Coleen Marlo is an accomplished actor and multi-award winning audiobook voice artist and producer. In 2010 she was named Audiobook Narrator of the Year by Publishers Weekly, and she won the Audie Award for Literary Fiction in 2011.  During her   illustrious career, she has been nominated twice for Audie Awards by the Audio Publishers Association, has won numerous Publishers Weekly Listen-Up awards, and is a frequent Earphones Award winner. Additionally, she has been honored with many starred audio reviews by the Library Journal and Publishers Weekly.  Coleen is a member of the prestigious Actors Studio and taught acting for ten years at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute. Furthermore, she is a proud founding member of Deyan Institute of Voice Artistry and Technology.Coleen can be found on the web at:  Coleen Marlo  and on Facebook:  ColeenMarloAudiobook

 Talking with…Coleen Marlo       An Abbreviated Audio Interview

About Audiobooks:

JP/AA: How did you get your start in audiobook narration and what lead you to the genre in the first place?

CM: My journey with audiobooks began in 2006 when my lovely friend Deborah Raffin convinced me that with my acting background, I would be perfect for audiobooks, and that I should audition for Dan Musselman, the Director of Studio Productions at Random House, Books on Tape. Deborah, an actress in films and television movies, also started Dove Books-on-Tape in her garage in the mid-1980’s. She and her husband at the time, Michael Viner, were pioneers in the industry. Sadly, Deborah passed away last year, but her legacy of excellence in the industry, and as a respected actress, audiobook publisher and producer, lives on.

JP/AA: She sounds like a generous visionary and a much missed friend. So, it was a little bit friendship and a little bit serendipity that put you on the road. And through her introduction, you began with Books on Tape?

CM: I began working for Books on Tape in 2006, and worked there exclusively for the first four years of my career. What an incredible time that was! Back then there was a much smaller group of us, and it felt very much like a family. It was a magical time and I had the wonderful opportunity of getting to know many of the top narrators in the business.

We had wonderful conversations on our breaks, thoughtful and insightful, with bits of ribald language thrown in for good measure! Great laughter all around! Audiobook narrators are some of the most interesting people you could ever meet. They are witty and literary and they are people of remarkable erudition!  Each day working there is, and was, a literary feast! There was a buzz and aliveness while working at the studios with these remarkable actors and directors, that I miss while recording at home, which now constitutes about 90% of my work.  In 2010, I began recording from my home studio, which allowed my business to expand to many publishers and producers across the United States.

JP/AA: I noticed in researching your professional bio, that you are a member of the esteemed Actors Studio.  You were also a teacher for many years at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute.  As a trained actor, which aspects of those dual relationships, apprentice and mentor, do you feel have helped you the most with your audio book work?

CM: One of the greatest gifts of my life has been the journey of consuming the art of acting and having had the opportunity to work and study with some incredible mentors along the way. My real love is acting, that is where my true passion lies. Exploring different roles, stepping into the stream of life through so many different personas is where my heart is. I love what Stella Adler said, “Life beats down and crushes the soul and art reminds you that you have one.”

The art of audiobook narration, for me, springs from my years of training and working as an actor. Teaching is being able to pass on what little knowledge I have in the unending study of the art form.

JP/AA: That is a gorgeous quote Coleen, unfortunately too true, and one I’d like to get back to later in our interview… Obviously there are exceptions to every rule and, undoubtedly, there are natural born storytellers. Do you think that on the main, it is possible to be a good narrator without having an acting background?

CM: As you say Jo Anna there are exceptions to every rule and there are born storytellers, (I come from a family of them!) but I cannot imagine that I would have had the success or the longevity in my career if not for my many years in acting. Lee Strasberg said, “It takes ten years to make a good actor, twenty to make a master.” I’d say that that is true in all the arts. That’s why the first thing I’d recommend to anyone who wants to be a narrator is to get to a great acting teacher! Audition for plays! The ideas of brilliant writers are often bigger than an acting talent, so you better be ready and able to serve a writer’s vision through your own instrument. How can you do that without training?

