Students hold workshop teaching how to care for performance voices

Voice and vocal health are a big concern to IU music school students, but what about theater majors? Nurturing the voice takes a conscious effort that many theater students have yet to learn. To help students keep their voices healthy, the Care of the Acting Voice workshop will be held Saturday in room A201 of the Lee Norvelle Theatre and Drama Center.\nThe workshop was developed by second-year graduate speech and pathology students Mark Meyer and Amanda Loy-Jung, who modeled it after one they attended held by The Voice Foundation in Philadelphia.\n"We wanted to do something of our own here in Bloomington for student and community actors to educate them about voice and vocal health," Meyer said. "I really wish I had known this information when I was studying theater."\nWorkshop participants will receive a packet outlining all the information to be covered. The first half of the workshop focuses on the anatomy and physiognomy of the voice. The second half will be active, focusing on exercises to warm-up and heal the voice, followed by an open forum for participants to talk about how they integrate voice into their craft.\nMeyer said that, throughout the workshops, he and Loy-Jung will place emphasis on preventative care as well as providing additional resources for actors to help further their vocal development.\n"We're bringing a speech-pathology background. We're thinking more about how the vocal mechanism creates sound and the impact it has on vocal health rather than the end result, which so many people in theater are more concerned with," Loy-Jung said.\nLoy-Jung said education of the voice and how to take care of it is a neglected subject in the field of acting. \n"Singers are typically taught about their vocal mechanism. Actors need it just as much but typically have less education about it, even though it's an integral part of their craft," she said.\nThis lack of education and awareness poses a real threat to the working actor.\n"Most actors have only half the truth," Meyer said. \nFor example, Meyer said, vocal rest and tea are two common tactics actors use to treat vocal strain, but both can be detrimental if not properly used.\nMeyer knows firsthand the dangers of today's vocal demands. After graduating from Ball State University with a degree in musical theater, Meyer went to Chicago to perform. He remembered a production of "Jesus Christ Superstar" in which he performed where the actor playing Judas needed nightly steroid injections to get through a show. \nSuch incidents are common. Today's aggressive musicals have high turnover rates -- shows like "Rent" rely on a consistent rotation of actors. \nThough vocal demands have increased, Meyer said actors can keep themselves safe by educating themselves. \n"They can meet these vocal requirements if they understand what's going on -- how their vocal mechanism generates these sounds and how to minimize and treat any damage." \nMeyer also said that nodules and polyps are not the end of an actor's career. Both are treatable with therapy if caught early enough.\nTreating the voice in a theater setting is only half the battle. Lifestyle is just as important.\nAs Loy-Jung pointed out, the way actors celebrate their craft is detrimental to it.\n"They get out of a show, what, 11 o'clock, and then they go have some drinks, maybe a late meal, probably where there's smoke, and in the morning, they'll have coffee." \nSuch a lifestyle is hazardous to vocal health. According to David Otis Castonguay, a professor at Radford University and author of "Maintaining Vocal Health," a balanced diet is key in voice maintenance.\n"Eat a balanced diet. At times of extended vocal use, avoid large amounts of salt and refined sugar, spicy food such as Mexican, Szechuan Chinese, as well as excessive amounts of food and/or alcohol. One may note hoarseness in the larynx or dryness of the throat after drinking significant amounts of alcohol, caffeinated as well as naturally or artificially sweetened beverages. The body needs water to metabolize these foods and beverages. Excessive consumption of these items will reduce the amount of water available to hydrate the voice." \nThough the workshop's title makes an appeal to actors, Meyer said that many would benefit from the workshop, including teachers, ministers, lawyers, businessmen or anyone who depends on their voice for success in their profession.\nThe workshop is free. For more information, contact Mark Meyer at 339-4933 or marcmeye@indiana.edu.\n-- Contact staff writer Patrick Doolin at pdoolin@indiana.edu.