three shows as part of the Sydney Fringe Festival at the New Theatre, and had great houses. Here are some of the reviews from that run:
- Lisa Thatcher - "...one of the most impressive feats of comic performance you are ever likely to see. Curnow is in full command of his challenge...
[He] races around the desk answering loud, imposing, dominating phones as he physically transforms into each of the personas he embodies. Speed, wit and comic timing are in perfect balance in a performance that almost can’t be improved upon."
- Theatre Red - "Nick Curnow is superb, creating thirty eight characters in fifty minutes... Curnow’s ability to delineate such an enormous cast of characters is awe inspiring. The laughs come thick and fast. His vocal work is nothing short of extraordinary... This is silver service satire."
- Jane Simmons (Shit On Your Play) - "Curnow’s vocal skills were terrific. We recognised each character immediately and his nuance and range was impressive...It's a performance marathon."
I'Ve Just Worked On...
Image by Blueprint Studios.
The Australian Premiere of Wittenberg by David Davalos at the Old Fitzroy Hotel. This is Brevity Theatre's second production after the success of Fully Committed and stars Alexander Butt as Hamlet, David Woodland as Doctor Faustus, Lana Kershaw as the Virgin Mary, Gretchen and Helen, and me as none other than Martin Luther!
Director Richard Hilliar
Set and lighting designer Benjamin Brockman
Cast Alexander Butt, Nick Curnow, Lana Kershaw and David Woodland
"We all believe in something, even if it's nothing. It's only a question of what we choose to surrender to. So choose wisely."
Hamlet can't pick a major. He's the star tennis player studying at Wittenberg University and has achieved favourite status between two particularly contrary faculty members: Rev Martin Luther and Dr John Faustus. The two lecturers already engage in plenty of philosophical jousting over beers of an evening, but their witty and jovial debates escalate when both Faustus and Luther place more and more importance on winning Hamlet over to their side of the philosophical coin (Hamlet appears to be a foreign prince). As a prequel to both Hamlet and Marlowe's Faustus, this play by David Davalos provides audiences with all they've ever wanted - a brilliant pastiche of fact, fiction, genius and legend. Wittenberg is literary fantasy to be relished and ingested with glee.
Pozible campaign www.pozible.com/wittenberg
Facebook page www.facebook.com/BrevityTheatreCo
Twitter www.twitter.com/Brevity_Theatre
Director Richard Hilliar
Set and lighting designer Benjamin Brockman
Cast Alexander Butt, Nick Curnow, Lana Kershaw and David Woodland
"We all believe in something, even if it's nothing. It's only a question of what we choose to surrender to. So choose wisely."
Hamlet can't pick a major. He's the star tennis player studying at Wittenberg University and has achieved favourite status between two particularly contrary faculty members: Rev Martin Luther and Dr John Faustus. The two lecturers already engage in plenty of philosophical jousting over beers of an evening, but their witty and jovial debates escalate when both Faustus and Luther place more and more importance on winning Hamlet over to their side of the philosophical coin (Hamlet appears to be a foreign prince). As a prequel to both Hamlet and Marlowe's Faustus, this play by David Davalos provides audiences with all they've ever wanted - a brilliant pastiche of fact, fiction, genius and legend. Wittenberg is literary fantasy to be relished and ingested with glee.
Pozible campaign www.pozible.com/wittenberg
Facebook page www.facebook.com/BrevityTheatreCo
Twitter www.twitter.com/Brevity_Theatre
I've Also Just Worked On...
Proof at the Ensemble Theatre, directed by Sandra Bates. I first saw this show some years ago, I believe it was at the Opera House, and it stuck with me. It's a truly beautiful script. This production has an excellent cast with some people I've worked with before and others who I'm proud to get the chance to work with for the first time. The setting is Chicago so we're in the fun territory of the Northern Cities Vowel Shift where our Aussie "dog" and the GenAm "dahg" become "dagg."
Catherine has spent years caring for her brilliant but unstable father Robert, a famous mathematician. As she celebrates her 25th birthday, she has to deal with the arrival of her estranged sister and the attentions of Hal, a former student of her father’s who hopes to find valuable work in Robert’s notes. Over the long weekend that follows, a burgeoning romance and the discovery of a mysterious notebook draws Catherine into the most difficult problem of all: how much of her father’s madness or genius has she inherited?
A captivating character study, PROOF was awarded the 2001 Pulitzer Prize, Tony Award for Best Play and NY Drama Critics Circle Award. PROOF beautifully captures the curse and the gift of beautiful minds.
Directed by Sandra Bates
Designer: Graham McLean
Lighting: Trudy Dalgleish
CAST: Adriano Cappalletta, Catherine McGraffin, Matilda Ridgeway and Michael Ross
Season from January 31st
BOOK HERE!
Catherine has spent years caring for her brilliant but unstable father Robert, a famous mathematician. As she celebrates her 25th birthday, she has to deal with the arrival of her estranged sister and the attentions of Hal, a former student of her father’s who hopes to find valuable work in Robert’s notes. Over the long weekend that follows, a burgeoning romance and the discovery of a mysterious notebook draws Catherine into the most difficult problem of all: how much of her father’s madness or genius has she inherited?
A captivating character study, PROOF was awarded the 2001 Pulitzer Prize, Tony Award for Best Play and NY Drama Critics Circle Award. PROOF beautifully captures the curse and the gift of beautiful minds.
