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Rex Knowles and Sherry Landrum have an answer to the question: what do you do when you don’t know what to do?
How do they know this? They teach the skills of improvisation. To improvise is to produce or make something from whatever is available. It is the art of experiencing, reacting and creating, in the moment, and in response to the stimulus of your environment and your own inner feelings.
Actors use improvisation skills to make a character come alive. Educators use improvisation to engage their students in active learning. Professionals use improvisation to think on their feet, make connections with others, and build shared ideas.
Rex and Sherry are partners in marriage and work. They are making a living as actors and artists;. They are crafting and navigating successful and innovative career paths that include performing, writing, directing and teaching.
Rex and Sherry in the national touring company of Godspell
Rex Knowles and Sherry Landrum currently run the two year Professional Actor Training Program at Chattanooga State Community College in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
The curriculum is modeled after the New Actors Workshop, a prestigious training program in NYC founded by George Morrison, Mike Nichols and Paul Sills, where, for ten years, Rex and Sherry taught and administered the program.
Rex’s professional credits include Los Angeles Drama Critic’s awards including awards for best production, best director, best actor, and best ensemble. He had roles in classic TV series including classics M*A*S*H, Starsky and Hutch and The Dukes of Hazzard;. He is a prolific playwright; and wrote for game shows such as “Jackpot,” “The New $25,000 Pyramid,” “Top Card,” and “Academic Bowl”. Rex holds a Masters Degree in Theology and the Arts from Union TheologicalSeminary in New York City.
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Sherry’s professional credits include two “best director” awards from Los Angeles Drama Critics and a “best director” award from the Tennessee Theatre Association. Sherry appeared in numerous commercials, movies, and television shows (including a recurring role on general Hospital) and has hosted her own show on CBS. Sherry has written two musicals with George S. Clinton the talented songwriter and film composer whose credits also include songs for the Jackson Five, Joe Cocker; and the scores for the films Austin Powers and Mortal Kombat. She co-founded, directs, and performs with the award-winning improv comedy group Chattanoodle. Sherry holds a Masters Degree in Theatre Arts from Antioch University.
Both are proud members of SAG, AFTRA, AEA, the Dramatists Guild, and the Chattanooga Writers Guild
You can get more information about the Professional Actor Training program on their website http://www.chattanoogastate.edu/theatre/