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Biography


Michael Karm


Michael Karm, a member of The Directors Guild of America, has been directing plays, musicals and improvisational theatre since 1968. Projects have included the network television sit-com, regional theatres, dinner theatres, summer stock, Off-Broadway and live industrial shows.

Michael has directed and/or coached, Judd Hirsch, Madeline Kahn, Kristin Davis, Gloria Reuben, Antonio Sabato, Tom Poston, Susan Blakely, Betty Buckley, Tony Messina, Dayle Haddon, Larry Linville, Constance McCashin, Ruta Lee, Rosemary Prinz, Murphy Cross, Tony Mockus, Alice Spivak, Northern Calloway and Dennis Dugan.

At the age of 12, in his native city of Chicago, he toured schools, private clubs and organizations with his own magic act. At 15, he moved on to acting in high school and college productions, majoring in television and journalism at the University of Illinois, Champaign.

After college, Michael landed his first Equity job in Chicago, playing a variety of roles in a musical comedy revue entitled, "Tongue in Chic." After its five-month run, with dreams of acting in a Broadway show, he moved to New York City.

Mr. Karm began his formal training in New York City at The Herbert Berghof Studios with Uta Hagen, Bill Hickey, Charles Nelson Reilly and George Taros. He studied acting extensively with Joshua Shelley and, later, with Warren Robertson.

It was at Warren Robertson's Workshop, where Michael began his teaching career, focusing on acting and musical theatre and remained there for five years.

He played a variety of roles including leading and featured parts in film, in Broadway revivals at Lincoln Center and City Center, Off-Broadway shows, and summer stock tours. He appeared on soap operas, in numerous national and local TV commercials, as well as live and filmed industrial shows.

Michael also provided voices for radio commercials and children's albums, and recorded on two original cast albums.

Mr. Karm has enjoyed the experience of understudying roles in Broadway shows as well as Off-Broadway productions. He was also employed as a Standby for many actors, in case of an illness or absence, to ensure that "the show must go on!"

Michael created the role of Ham in Richard Rogers "Two by Two," starring Danny Kaye as Noah and played that role on Broadway for over a year.

After years of watching good actors successfully perform scenes in class yet, somehow, remain unable to transfer that success to real auditions, Michael created his own Simulated Audition Class at the Manhattan Theatre Club in New York City. The class sought to duplicate the actual audition experience, allowing actors to identify and isolate all of the feelings experienced in an authentic audition situation.

Moving to Los Angeles in 1980, he enjoyed several featured roles in network TV series and in film. After experiencing first-hand the challenges faced by actors working on the set, Michael began teaching a class at Studio City's Actors Center. He entitled this class "Emotional Self-Direction," and designed a method guaranteed to bring the actor fully to the task of characterization and heightened reality immediately as the director calls "Action!".

Mr. Karm founded his own studio in West Hollywood, successfully teaching his method of self-actualization for five years until he was asked to translate his technique for use in the corporate world. During the last decade, Michael developed, wrote, cast and directed industrial shows, made industrial films, supervised product photo shoots and created websites for his clients.

Former students, friends and colleagues currently working in the industry finally have convinced him to reactivate his career in the areas of directing for film, TV, stage and private coaching.

Michael's self-actualization and auditioning techniques are unimpeachably established and guaranteed to be infallible.

 

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