Last night’s AFTRA Mastery Panel was appropriately named. There were 4 true masters in the world of performance; “Voice Whisperer” Marice Tobias, acting coach, director, Larry Moss, theatre and movement director, Jean-Louis Rodrigue and writer, teacher, actor, April Daisy White with moderator, Michael Cohen.

It wasn’t your usual actor event, talking about acting techniques, audition tips and the inside scoop on getting a powerful agent and a great part. “Healing as it Relates to Performance Mastery” was the theme. The first question Michael posed was, “What made you say ‘yes’ to participating on this panel?” Touching off a fascinating look at each of the masters’ backgrounds. Not ticking off their long list of credits, but sharing very personal stories of their own journeys. Each had their own family challenges, growing up with dysfunction. Most of us did, but what’s important here is what they did with those challenges.

Larry Moss, talked about his extreme shyness and his difficult relationship with his father. He learned to get past his victimhood. “Poor me is the killer” he says. Marice Tobias’s mother was hard of hearing so “I was my mom’s ears” leading her into voice work and her ability to “get messages on another level when working with talent.” April Daisy White told of being a “high class call-girl” in her youth leading her to create her one woman show, “Sugar.” Jean Louis Rodrigue talked of being mostly happy in his life but having such a curiosity that lead him to delve deeper into his psyche. An expert in the Alexander Technique, he focuses on “self-awareness and getting rid of bad habits.”

From their hurdles, they discovered their unique gifts leading to careers in performance art. “A gift is a curse until it is understood” says Marice Tobias, talking about the need for all of us to “stop dragging your gift around like an anchor and get busy.”

The panel then talked about actors’ hurdles and what prevents them from reaching their desired level of success. Jean Louis Rodriguez made an analogy to cell survival, where Stanford biologist, Michael Young, discovered that when cells are in protection mode, they die. To survive and grow, they have to have tentacles. In other words, “protection kills creativity” he says.

As the evening went on, there seemed to be a clear message of empowerment, and that we as performers need to get out of our own way. April says “our lives look like what we’re dedicated to.” Larry echoed that by emphasizing the importance of working on your craft daily sticking to it like a fitness routine even on the days you just don’t feel like it. “When you do the things you don’t want to do (and the things that scare you), you end up loving them. Successful people do things they don’t want to do.”

-Tracy Pattin

In part 2 (Click here to read) an audience member asks Marice Tobias about the differences between voice over and acting.