Interview: Instructor Laura Resinger

Meet new instructor Laura Resinger! She's teaching two new voice workshops this month and next.

What's one of your favorite parts about teaching the Lessac voice work? 

I love that it’s not prescriptive. So much of voice training relies on another person, a teacher, to tell you what is “right” or “good,” but the Lessac training gives the person with the voice a voice! In the vein of other embodiment practices, the Lessac work asks you to practice deep internal listening to rely on your own innate wisdom. As a guide, I can lead a student toward a more healthy, resonant, expressive voice, but much of the work asks you simply “what do I like?” and “what feels good?” It cultivates great autonomy!

What does an “authentic voice” mean to you?

Great question! We learn to use our voice through imitation - think of a baby cooing in imitation of its parent - but nothing feels quite so personal or vulnerable as the voice. I think I can remember everything anyone has said about my voice my entire life. What I love about this work is that you don’t have to reinvent your voice. We are all born with this amazing instrument right inside us, but we often stifle it or build habitual patterns of tension that interfere with what it’s made to do. The Lessac work acknowledges your voice, your anatomy, your mind, your lived experience, so that instead of feeling like an authentic voice is something outside some distance away, it’s actually within me ready to be discovered. 

What might someone notice when their voice begins to feel more authentic?

For me, there is a big thought shift. It’s about being present in the moment, to the experience at hand, and releasing judgment. I think a large part of it is recognizing that the voice and the body are really one, so you can’t experience the voice without experiencing the body. An authentic voice will be felt more deeply as a physical and truthful experience.

How has the Lessac work impacted you personally or professionally? 

The Lessac work has profoundly affected me. Professionally, I recently took a workshop with a friend I knew in New York in about 2010. After I mentioned my involvement with this work, she said, “Yes! Your voice is totally different!” Voice training is movement training is acting training. They’re all one and the same. I have found, in doing this work, that my voice and body are more in sync, and because I’m more present in my bodyvoice, my emotions are more readily accessible. I become more spontaneous and I’m more deeply in tune with my instincts. 

Personally, I came to this way of training the voice from a place of confusion and frustration. I was waiting tables at night, unable to sustain talking over loud music. In rehearsal, I felt like my voice was failing me. Words were stuck, my voice was tired all the time, and I often chose silence as the easier option. I had even seen an ENT who noted slight Muscle Tension Dysphonia. Somehow, magically, I discovered Lessac and then was given the opportunity to bring this work to others. I believe in it deeply because I have seen the benefit, and I’m grateful for every student I can affect even a little bit. 

What's been one of your favorite roles or projects you've been a part of?

Years ago I performed in “Into the Breeches” in St. Louis Shakespeare Festival. It’s an amazing play by George Brandt about a theatre company in WWII trying to put on the Henriad without the men who’ve been called away to fight. I played a woman from the community who had never acted before but got cast as Prince Hal. Not only did I get to speak some of Shakespeare’s best speeches, but I got to go on a journey of self-discovery involving finding her voice!

What do you love about working in Chicago as an actor and teaching artist? 

I love the community. In this business, you can often feel like you’re out there all alone, especially in the post-Covid era of self-tapes, but then you go to a play and recognize so many faces. I think Chicago is unmatched for living as an actor and artist.