Caymichael Patten Studio

This review is for the 4-​week Introduction to Acting class for beginners with Valerie. Overall, I enjoyed my classes. A large part of how much you will enjoy the class is dependent on 1– the temperment and personalities of your fellow classmates 2– what you want to get out of the class and how much you want to put into it and 3– the scene work, exercises and assignments you or the other folks in the class.
The theme of the courses, or at least, what you should come out of the classes with is firstly, how to «be in the moment» and be believable to an outside observer. As someone with zero real stage experience I thought this was useful and interesting in terms of how one would go about a scene and still be fresh even though you know what is coming next.
Secondly, the course tries to teach you to be true to yourself while engaging in a scene to be more believable. I don’t agree with the philosophy — I think to be great, you have to be adaptable and believable regardless of how close or far you stray, but that is neither here nor there. For a beginner, I think this is useful because you don’t have to strain yourself as much to be credible in whatever role you are taking on.
Cay sat in on the first class I took and I thought her comments were fair. I think that when she is engaged, she should be a pretty sharp teacher, but again, this is only based on the very first session which was the only one she sat in on. My instructor was Valerie who has been working with Cay for some time.
I had fun with the warm up exercises and drills that were introduced in class. I thought the class was a little long for what it was — it is a mix of watching advanced beginners who have been taking classes for a few months perform their exercises and listening to them being critiqued to having one exercise/​scene you are responsible for during the class. For something like this, I think it is hard to strike the right balance where you can keep everyone engaged between observing others to doing your own exercise in front of the class (roughly 5 minutes). As such, the class could have shaved 30 minutes to 1 hour timewise and I would have had the same takeaways and learnings.
One of my main criticisms of the class is I disagreed with some of the critiques given to my classmates and the interpretation of the scene and characters. Overall, I felt the comments and suggestions were fair, but I think the instructor brought a lot of biases and personal interpretations in her critiques of my fellow classmates and the work. What I mean by this is there might be a specific interpretation of a scene in her head that didn’t get played out and it would be viewed as a negative, but I think the alternate version the actors played out were equally valid if not better. I tried to add in a comment but felt it wasn’t realy given any real consideration and didn’t think further opinions would be well received. Ultimately, I kept my comments to myself since no good comes out challenging or undermining someone’s credibility, but it was disappointing to see folks be confined to such a narrow view and reading of the material.
For me, I was primarily interested in learning more about how folks approach acting and it was an interesting and fun time for me. For folks who have never done anything like this before, I think you will enjoy the Intro to Acting class at this studio. For folks who have, I can’t really comment, but a number of the students in my class had been taking it for a number of months and seemed to enjoy it and learn so I think it is worthwhile to consider. Personally, I would consider coming back to this studio for the intermediate course to try it out if I had more time and was accepted in.

Incredible work being done in this studio. I came here as a working actor looking to improve on my craft, which at the time was feeling a bit stale. Cay spent a few sessions just observing my work, at times providing minor adjustments. About the third or fourth class she really started challenging me, pushing me to break out of old habits. Her observations and adjustments have really gone a long way in helping my to understand the kind of work I need to do on my own and how to make the best of time spent with a partner. She is a master of specificity and «for-​reals» listening and responding. I think more than anything, I have benefited from her ability to help an actor create deeply personal connections to other people or objects onstage. It sounds corny, but after two months with Cay I had booked two consecutive gigs here in NYC. Yes, the classes can go long — but isn’t that a good thing? If you have to leave by a certain time, she is very accommodating, but I look at it like bonus time. It’s like buying an hour massage* and getting an hour and a half. Who complains about that?
*There are no actual massages. Unless a scene calls for it.

My time with Cay without exaggeration, changed my life. So many teachers in this city will name drop and try to direct you or verbally break you down so that you can be vulnerable. Cay does none of these useless things. Cay taught me to use myself, because when it comes down to it, that’s the only person I have when working on a job. She is hands down the reason I booked a Broadway show out of an open call. The classes are long, yes, and DELICIOUS to watch! I often learned more by observing others than I did working and rehearsing my own scenes. She is tough, no doubt, has a hawk-​eye sense for authenticity, and she’ll call you out on it – and then help you through it. Cay’s the bomb. I’m working right now but looking forward to returning to class soon!

I studied with Cay in her advanced scene study class for two years and had a terrific experience. She is a smart, insightful responsible teacher who gave me real tools for auditions, rehearsals and performances. She also gave me the courage to relax and have fun on stage. Her class is strict — she doesn’t allow feedback from other actors, and she doesn’t tolerate dishonesty. She assigns scripts (and always chooses challenging high quality material). Sometimes her critiques can be tough to hear. However, she genuinely cares about her students, and about the future of American theatre. She appreciates hard working intelligent actors, and I especially recommend her to actors who, like me, have a tendency to over-​think their work. She is very good at helping actors find «the moment». She has a reputation as a sensational private coach, and I know a lot of actors who credit her with taking them to the next level in their careers. Over the two years that I studied with Cay, I lost several classmates to Broadway shows and other great jobs. Cay definitely improved my booking rate. However, I think the best part of her class is the sheer fun of connecting with a great play «for real for real». If you are looking to live in the moment on stage, and you are ready to invest some solid time and energy, this class will blow your mind.

Unilocal removed my review, but it retained Caymichael Patten’s statement, something that appeared on Unilocal right after a series of accounts was opened, all for the purpose of not only giving this place 5-​star reviews, but also harassing me via public reviews and private messaging. Whoever this was called me a ‘terrible person’ and that maybe I’m just ‘untalented’. Cay’s statement defending her business while getting my review deleted suddenly appeared right after those accounts were closed.
Interesting timing.
In a nutshell, my experience was not a good one. Classes ran very long and certain students were favored. Not everyone got to work every class. Stating that you had a less than positive experience at this place gets you harassed and bullied, apparently.
This was my experience, both at the school, and then reviewing the school.

I’m wondering if Rae M. actually studied at the studio for longer than a few weeks. I began training at the Caymichael Patten Studio over a year ago and the knowledge and skill I have acquired during this time has changed my life. I have supplemented my scene study class with the drill and vocal technique classes and my instrument has opened up and centered itself immensely. None of this would have been possible without Cay’s ability to help the actor find the way in to the material. Words just can’t do justice to her breadth of understanding of plays, character/​relationship dynamics, accessing one’s true emotional state & connecting to one’s breath. She has cultivated so many performers that she knows when to push you to the next level and when to hold back and let you find it for yourself. She teaches you how to work on your own, so you can always do your best work even in poor conditions. I really appreciate her organic approach to the material — so I can discover and play it how I connect to it, rather than just playing words. The work starts living under Cay’s guidance. If you come with a hard work ethic and the desire to give your all, even when you feel stuck, Cay can grow you into a stellar actor.
Fred C. Waggoner teaches a powerful drill class. He has selected the effective elements from many different techniques and leaves out the one’s that don’t work. If you trust him, he can tune your instrument into a strad.
Emily Caigan teaches a Chuck Jones Vocal Technique class that will connect you to a powerful, dependable voice you may never have known you had.
Again– the results will come if you trust the teachers’ process and give weight to their instruction. It takes commitment and openness.
Two more things: 1) I’ve never heard Cay talk about celebrities she’s nurtured 2) I’ve seen her alter her schedule to accommodate students in need of private coaching sessions.