Video: APPROPRIATE's Michael Esper Talks Acting Technique and More

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It's the Roundtable with me, Robert Bannon. Well, hello everybody. Welcome to another Friday right here on the Broadway World Roundtable exclusive

I'm so honored and excited to be here with you all. This one's really personal for me

This is a very personal chat. I'm very proud to be a teaching artist at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center

I'm very proud to teach my students here in North Berger, New Jersey. And I am always asked about recommendations for acting school or musical theater school or where to sing or where to be

Well, if you're looking for a conservatory program, if you're looking for a place to be, to be a good actor, like a real deal artist, then I can't recommend William Esper enough

I'm a proud graduate of the William Esper Conservatory, and Barbara Marchant was my teacher

but William Esper and his wife, Suzanne, had the most influential and important acting school

literally in this city that taught the Meisner technique. Michael Esper, their son, is a superstar of Broadway TV and film

He is a role model to me and many actors out here. He brings the real deal, and he's an appropriate right now on Broadway

and he is a tour de force. I didn't know anything about Esper

I didn't know anything about acting school. I didn't know anything about Meisner. I was 32 years old

I was going through a very bad tumultuous time in my life. And some friends recommended it and it changed my life

And I wouldn't be where I am today without William Esper, without Barbara Marchantz, and without the team of people that work there and my classmates

You need to know more about it. And we need to know more about Michael Esper. And we need to go see appropriate and see that technique in practice

Transfer it over to the Velasco. So exciting. But Sarah Paulson. Are you kidding

Acting. People! Michael Esper is here, take a piece. Well, when we started this collaboration with Broadway World

I knew that there was a couple of people that I needed to speak to. And on my list, very personally and selfishly, I may say

Michael Esper was on the list. I'm a proud, proud graduate of Esper

I think his father and his mother are the epitome, the highest brow of acting you can get in New York City

And Michael is one heck of an actor, singer. He does everything

How do we do TV and musicals and plays? Come on, Michael Esper

I'm going to pay for the extra course where you teach me all the secrets. Michael Esper, welcome to the round table

Oh, my God. Thank you for that incredible introduction. No, I, I, firstly, hello, New Jersey and New York

and this tri-state area. You are someone who grew up in this area

Yes. As did I. And theater, I'm a Bergen County boy here

And theater and art seems to live in this area. What was it like for you growing up

You have an artistic family. When you had the bug? Yeah. Well, I mean, it's really hard to say because, you know, my father was

my father was teaching and directing. My mother was also teaching from when I was born

So some of my earliest memories are like, you know, my father's productions, backstage, walking around

at that theater at Rutgers, where I ended up going to school, where he taught and directed in, you know, like my father's production of Hamlet

or, you know, like my mom acting in the play and her taking me backstage

and showing me like, this is where I jump out of the window in this scene

and this is the mattress I land on, this is George, he helps me up, you know

So it's like we're sitting in the office while their classes are going on

All that stuff is just really, I mean, those are some of my earliest memories, you know

Well, we're going to talk about all of your work in a moment

but I would be remiss to say I wouldn't be doing this show. I wouldn't be any of the artists that I am without your father and your mother

And my personal teacher, which is the one in the queen, Barbara Marchant, who is my teacher too

My teacher as well. So I'm ready to do a spoon river and nursery rhyme and all of the

if you want to grab the book, if you're an aspiring actor, the book, the actor's art and craft is out

And of course, you know, Esper Studios is in New York. I was there the last year that your father was a part of it

I was, if you see this picture of one of his last workshops, I'm right there next to Barbara

My head is a little bit hidden. And I'm the person I am today, thanks to your family and the sacrifices that you all

made to teach the technique that you taught. So thank you. Oh, man

Thank you so much. That's such a beautiful thing to say. Thank you

It is the truth. And thanks. Shout out to Eden Espinoza for recommending me to come to William Esper and saying

shout out, Ian. Shout out Lampica. Shout out on Broadway. Now you're both on Broadway doing Meisner up and down and left and right

When you started working professionally, how was that journey for you? You graduated from Rutgers

You're an actor. And what do you consider your first professional big moment

What was the moment that you said, okay, this might be my career? God, you know, it was a really slow and steady kind of process

for me. Like, um, I got out of theater. I didn't come out, like, shot out of a cannon or anything

Like, I really, um, worked slowly. It took me a little while. It took me about a year to get a job

And, um, that was, um, at a New Jersey Shakespeare Festival. It was like, uh, either Salaria was

a lot. He was like Merchant in Venice there. And then, um, I got another job of Trinney rep

