I participated in Arthur's scene study class off and on for a number of years. Later, I studied privately with Sandra Seacat and Roz Vallero. I studied singing with Galli-Campi for about 3 years. She actually got me to carry a tune and sing a solo in the production of my first play, Grave Diggers of 1971.

Arthur Storch's scene study workshop was focused on skills. We performed the scene, and told what we had worked on. The class commented, then Arthur gave his critique. Comments were only allowed about what we had worked on, not what we should have worked on. And we could only say what we used, such as a substitution, and how we used it. Personal discussions like "I used the bad relationship with my father; we never got along" were quickly interrupted by Arthur. "How did you do the substitution?"

Working with Sandra Seacat privately was very different. We once spent nearly six months on the opening of a monologue. The character is home alone at night and hears a strange noise. Where is it coming from? What does it sound like? Did it stop? Will I hear it again? So many thoughts that would lead to action. I learned skills I could apply to any performance.

Roz was also very precise, emphasizing the detail necessary to create a character. "You can't express a sense of loss, unless you know what was lost." She told of playing the wife being discarded in a production of Chekhov's Ivanov. She could not get the scene where the wife is told by the husband she gave up her family to marry that he was leaving her. She went home and wrote a detailed description of their wedding--where it was, who was there, what food was served, what she wore, all the excitement of a bride starting a new life with the man she loved. At the next rehearsal for that scene, the loss was overwhelming. I have often used that lesson when coaching actors and also when directing.

Galli was a former opera star who became a prominent singing teacher. She refused to teach smokers, but made an exception for me and Lotte Lenya. Her sessions were all business. I was not a natural singer-- couldn't carry a tune-- but in her studio, I could hear myself make beautiful sounds. I was cast in 2 musicals--one that I co-authored and the other where they didn't let me sing. Because of Galli, I fulfilled my fantasy of singing a solo in a musical comedy without making a total fool of myself.

• Sandra Seacat, Roz Valero, Arthur Storch