The Art and the Audition with Karen Kohlhaas
New York, NY
US

CONTACT NAME

Karen Kohlhaas

DESCRIPTION

Hello NYC Actors,

I'm excited to teach this in-person class January 17 & 18 at the Atlantic Acting School in NYC (Chelsea).

• Saturday Jan 17 | 9:15am-1:15pm, and

• Sunday Jan 18 | 9:15am-1:15pm

You will . . .

• Learn my complete monologue technique (how to Direct, Act, and Audition with monologues, see below for description)

• Finish the training with a fully-staged, fully-acted monologue and audition technique for all your non-acting audition moments

• Receive unlimited feedback on additional pieces for 6 weeks post-weekend—you can send me monologue text, choices, and performance video for as many additional monologues as you like through Feb 28.

"HOUR FOR HOUR, THE BEST CLASS I HAVE EVER TAKEN" —Lisa Boyett, New York Actor

See below for endorsements by Backstage magazine, Helen Mirren, and more former students.

The workshop also includes

PRE-WORKSHOP

• Unlimited feedback pre-NYC workshop on your monologue choices and prep work, so you can get the most out of our in-person time. When you enroll, I'll send you 2 chapters from my book, The Monologue Audition, which will explain how to prep. You can send choices for feedback any time after you enroll.

Join us and build a repertoire of great new monologues!

Tuition: $295

HOW TO APPLY | Reply to this post with your resume or description of previous training. IF ANY PROBLEM with the link, please email me directly at [email protected]

***Can't do this one? Email [email protected] to hear about next classes and free events***

MORE ABOUT THE TECHNIQUE

My complete monologue technique is used by actors and teachers around the US and all over the world. You learn to:

• Choose great monologues: Know what kind of material to seek for different kinds of auditions, how to build a killer repertoire, and what kinds of material NOT to do

• Direct your monologue with simple & specific staging that is fun to do and to watch, and that frees your body to help you tell your story. You can then take elements of that staging and do the monologue in a chair or in a self tape setup—and keep all of your specificity. It’s fun.

• Act your monologue—with just as much connection and passion as you can with a live partner—it’s actually just a simple mental switch you flick based on something we all do every day

• Audition well—learn how to handle all the non-acting moments of your audition with confidence and ease

Please feel free to reach out with any questions!

~Karen

KAREN KOHLHAAS is a founding ensemble member of the Atlantic Theater Company and senior teacher at the Atlantic Acting School. She teaches her own online classes in monologues, cold reading, scene study, and directing, and is the author of The Monologue Audition: A Practical Guide for Actors (recommended by Helen Mirren in her Master Class on acting, and a Backstage must-read); and How to Choose a Monologue for Any Audition. She was named Best NYC Monologue Teacher and Best NYC Cold Reading Teacher by Backstage readers. See below for full bio.

HOW TO APPLY | Reply to this post with your resume or description of previous training. IF ANY PROBLEM with the link, please email me directly at [email protected]

***Can't do this one? Email [email protected] to hear about next classes and free events***

BEST ENDORSEMENT EVER

From Helen Mirren's Master Class on Acting:

"Michael Shurtleff’s book Audition is a classic that acting teachers have recommended for years. Karen Kohlhaas from the Atlantic Acting School in New York also has a wonderful book specifically dedicated to the monologue audition, The Monologue Audition: A Practical Guide For Actors. Read both of them."

—Helen Mirren

“We’ll say it: monologues are hard. Legendary director and teacher Kohlhaas addresses preparation to execution, demystifying one of the most difficult forms of theatrical audition. Headed to an open call? Learn how to direct, stage and even enjoy performing your monologue in the room.” —BACKSTAGE

WHAT ACTORS ARE SAYING

I learned more from your first class than I have ever learned in entire semesters taking other acting courses. Class atmosphere was personable and welcoming. The audition preparations and advice were also very valuable. I would love to continue my studies with you. —MICHELLE PETERSON