JP/AA: What kind of things do you do to prepare for recording an audio book? Do you have an etched in stone routine, or does flexibility apply – a stickler for preparation, or do you sometimes fly by the seat of your pants?

CM: ‘A Book of Verses underneath the Bough, A Jug of Wine, a Loaf of Bread, — and Thou Beside me singing in the Wilderness — Oh, Wilderness were Paradise enow!’

Just kidding, the first thing I do is read the book, which is sent to me via email on a PDF. I want to allow myself to get the rhyme and tone of the author. It is similar to reading a piece of music. You are listening for the author’s voice, allowing yourself to become part of that world. I don’t read aloud, but I do start formulating impressions of each character. What are their motivations, what is it that they want and how are they going to go about getting it. What is at stake for them? This is where all of your acting training comes in. Actors know how to approach a manuscript. So although it feels that I intuit a lot of my work, it comes about from many years of acting. I do create two sets of notes, one for the names and characteristics of each character, both physical and emotional, and their relationship to other characters. Obvious notes, such as, “Robert said in his deep gravelly southern voice (on page 300) and another page (or twenty) of pronunciations of names and words I need to look up or do much more extensive research on. Example: 650 Latin names and phrases of flowers, seeds, plants and trees.

Fiction vs. non-fiction each presents their own unique challenges, which could be another whole interview. I love them both equally!  Once I get in the booth, I just let it sail. I’ve done all the work, now it’s important to stay moment to moment. In fiction you must discover each thing as it comes, as if for the first time.

The actor must stay in the question without having to have all the answers and then you’ll allow the listener to come on the journey with you.

JP/AA: What training would you recommend to someone trying to break into the voice and narration market? What steps should they take to get themselves known?

CM: Acting training is first and foremost. This is an art form, and I would love to think that the industry will continue to treat it as such. There are hundreds of trained actors that would love to break into this business; it is as competitive as any other acting job. Ninety-nine percent of my colleagues, many of the top narrators in this business, are trained actors. Model your career after the best!

Then, get yourself to a great audiobook teacher, who will guide you in learning the craft and creating a demo. Learn about the business by subscribing to AudioFile Magazine and joining the Audio Publishers Association.

It is a very unique form of acting in that you are playing all of the characters and creating the subtleties, the nuances of performance, only with your voice. It is very complex. It is challenging enough to play one character, actors must seek out their character’s motivations, wants and desires, uncover their fears and their hopes. In a single voice audiobook production, you are playing all of the characters and have the responsibility, to the author and the listeners, of developing each one fully. The actor must also create a landscape rich in setting and plot and engage the listener to enter into the story with you.

In regards to making a name for yourself, if you have put your heart into this, if you have created moments of beauty, insight and understanding for a listener out there, then to me that is all the recognition one needs. Your passion will guide you.

JP/AA: Do you have a favorite narration, perhaps a favorite author or series, which you’ve recorded?

CM: Honestly, each book I have done has been like a little treasure to me. They all end up teaching me something along the way. When I come across books that delve deeply into the human psyche, that can leave you feeling either eviscerated or joyous of  heart, ones that bore into the deepest places of the human soul, those are the books that really stand out for me, as a reader and as an actor who gets to perform them.

There have been so many books I have been honored to have recorded, let’s see… We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver was a beautiful and haunting experience, she is an amazing writer. Joyce Carol Oates’s, Sourland, sixteen short stories which explored very Oatesian themes such as violence, loss and fear, was incredibly rewarding to perform.  Another of my favorite writers, with whom I was thrilled to work, was my collaboration with Louise Erdrich on Shadow Tag.

Other favorites include: No Biking in the House Without a Helmet by Melissa Fay Greene, a poignant, funny and heartwarming story, The Lady in Gold by Anne-Marie O’Connor, filled with art, intrigue and history and Pilgrims by Elizabeth Gilbert, another marvelously written compilation of short stories.

JP/AA: Is there a book, so far, that has been the most challenging?

