Malcolm Arnold (acting for singers specialist) has created a learnable training method that addresses and synthesizes all the unique elements required of the modern singer-actor.
Among these tools – all of which should share equal importance to vocal and musical training are:
- Establishing the integrity of the text, determining or inventing the character, defining intention and motivation
- Identifying who is being addressed, altering the subtext
- Interpreting the vocal line and accompaniment’s intention and its influence on interpretation
- Training the body to participate in a meaningful, unobtrusive way
Ultimately – combine all these skills to present an emotional experience for the listener. Even for those singers with a mastery of vocal technique, proficiency in these vital elements will separate the artist from the singer. In this age of HD broadcasts, more than ever, singers must inhabit their roles vocally, physically, and dramatically. Arriving at this process is based on the experience of having performed, directed, and instructed for close to fifty years and led to incorporating these concepts in his book, “The Complete Singer-Actor” which is available at no cost on the Complete-Singer Actor website.
As a singer, Mr. Arnold ‘s career encompassed seventy-nine leading roles in opera, operetta, and musical theatre ranging from Papageno (Magic Flute) to Scarpia (Tosca), from Ko-Ko (Mikado) to Sweeney Todd. He performed opposite such artists as Renato Scotto, Marilyn Horne, Alfredo Kraus, and James MacCracken. As a stage director, he has staged over thirty productions including La Bohème, Barber of Seville, Don Pasquale, Romeo et Juliette, and many others – often with singers from the Metropolitan Opera, La Scala, and the Bolshoi.
For many years, he has maintained a voice and acting studio. In that capacity, he has presented workshops in New York, Florida, Montreal, and Providence. His students have gone on to perform on Broadway, with the Chicago Lyric Opera, and Cirque du Soleil. At this point of his career, he is devoting his efforts into developing singers into complete singer-actors.