After only 3 days with a new monologue, using your techniques, I had a very successful general audition. Before I took your class I would not have felt ready and would not have attended. The 'countdown' technique alone was worth the whole price of the class. It focused me in a simple way and allowed my first moment to come out fully without any self-consciousness or self-doubt.—JACKIE MARUSCHAK

My favorite part of this class is that you FORCE us to see what an audition looks like from the other side of the table by walking in and, introducing yourself. The class size allows for enough work time. The four monologues I left class with have me feeling prepared! —JOE GODLEY

Monologues are no longer this scary place that I don't understand. I actually had fun at that audition yesterday! This is so helpful when it comes to how confident I feel— even in singing auditions. —DIANE TERRUSA

I have a callback this week, so happy to have something else to work on. It’s a killer role. P.S. all these callbacks are from EPAs where I have to do a monologue. Your class works.—AMANDA McCALLUM

Thank you for everything. You have no idea how tremendous your book and classes have been to me.—JOE DANBUSKEY

Four monologues! It pushes you to explore new pieces and to make choices that would usually take a long time due to indecisive minds. —CHRISTINE LIU

Your class was revolutionary to my monologue work. Thank you Karen.—JULIAN SCHRENZEL

I am indebted to you for the most informative and exciting monologue training I've ever had. Knowing that I could follow easy steps to take care of all the presentational elements of monologue auditioning made it so much easier to let the acting shine through.—McLEAN PETERSON

I've gotten a callback for almost every audition I've been to since taking your course! I got into a show right away. —MAREK SAPIEWSKI

ABOUT KAREN

KAREN KOHLHAAS is an Atlantic Theater Company founding member, director, and senior teacher. She developed and teaches her own approach to monologue audition technique, which was recently recommended in Helen Mirren's Master Class on acting, and which she teaches in New York, around the US, internationally, and online.

Director | For Atlantic, Karen has directed productions of plays by Harold Pinter, David Mamet, Annie Baker, Keith Reddin, Kia Corthron, Shel Silverstein, Hilary Bell, Joe Penhall, and Kate Moira Ryan. She has also directed for Primary Stages, the New York Shakespeare Festival/Public Theater, Naked Angels, Ars Nova, Ensemble Studio Theatre, New York Live Arts, 24 Hour Plays on Broadway, the Alley Theatre, Houston, New Dramatists, Menagerie Theatre in Cambridge, UK, The Culture Project, the Practical Theater Co. in Sydney and others.

Teacher | Karen is a master teacher of the Practical Aesthetics acting technique with over 30 years in the classroom, and is a senior teacher at the Atlantic Acting School's conservatory programs. She teaches her own NYC classes in Acting, Directing, Monologues, and Fearless Cold Reading & Audition Technique. She teaches guest workshops around the country and internationally, including theaters, universities, and conferences in Atlanta, Austin, Seattle, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Dallas, Cleveland, Houston, Miami, Mississippi, England, Australia, and Italy.

Author | Karen is the author of 3 books, and director of a 120 minute DVD on her monologue techniques. Her first book, The Monologue Audition is a Backstage must-read.

Filmmaker | Karen's films include two with acclaimed performer/playwright Taylor Mac, several short documentaries; and the instructional film Roots & Branches 5 Element Qi Gong for the T'ai Chi Foundation.

Tennessee Williams Scholar | Karen is creating a documentary series on Tennessee Williams' Mississippi Delta roots. She has been a frequent panelist and presenter at the New Orleans and Mississippi Delta Tennessee Williams Festivals, and has curated and co-founded, with St. George's Episcopal Church, the Tennessee Williams Rectory Museum in the former residence of Williams and his family in Clarksdale, Mississippi. She teaches Tennessee Williams advanced scene intensives in Clarksdale each January, and Tennessee Williams monologue intensives in Clarksdale each August.

HOW TO APPLY | Reply to this post with your resume or description of previous training. IF ANY PROBLEM with the link, please email me directly at [email protected]

***Can't do this one? Email [email protected] to hear about next classes and free events***

DURATION

Jan 17, 2026 - Jan 18, 2026

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