After that, I started working regionally, you know, a little bit. And, um, um, I got another job at Trinian. And, um

And then, so there was like a series of breakthroughs, you know, I was like, oh, I got a region, I got some regional theater jobs

And then I got my first job in New York, which was just like a tiny part in this AR Gurney play at Lincoln Center called Big Bill

And then slowly like those parts got bigger. I started working at other theaters in New York

And then I got my first TV job. I got a law and order

I got like a pilot. like slowly over years And then there were like a series of like holy shit kind of moments you know Like American Idiot was a huge moment

Being in a room with Kushner was a huge moment for me

And working with Sting and with Bowie and doing Glass Menager on the West End

and then work with Danny Boyle on trust. and it's just, it's just been like that, you know

like a series of sort of building blocks with a lot of incredible moments sort of squished in

Have you always been into music? Because you're not, you've done television, you've done film

you're in a play right now. Appropriate is out at the Belasco Theater

You need to go grab your tickets and see them acting their faces off eight shows a week

But have you always been, as music always been a love of yours? because you're not just doing clay

Like, you're a sing. You sing up and down. Did you? Yeah. I mean, I sing, you know

I sing in like a very particular sort of, like, venue. You know what I mean

Like, I can sing in a certain way. I can't sing like, like, Eden. You know what I mean

Or someone like that they're like, if I'm in a room with like real legit Broadway singers

I get nervous. But I can, but, um, music was always a big deal to me and to my family

My mom was a stunning. singer. She almost became an opera singer. She studied opera when I was a kid and my grandfather was a singer

and my sister's and is an incredible musician and singer. She's in a band. And so it's always meant a lot to me

I've always like written and played music. But I wasn't sure I'd find a home in musicals at all

It just didn't seem like somewhere my particular voice and skill set would fit

It seemed like it required something else. So it was shocking to me

If you're putting together a rock and roll musical, I mean, now they look for the Michael Esper type

I mean, you have created Elaine. Like, you are the, if I'm a rock star, I'm calling you

Well, that's very lucky. That's very flattering and lucky. For the people out here that are musical theater students, I teach at New Jersey Programming Art Center in Newark

They ask me all the time. Musical theater sometimes gets a reputation that the acting can come third

You know, we sing, we dance, and then we act and tell a story. How do you, through your technique and through your years of work, how do you merge those worlds together where you're telling a story, but also making sure you're on pitch and singing the melody

Yeah, it is, it's its own particular challenge for sure. And there is, you know, I think you really just want to allow, I mean, I am an actor

I'm an actor of first, so I'm always thinking about the scene. I'm thinking about the song as a piece of acting almost primarily

And then you just want to allow the two things to inform one another

You know, I think there, to think about the acting and the singing of a song as being two sort of separate things is, is a little dangerous, is not totally helpful

You know, like the things that go on in the song stylistically, technically, they'll inform the acting of a song

They are informing your intention. You can learn about how to act a song from, you should learn about how to act the song, from what's going on with the song

technically, especially if it's really well written, you know, the more well written the song is

the more it can teach you about how it should be acted. The clues are in the text

It all goes back to learning and your technique for sure no matter what you're doing

That's what I say. A song is like a monologue. Yes, yeah

Yeah, and, you know, there's music and language in the same way, you know, the same way

the musicality of someone's writing, a certain playwright's rights. will inform your acting choices, inform the way you break down a piece of text

It's the same thing with a piece of music, you know. The way the phrasing is built can teach you a lot about the thought, you know

and intention of the character in that moment. Or the way certain feelings building or what you're building towards or holding back

you know, all that stuff. You learn all that stuff from just the sound, from the music itself

Well, you talk about the writing and the rhythm and the playwright or the songwriter

Well, what you're doing right now in Appropriate definitely has a style and a writing and

Brandon, Jacob Jenkins and this piece. I know as an actor you dream that this will live, it was, it was run, it had a run

and people have loved it and have been moved that you guys are moved and

extended and here we are Broadway part two. What has this journey been like for you

I mean, it's very wild. It's really, it's very dreamy, very wild, very unbelievable

It's just like such, it's very crazy that you would do a play that you love so much

with people that you love so much who are also so incredible at their jobs

And then it connects with people. And that kind of like perfect storm just doesn't come around that often

So it's been a really, it's been a very, very satisfying, thrilling kind of ride

Ah, and your character, Franz, and the brother and the family dynamic

I think it's entertaining and we could all take a little piece. No matter where you are from, you mean, you don't have to be from down south

to find a little piece of a family drama. No, definitely not

Definitely not. You can be from anywhere, I think. What has it been like in terms of this cast and this creative team to it a very intimate show you have to have a lot of trust in this cast to work in the way that you do How does that how is that achieved through the rehearsal process now to be on stage Well you know that such a good question

