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.

Nurturing 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.

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 work on collaborating with a mock production team and presenting concepts for full productions.  We will look at conventional as well as avant-garde directorial approaches, including discussion of the works of 20th century avant-garde directors such as Robert LePage, Julie Taymor and Robert Wilson among others.  The class also takes a special look at directing “site-specific” work, performances that use the properties, qualities, and meanings found at a location outside a traditional theatre space.  Students will have the opportunity to direct student monologues and scene work for the Final Showcase evening.

Audition Techniques

This course identifies and tackles the variety of challenges associated with the audition process and seeks to prepare actors for the rigors of life as an acting student and working actor. From choosing the right monologue to making quick character choices, actors learn practical skills that can be applied in any audition situation including text analysis, cold reading techniques and how to give even the most bland dialogue richness and texture.  The main focus of the class will be choosing and preparing a contemporary monologue to use for a college or conservatory audition.  The class includes individual one-on-one coaching sessions to help actors block and polish their monologue for performance at the Final Showcase.  Students who sing will also have the option to prepare 16 bars of a song for audition with a voice coach.  The class culminates in a “mock audition” with the faculty and students serving as the audition panel.