CM: The challenge and the beauty of each book I do is to bring forth the authors words and intent as purely as if I were a direct conduit to the listener. The written word is the author’s domain, my domain lies in acting. By which I mean that I take the authors words and by distilling them through my own imagination I lift them from the page and bring them forth into another art form, the audiobook, all along serving the author by staying true to the telling of their story.

The triumvirate of the author, the narrator and the listener is a very intimate relationship.

JP/AA: Is there one that has made you feel the most personally satisfied?

CM: I have been personally moved by so many of the books I have done, that it is very difficult to say. One that comes to mind because it seems to have touched listeners in such a powerful way is We Need To Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver. The subject matter is haunting and difficult, but I felt I was truly able to find the delicate balance that was needed to perform this book and portray the author’s intent. It is such a rewarding experience when the author’s work, the actor’s performance and the listener’s experience, share this intimacy on such a deep level.

JP/AA: Coleen, you have won so many awards for your narration. From Publishers Weekly Audio book Narrator of the Year, to an APA Audie in 2011, to AudioFile Magazine’s Earphone and PW’s Listen Up awards, and well, the list goes on, and on.  Is there a review or award/nomination you’ve received that has made you feel the most professionally satisfied, and why?

CM: Each of the awards has been a gift. It makes me feel incredibly grateful that the industry and the listeners have embraced my work and acknowledged me with so many honors. The biggest reward is in the work itself. The fact that so many publishers and producers across the United States continuously allow me to do what I love by entrusting me with their projects is the ultimate gratification. Seriously!

Of course, another Audie never hurt anyone 🙂

JP/AA: What are you working on right now?

CM: I just completed Thrive by Arianna Huffington, for Random House, which is a deeply personal book in which she looks to redefine what it means to be successful in today’s world. This month I also completed the Crissa Stone series by Wallace Stroby for Blackstone Audio, in which I played a very complex criminal protagonist with a heart of gold, for Audible I am working on a beautifully written and moving book called The Promise by Ann Weisgarber, and for Tantor I’m in the middle of a delightfully fun series called the Wishcraft Mysteries by Heather Blake.

About Production:  

JP/AA: Coleen, You mention that now you do much of your narration work in your home studio. What is it about this type of cottage industry of home narration that most appeals to you? What about it do you find least appealing.

CM: I absolutely love recording in my pajamas, going to my refrigerator every time I feel like it and recording at odd hours when necessary. What I find least appealing is being in my pajamas all day, being distracted by my refrigerator and working at four in the morning because I put it off until then.

JP/AA: Self-directing is a talent in and of itself, and arguably one of the toughest aspects of having an in-home studio environment. Yet, it is one of the necessities of working alone in the studio. Do you find that aspect difficult?

CM: At the time that I started in the industry, almost ten years ago, we only worked in outside studios with a director.  I am so grateful to Dan Musselman and all of the wonderful directors at BOOKS ON TAPE, for giving me the best training that anyone could possibly ask for in this business. I also worked for Deyan Audio and received outstanding training in applying my acting skills to the art of audiobooks, with two of my favorite people in the world, Bob and Deborah Deyan.

By the time I began recording in my home studio four years ago I felt competent and assured. I still have the voices of my mentors in my head as I record. Also, I went through years of acting training and scene study with my mentor, Salome Jens, and also at the Actors Studio, where I was always self directing, then being critiqued by my peers, so it felt very natural for me.

JP/AA: Do you think home studio vs. professional studio influences the quality of Audiobooks in general?  Or is it dependent on the individual style of the narrator and the expertise of the final mastering, just as it would be in a professional studio.

CM: As voice actors we are now being called upon to become increasingly responsible for not just the artistic choices, but the technical quality of the audiobook as well.

So yes, a book recorded at home will absolutely be reliant on your expertise as an actor, an engineer and a director. If you are weak in any of these areas, or if you do not have a quality recording studio at home, you will never be able to reach the standards of a professional studio.

I once read in AudioFile Magazine that, “The voice of the narrator is the Muse of audiobooks.” I find this a lovely and truthful statement. We must always keep in mind that the audiobook is an art form.