I mean, I think it happens like it happens in almost all relationships where you learn it

from the people you're working with. That you, the trust and how to trust them, how to listen to them, you learn it together

and just by doing it and showing up and being present with them and investigating with them

and being alive to what they're doing. And over time, these things start to come up and get sustained

And you learn about how you relate to one another and you throw away the ones that feel inappropriate

and lean into the ones that feel like they're in the pocket

you know and it's a wonderful it's a wonderful thing and when you're working with people who are as good

as the people I'm getting to work with our like Sarah and Corey and Natalie and grandma's like

everybody in the show is just so skilled you really you don't have to talk about it too much I mean we

talked a lot about a lot of stuff but you don't have to talk too much about the relationships you know

when the writing, it's also so much of it is in the writing, Branden's writing is so good

And, yeah, it's a really fun thing to sort of discover with that

Well, when people are here, Appropriateplay.com is where you can go to get your tickets

It's at the Belasco, so you can get your seats and make sure you check. It is a night and a conversation after you see the play that you should have

So go bring somebody and have a good old watch the Tour de Forest performance

Is there a preparation for you every night? Is it become like it's 30 minutes and you just put on the costume

Or do you build a world? How does it work when you do something over and over again

where it's not just one day on a set where you're doing this day in and day out

Yeah, you know, I think, you know, like the body is a crazy thing

And the way the body of the mind work, you know, we're so associated

And so I think over time, you know, you do a little. lot of work up front and then over time you you start to go through the rituals of getting

ready to do the show which are just like you do the warm-up you go back to your room you start to

put the costume on i might put a couple piece of music on that a couple songs that i like to listen to

whatever you think about the top of the play just touch in on a little bit and just stuff starts to

happened. You know, like, you just like put on the shirt, start to get ready, and already you

start to feel like the world's starting to come. And then, you know, very poor, you know, we have

this incredible soundcape in the show. Sound design in the show is really, like, staggered

and really good. It's really kind of a character in of itself. I know that's such a cliche to say

but it really sort of talked about that way and you feel it there. And so then, you know

I'm like backstage with Ella getting ready to go on and I hear that sound of this occasion

is starting to roar and, I mean, just talking about it. You know what I mean

It starts, it just starts to happen. It's really so good to watch

And if you're at, if you're a love acting or you love storytelling, this is the show that you need to run and check out and go see for short

How do you, your career is so fascinating to me. You pick, you have, you gigantic commercial, movies, film, television, you have big

gigantic musicals, Broadway shows, plays. And then we could see you downtown

We could see you off Broadway. We could see you in a regional production. What is it the story

I'm sure it's not money. I'm sure it's not only. What's money

Sometimes you just need a job. You know what I mean? But mostly, yeah, you know, it's

I don't know, man. I feel really lucky. And I've gotten to bounce around

a lot. I also, I just, I get, I'm kind of restless person. And so I do get hungry for the other

experience. If I'm doing one of the things for too long, you know, if I've just like been doing

plays or if I'm just, um, doing a lot of TV or whatever, I get itchy for the other thing

Yeah. And, um, it's a great thing about being in New York. You know, there's like so much

so many different kinds of work, like available to us. Um, if you can get it. And, um

And sometimes I'm in a position where I'm able to be pickier

And sometimes, you know, I'm just like looking for something to come, you know

and then being like, oh, thank God I got a job. You know, like, you know, like most actors

But I've been really lucky and also, you know, taught, I think, not to turn away too hard from different kinds of experiences

you know, like even things that are scary for me or I might think that I might be bad at

for better or worse. You know what I mean? Like, like musicals, like, you know, I wouldn't be, I wouldn't have gotten to do those

musicals or get to work on musicals if I had listened to that part of myself initially

that, you know, didn't want to go to that audition, you know, because I thought

this is going to be a disaster, you know? And look, the playbill bio reads very differently

It makes me, when you say that, it makes me think of a very, a controversial class with Barbara where she said

once you've played the type, the law and order, you know, perp, you can let that go and find

another artistic piece. And the students were like, but we need to pay our bills and we need to work

We said, there are jobs. You know you can be in a play you can be in a television show and the art the artist that you are it shows through that work You been so versatile in your career It very inspiring to other

Wow. Thanks. Before we let you go, I want to say some of my favorite TV film quick moments, like this

Walkdown Memory Lane, everyone, this is Michael in a beautiful mind, which was one of your

first film TV credits. That's my first movie, I think. Yeah. The very small part, but it was wild

