Actors rehearse acting scenes outside class until they feel they have a finished product to bring into the class, and only then will a critique be delivered. Playing a cop? You’d better look like a cop, you better interview some cops. Playing a hooker? You’d better go walking along Santa Monica Blvd. and find one who you think is right for this part – nail the costume, the walk. Playing an addict? You’d better do the research about how that substance affects people, specifically. So, if you want a casual approach to scene study, where you run some lines until you have a scene memorized and kind of throw it up there and see what happens, the BHP is not for you.
Most acting classes at the BHP meet twice a week, for about four hours per class. Acting classes are taught on three different levels – Orientation, Intermediate, and Advanced – based on the experience of the applicant. Orientation would include anyone from beginners to college-level arts training, and Intermediate and Advanced are for actors and directors with more professional experience, with an eye as well to union memberships and representation being in place. Classes are held in Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, San Francisco, and New York.