Directed by Sandra Bates
Designer: Graham McLean
Lighting: Trudy Dalgleish
CAST: Adriano Cappalletta, Catherine McGraffin, Matilda Ridgeway and Michael Ross
Season from January 31st
BOOK HERE!
I've Also Just Worked On...
Neighbourhood Watch at the Ensemble Theatre Company, directed by Anna Crawford. I've been called in to coach this stellar cast in UK dialects. the challenge with this one is that the characters float between Upper Middle Class to Lower Middle Class - in other words there is no set pattern for the sounds we are targetting, only a vague and uncertainmodel and we need to find a middle ground for most of them between varying stereotypes. Having seen the preview, I think they've done a marvellous job. A particular pleasure for me was working with my first year acting teacher and AFI Award winner Fiona Press. To be placed in a position of authority by a former teacher, and to be listened to and respected, is very humbling and deeply fulfilling - especially when she so wonderfully captures what you are looking for.
Bluebell Hill is a nice place to live – the only blight on the landscape is the nearby housing estate and its undesirable inhabitants. When new residents Martin and Hilda band together to form their own neighbourhood watch, their close-knit community begins to unravel as the committee become more threatening than the hoodlums. Alan Ayckbourn’s 75th play is a riotous and often scathing examination of the effects of power in the hands of the masses.
It’s in everyone’s nature to try and protect yourself and the people you love, but I think taken to the absolute extreme, that can be quite isolating, counterproductive and even dangerous. Ayckbourn has done a brilliant job exploring that theme in an hilarious play. It is so funny and so dry and I think it’s one of his best works.
DIRECTOR ANNA CRAWFORD
DESIGNER: AMANDA MCNAMARA
LIGHTING DESIGNER: PETER NEUFELD
SOUND DESIGNER: DARYL WALLIS
Bluebell Hill is a nice place to live – the only blight on the landscape is the nearby housing estate and its undesirable inhabitants. When new residents Martin and Hilda band together to form their own neighbourhood watch, their close-knit community begins to unravel as the committee become more threatening than the hoodlums. Alan Ayckbourn’s 75th play is a riotous and often scathing examination of the effects of power in the hands of the masses.
It’s in everyone’s nature to try and protect yourself and the people you love, but I think taken to the absolute extreme, that can be quite isolating, counterproductive and even dangerous. Ayckbourn has done a brilliant job exploring that theme in an hilarious play. It is so funny and so dry and I think it’s one of his best works.
DIRECTOR ANNA CRAWFORD
DESIGNER: AMANDA MCNAMARA
LIGHTING DESIGNER: PETER NEUFELD
SOUND DESIGNER: DARYL WALLIS
I've Just Worked On...
A one man show! As part of the Sydney Fringe Festival I teamed up with Brevity Theatre's Alexander Butt to put on Becky Mode's fantastic play Fully Committed.
This sharp and funny one act play follows a day in the life of Sam Peliczowski, an out-of-work actor who mans the red-hot reservation line at Manhattan's #1 restaurant. Amid the barrage, Sam's got his own needs to contend with—his recently widowed dad wants him home for Christmas, and he's up for a choice part at Lincoln Center. While juggling scheming socialites, name-dropping wannabes, fickle celebrities and egomaniacal bosses, can he manage to look out for himself?
We did three shows at the Fringe venue the New Theatre, and had great houses. Here are some reviews:
Lisa Thatcher - "...one of the most impressive feats of comic performance you are ever likely to see. Curnow is in full command of his challenge...
[He] races around the desk answering loud, imposing, dominating phones as he physically transforms into each of the personas he embodies. Speed, wit and comic timing are in perfect balance in a performance that almost can’t be improved upon."
Theatre Red - "Nick Curnow is superb, creating thirty eight characters in fifty minutes... Curnow’s ability to delineate such an enormous cast of characters is awe inspiring. The laughs come thick and fast. His vocal work is nothing short of extraordinary... This is silver service satire."
Shit On Your Play - "Certainly Curnow’s vocal skills were terrific. We recognised each character immediately and his nuance and range was impressive...It's a performance marathon."
This sharp and funny one act play follows a day in the life of Sam Peliczowski, an out-of-work actor who mans the red-hot reservation line at Manhattan's #1 restaurant. Amid the barrage, Sam's got his own needs to contend with—his recently widowed dad wants him home for Christmas, and he's up for a choice part at Lincoln Center. While juggling scheming socialites, name-dropping wannabes, fickle celebrities and egomaniacal bosses, can he manage to look out for himself?
We did three shows at the Fringe venue the New Theatre, and had great houses. Here are some reviews:
Lisa Thatcher - "...one of the most impressive feats of comic performance you are ever likely to see. Curnow is in full command of his challenge...
[He] races around the desk answering loud, imposing, dominating phones as he physically transforms into each of the personas he embodies. Speed, wit and comic timing are in perfect balance in a performance that almost can’t be improved upon."
Theatre Red - "Nick Curnow is superb, creating thirty eight characters in fifty minutes... Curnow’s ability to delineate such an enormous cast of characters is awe inspiring. The laughs come thick and fast. His vocal work is nothing short of extraordinary... This is silver service satire."
Shit On Your Play - "Certainly Curnow’s vocal skills were terrific. We recognised each character immediately and his nuance and range was impressive...It's a performance marathon."
For past news, updates or events, check out my blog: nickcurnowactor.blogspot.com
All website content (c) 2018 Nick Curnow, all rights reserved.