It was so, everyone was so nice. Ron Howard was so nice. Russell Crow was so nice

It was crazy. Oscar winning, right, from the get, just go for it

And then I'm a big sucker for Nurse Jackie, and I love, and I also love the family

They shows that, you know, acting and writing at its best and you being a part of it

How is acting different for TV and film versus stage? you show up with the same kind of toolbox, even though the medium is different. Yeah, it is different

Because the process, the main difference to me is, is not even in the performance as much as it is in the process

I mean, the performance is different. You know, the size is different. You can play, I think, a little, you know, you can play a little more intimately, obviously

But because television works so fast typically, I mean, it's different. Prestige TV, it can be different

but it's really all about speed most of the time on a television set and so you're working with

people who are working very quickly and want to block things very fast they may have their

setups already built often so it's not like they're coming to you right away and being like so

what do you think how should we do this scene you want to maybe what do you think we maybe we go

over here like oftentimes um people want answers quickly it's good to come in with a couple strong versions of what you're thinking about doing

And then with a lot of flexibility. You know, I like to have like a few versions of the scene, a few ideas about how it could go already

some physical ideas about what I'd like to be doing, where I'd like to be

and then a willingness to just throw it all out away immediately

That's not what's getting presented to me in the room, you know

It's so exciting. That's what's exciting. It's so much fun, and it's so exciting

That's what makes it fun to be an actor, for sure. I'm excited to see this show continue

I'm sure we're going to see you all through this award season. This show is so bananas good

Yeah, it's good. I'm glad you like to thank you. I'm so excited for people to come down and check it out and see the show

And now that it's got a longer life, you could get a ticket because y'all are a hot ticket

You guys were a hot ticket. Who's tough for the haze? Who's tough of the haze

But come, we're good. Get a seat. Come on down and see the show

Do you plan? Are you someone who knows, like, do you have an idea

Do you say now it's time for me to do TV film? Are you ready for just the right project? Are you ready to audition

Like, how do you plan after this? Do you live in the moment? What does Michael Esper do

Yeah, I, you know, there are things sort of on the horizon that I sort of loosely

and I'm sort of waiting to see what happens with them, thinking about them, you know

And then, and then other than that, just taking it as it comes with the sort of things that are

that are coming my way. But in terms of whether or not it's television or film or another play

I'm not, I don't have my heart set one way or the other

I just, I just want to love it. You know, I just, like, really want to love the material

Well, next, if I ever see you in person, I'm going to say, I need to see your script. I want to see it marked up

I want to see some actions. Yeah. Circumstances. Wait, man, let's talk about it

Let's break it down. I want to break it down with you. Let's go

I may bring some crazy glue and a broken plate and may do some repetition. Oh, God

I'll see it in my nightmares. See those broken plates and stuff in my, in my nightmares, wake up in a cold sweat

That's, same. Same with me. I want to hear your knock on the door and make feel the feeling that that knock gives me

all of the things that. Oh, my God, take me back. You, everyone, make sure you check out Michael Esper right now on appropriate

Get your tickets. Go get your tickets at Appropriateplay.com. And if people out here ask about where to go if you want to study to be an actor

not to be a influencer, not to be a TikTok star, but you want to be an actor and get up on stage or on a set and do the work

this family right here is the it. This is it in New York City. Can you please send love to your mom and please send love to everybody

I will so much. I will. It is such an honor to talk to you. I am so proud to be an Esper alum, and I'm so honored to talk to you

Thank you so much. What a joy. Thank you. Very moved, very moving, very moving experience for me to talk to Michael

because those two years are very important to me and the artist that I am. So support art today, no matter where you go to school, no matter where you are in this country

Like inappropriate, you could be down south or you could be up here in New York, New Jersey

or you could be on the west coast or overseas wherever you are, there's art being made

there's music being made, there's dramatic writing being written, there's books and movies and plays

Go support it locally. If that's Broadway or if that's the community theater down the street or your high school production

And go support art and artists today. They are literally what makes the world go around

Gives us joy, makes us think, and sees something beautiful to look at

Shout out to Esper. Shout out to Michael Esper and shout out to everybody who made this happen

Congrats to you all for a beautiful show. And if you want to watch more of this every Friday right here on Broadway World

or you can check me out at robertbannon.com. Or you can check out the roundtable every single day over at the Broadway Podcast Network

go to brawaipodcastnetwork.com or follow me. Robert M. Badden over on Instagram

It's so great to be here with you. I look forward to the next time. Thank you, everybody

The best is not to come. See you then