THE PROGRAM | ELECTIVES

Musical Theatre

Students in this course explore the work of the Musical Theatre greats including Steven Schwartz, Kander and Ebb, Rogers and Hammerstein, Stephen Sondheim and many others.  The work will span a wide variety of musical theater pieces from traditional standards and contemporary, to pop/rock.  Students are taught different styles of musical theater songs including ballads, up-tempo and comedy songs.  Choosing pieces that fit their vocal range, actors work on an individual song for performance, receiving one-on-one direction alternately with a choreographer and a vocal coach.  The group will work on several ensemble numbers to be performed at the Final Showcase, mastering the music and choreography, as well as how to effectively act through song.  The course also includes theoretical discussions about the history and future of Musical Theatre as well as a viewing of the award-winning PBS series The American Musical.

The Musical Theatre class performs Little Shop of Horrors at the Final Showcase.

The Writer/Performer

In this class, actors discover their unique voice and how to bring their words to life from the page to the stage. Through a series of exercises, students begin to discover the stories they have to tell and how to put them on the page truthfully.  Different writing genres are explored, including one-act, full length and “one-person show.”  Students work and develop their own pieces; to be cast and performed during the program. Students will have the opportunity to write, direct and act in their own piece, gaining a fuller understanding of how their words can translate into dramatic performance which can inform, inspire and engage an audience. Class discussions will include examining a selection of work from successful writer/performers including Spalding Gray, Sarah Jones, and Flight of the Conchords.   The class will culminate with a Writer/Performer Showcase of pieces developed during the course.

LEFT: Veronica Long performs a piece from her original musical at the Writer/Performer showcase.  RIGHT: Eliah Cappi reads his piece for the Writer/Performer Showcase.

Directing

This course explores the tenets of directing, beginning with script analysis and basic staging techniques. Emphasis will be on understanding the role of the director,  approaching a text, methods of communication with actors, and developing sensitivity to the visual, aural, rhythmic, and kinetic elements of a scene.  Participants will study the full process of mounting a production, collaborating with a mock production team and presenting concepts for full productions.  Comparative text analysis will look at both classic and modern texts, exploring the transition from page to stage.  We will also look at conventional as well as avant-garde directorial approaches, including discussion of the works and ideas of international 20th century directors such as Peter Brook, Robert Lepage, Julie Taymor, Jerzy Grotowski and Robert Wilson among others.  The class will also take a special look at directing "site-specific" work and the making of devised theatre pieces.  Students will finally have the opportunity to direct work from the Writer/Performer class for a special showcase.

Dan Milne leads a class in the director's approach to analyzing a script.