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Tanika Ray: Struggling actors are often told not to quit their day jobs. But established actress Fiona Hutchison has added a day job teaching newcomers the tricks to her trade. [shows 80's clips of Gabrielle] Daytime viewers loved to hate Fiona Hutchison as scheming Gabrielle on "One Life To Live."
Gabrielle: I can't do it. Even if I wanted to do it, I would get caught..."
Tanika Ray: But her latest role as teacher may be her best yet.
Fiona is walking to her class.
Fiona: Hi, everybody. [walks in] Let's do it.
Crew Man: Quiet on the set! Tape rolling!
FACT #1: Fiona and her husband operate a theatre company named "The Essential Theatre Blah Blah Blah."
Fiona is sitting in her chair watching the actors.
Fiona: I feel I've learned a great deal in the 12 years or how many years I've been working in the industry. And love being able to give it back. In a sense, in a very positive way. [to the actors] Look into each other's eyes, connect, and believe everything you're saying.
FACT #2: Fiona's class is called "Understanding Daytime."
FACT #3: Fiona is a classically - trained ballerina and worked extensively with Mikhail Baryshnikov.
Melissa Nichols [acting student]: What I really appreciate about Fiona's teaching style is that she's not afraid to say, "This is horrible." Fiona will definately say, "You need to work on this and you need to do it now."
Fiona: [to actors] You came on--you came on that scene exactly right. And then in the middle, it died.
Fiona knows how to do just that.
Fiona listens to each one of her students scream.
Fiona: The biggest challenge is getting every student to feel that he or she has got something out of it. That's what my worry is. Will they go away at the end of 8 weeks and feel "Yes, that was worth it."
Tanika Ray: According to her students, they definately will.
Fiona and her students cheer.