Toni Reimer: PTE @ PTE Colleagues and Collaborators

I love the fall. The time of cozy sweaters, drinking hot tea on crisp sunny afternoons, and the start of a new theatre season. I've been looking at write ups for upcoming shows and have noticed how many of the performers I know, or know of, through the PTE@PTE program. Graduates are making a strong presence in many of the companies across town and in the film industry. I was recently at a call back for an MOW and noticed that 4 of the 6 actors in the waiting room were PTE@PTE alumni!

PTE@PTE is a smart step for any actor looking to make their way into the professional world of theatre and film. It's not an easy program. It demands a lot of time, and will stretch you as an actor, which is exhausting. But this is what makes it so great. The instructors are working professionals with years of experience, who will pin point your areas of strength and weakness, and challenge you to develop your skills so you can start making an impression in the audition room and on stage.

In addition to the excellent training, the program also connects you with other actors that are serious about their commitment to growing as an artist. So many of us that took the program continue to collaborate.

I'm so glad that I took the program. I am a more confident actor because of it.

Toni

Brenda McLean is directing the FemFest production - Harold & Vivian Entertain Guests by PTE @ PTE Alumnus Jessy Ardern. The show runs September 15, 16 & 21 at the Asper Centre for Theatre & Film, 

Brenda is a multi talented theatre artist - actor, director, designer, physical theatre practitioner, co-artistic director of Theatre Incarnate.

You can see a Theatre Incarnate production right here at PTE in the Colin Jackson Studio Theatre - Maple Route by Jeremy Scarth Bowkett - September 19 to 21 and 24 to 28, 2013.

Brenda will be directing PTE School's 2013/2014 Adult Company as well as instructing the Outside to Inside (physical theatre) class. 

Brenda's Mclean's Teaching Bio is here.

Kim's PTE@PTE Investment

I took the PTE@PTE (Professional Training Ensemble) course during its first year in 2009. It provided excellent training and an opportunity to develop my skills under the expertise of working LOCAL professionals.  

As a teacher, mom, writer-performer-producer, actor...it was important that I find ways to network locally. 'Running-away-and-joining-the-circus' so to speak, has never been an option for me. But it has always been important for me to earn a living doing meaningful work, as well as find ways to express myself as a performer.  I think I've found a nice balance of day-job, home-life, and art-life. The lines are definitely beginning to blur, and sometimes my art-life makes up a portion of my paid work! 

Since 2009, I've written/performed/produced two, 5-Star Fringe productions: "Breast Friends" and "Stretchmarks"; performed in Theatre Incarnate's Churchill-Fest production "Far Away"; worked on Sarasvati's School Tour "No Offense"; been cast as a supporting actor in the indie film "On the Edge" and principal opposite Jennifer Connelly in the feature film "Cry Fly".  I've been cast in a commercial for lottery tickets, a few short indie films, and have auditioned for several theatre, film, and television/commercial projects.  I'm now an ACTRA-Apprentice union actor.

None of this would have happened without the networking, personal confidence, candid advice, and expert training that PTE@PTE provided.

It's definitely been worth the investment!  

Kim Zeglinski