STUDENT FEEDBACK

 

From Beaumont, TX

 

“From Children’s Theatre to Shades Valley, Jeanmarie always had the skill to make the best of what you have. She builds confidence as much as she builds your skills to become the moment you are trying to capture and interpret. I learned to never lose myself and not to fear expression in life or theatre. Auditioning for her was a learning experience too. She finds a way to distract you from your worries about how you are doing so you can actually just do it. A wonderful woman through and through.”

 

-Former student, Kathryn MacClelland Hebert

 

From Los Angeles, CA

 

“Jeanmarie Collins is an actor’s director. She unveils a performer’s truth in a gentle and organic manner. Her rehearsal process is endowed with respect and “safety” encouraging her actors to explore and discover without consequence.”

 

-Actor and artist, Mason McCulley

 

“Ms. Collins was one of those teachers that actors like me crave. I wasn’t the star girl, I wasn’t the beauty queen. I didn’t get the leads in all the plays, but I worked hard and knew there was something in me that just needed to be recognized. Jeanmarie was that person. She was the first teacher to really make me believe that I had talent and gave me the opportunity to flourish while creating an enormously supportive environment for me and the students I performed with. To this day, she remains the first person to really make me believe that I could make a life of acting, which is what I am doing today. I’m in my 6th year in Los Angeles as a working actor, and am so grateful for people like Jeanmarie who inspired and motivated me from the very beginning.”

 

-Actress, Maggie Henry

 

From Paris, France

 

“I first met Jeanmarie as a shy, young girl enrolled in a summer theatre workshop and instantly fell in love with her- she was funny and warm and she believed in me which gave me the confidence to believe in myself. Years later, when I was an acting student in college, Jeanmarie encouraged me to follow my dream of studying acting in London as she had and I will never forget her stunning performance as Martha in « Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf ? ». Needless to say, Jeanmarie Collins is an actress and teacher of superb quality- her magic onstage spills over into the classroom. She gives everything her whole heart.”

 

- Actress and singer, Lexi Kendrick