New Stage Actor Web Site Geared to Improving the Quality of Work and Life

Tom Brooks, president of The Empowered Actor Initiative, today announced the launch of a new website designed to support stage actors at all levels, as well as those who use acting skills in their work, such as public speakers and "Signature Personalities" seeking to improve platform skills. The site: www.EmpoweredActor.com.

Brooks believes that actors, like anyone serious about his or her career, must constantly educate themselves, and this site offers an easy and effective way for all stage actors to enhance current class or production work via the site’s profession-level-specific e-zine, eBooks and virtual or TeleCoaching classes.

Having acted, directed and coached actors for several decades, Brooks says he has always wanted to provide his students with something more than just hand-outs. After a January workshop at The Actors’ Center in Arlington, VA., he experimentally offered participants follow-up coaching via phone and email. It was hugely successful: "I'm finally breaking through my trouble spots and discovering things I wasn't discovering before due to your help," said one participant, Thavma Phillips. Another, Sharon Carpenter-Rose, reported that Tom "has a way of explaining ideas and the context of ‘the big picture’ that is very down-to earth and inspirational and, unlike some directors I've come in contact with, is never judgmental and always open to suggestions himself."

Brooks’ vision for EmpoweredActor.com is to "help more stage actors achieve their dreams than any other entity in history." While he acknowledges the enormity of the task, Brooks notes that the site helps actors improve their lives by creating a partnership that focuses on a concrete life vision, and specific action steps to attain detailed goals along the way.

"What you see on the site today is just the tip of the ice burg. There's still more coming — it's going to be incredible!" Brooks is working on adding more stage actor support resources, and is in the process of assembling actor forums across the U.S., the first one likely to be on the east coast. "But details are under wraps," he adds mysteriously.

BACKGROUND: The primary mission of The Empowered Actor Initiative is to help stage actors define and achieve their goals and dreams. To support these efforts, the Initiative publishes and coaches proven methodologies, valuable success techniques, tips and best practices tailored to suit all levels, from those seeking to get started on the stage, to actors who have acquired a moderate amount of experience, to veteran stage professionals, and even accomplished film actors seeking to make a successful transition to the stage. Empowered Actor also seeks to support individuals and creative organizations in the form of scholarships, grants and investments.

ABOUT TOM BROOKS:
EmpoweredActor.com president and founder Tom Brooks has been a professional actor for 25 years and is a member of Actors' Equity Association. He is amazed, enthused and intensely interested in the process of acting. Tom is in the process if interviewing over 500 professional and non-professional actors across the country and is writing a book on the subject. His focus on workshops and directing in the last several years is a satisfying outlet for his passion for actor education. Most recent directing credits that he shares with his wife, Beth, include Romeo & Juliet, Annie, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Baby with the Bathwater. Brooks received his MFA from the Alabama Shakespeare Festival's Professional Actor Training Program through the University of Alabama in 1987. He has appeared on stages across the country, including the Round House Theater in Maryland; the Kentucky Shakespeare Festival, and the Kennedy Center, where he has the distinction of having played all four male roles in their long-running production of Shear Madness.