A masterful audiobook narrator will elevate the work to a place of standing alongside the greatest pieces of music, the most revered stage, film or dance performances, and the most exquisite of paintings.

Without a full and comprehensive understanding and technique of the form, the art is in jeopardy of being severely compromised. As the audiobook industry continues to expand, new technology has made it possible for many new narrators to break into the business via the home studio, creating new challenges in maintaining the high quality our listeners enjoy.

So it is with great excitement, that as a founding member, I can announce the formation of the Deyan Institute of Voice Artistry and Technology.

Believed to be the first of its kind, founder Debra Deyan and I wanted to create a school where students could come to enrich and develop their art and careers as voice actors. Along with founding member P.J. Ochlen we are launching the Institute in honor of Bob Deyan, my beloved friend, who was diagnosed with ALS last year, to uphold his dream of promoting and preserving the highest artistic and technological standards in audio production. It is a place where both professionals and non-professionals can come to advance and nurture their craft as they find their artistic voices.

This is our website: www.DeyanInstitute.com and Facebook page:  www.facebook.com/deyaninstitute. We hope to see some of you there!

About You:

JP/AA: Coleen, I’d like to get back to that Stella Adler quote in relation to you. It’s such a gorgeous simple passage yet dramatic in its simplicity. “Life beats down and crushes the soul and art reminds you that you have one.” For you, it’s really about living that vision, combining creativity and balance, isn’t it? 

CM: Art has the power to illuminate and transform. Art reveals the noblest within us. It allows us to see past the grind of daily life and find ourselves and see ourselves for the beauty that we are. So it is tremendously important that we find balance in life, to allow for creativity and imagination to have their way with us.

JP/AA: As a working mother with 2 daughters, I’m sure there are days when life is chaotic enough to keep any thoughts of creativity at bay. What do you do to free up your creative mojo? 

CM: My daughters are my blessings, but as the poet Kahlil Gibran said, “Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.”

They are beautiful and inspiring creations and they are certainly works of art in progress! I need only to look at them to realize how quickly time goes by, to grasp how fleeting life is. It reminds me to stay in the moment, to savor the small things for it’s all we truly have, this moment. That lends itself towards a creative life.

JP/AA: That is Coleen the mom talking! How about you away from your girls and the necessities of life? Is there a place you escape to mentally or physically that takes you away to that creative level?

CM: I do love to just sit and think, it allows me to go deep within. I also relish picking up a great book and getting immersed in it. Being in the outdoors surrounded by nature, allows me to connect creatively in a more expansive way. When I have the opportunity I like to lose myself in any of the arts, theatre, dance, music, film, painting, writing. I am always enthralled and stimulated by the creation and imagination of other artists. They stimulate my own creativity. I can’t imagine a world without the arts, yet sadly for so many, this is the reality. That’s why it is so important for us to keep arts funding a priority on a national, local and personal level.

JP/AA: In the spirit of the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, are either of your girls interested in artistic pursuits? Are we witnessing the start of a Marlo Dynasty?

CM: Well……. now that you mention it, my oldest is writing and performing comedy monologues, starting her first mystery novel and taking acting classes. My youngest is taking acting, musical theatre dance class and she just sang her first solo at her school’s talent show! Whatever happened to my daughter the doctor???

Just for the Hell of it:

What if the Hokey Pokey REALLY is what it’s all about?

CM: ‘A Book of Verses underneath the Bough, A Jug of Wine, a Loaf of Bread, — and a little Hokey Pokey– that IS what it’s all about…….

JP/AA: I’d like to personally thank Coleen for joining me here at Abbreviated Audio.  Her generosity of spirit, and openness throughout our interview process, was nothing short of tremendous. She is a lovely, intelligent and insightful woman, with a wicked sense of humor, and the audiobook community is lucky to have her as a representative.

If you’d like to study with Coleen Marlo, I would tell you to run like the wind over to the Deyan Institute and enroll in The Art of Audiobooks: Masterclass and Demo, or take a look at the Spring Courses section,  as classes are forming, and filling, right now. So go…are you there yet?