Classes: Texas Musical Theatre Workshop, UT+Texas State, June 10 - 30

UT and Texas State Offer New Musical Theatre Workshop June 10 - 30

at the F. Loren Winship Drama Building on The University of Texas at Austin campus. (Click for campus map.)

The University of Texas at Austin, in collaboration with Texas State University-San Marcos, is offering the inaugural Texas Musical Theatre Workshop, a three-week, pre-professional summer intensive for high school students exploring a potential career in musical theatre. This unique program brings New York’s Broadway talent to Texas, providing students the very best in musical theatre training by industry professionals. Teaching artists include Tony Award-nominated composer Andrew Lippa, director Matt Lenz, Broadway performer Joyce Chittick and university faculty members.

Texas Musical Theatre Workshop (TMTW) was founded by university faculty members Lyn Koenning, Kaitlin Hopkins and Jim Price. As a collective, these artistic directors bring more than 75 years of industry experience to the workshop. Head of the Texas State University playwriting program, Price is a veteran Broadway performer (Les Miserables, The Civil War). Hopkins, a Broadway performer and director, heads the nationally renowned musical theatre program at Texas State University. University of Texas at Austin faculty member Lyn Koenning is an award-winning music director, vocal arranger and voice and acting coach whose students have appeared on Broadway, regional theatre, television and film.

“We have a huge network of performers, directors, composers and playwrights ready to share their experiences, skills and insights with the next generation of artists," Koenning says. "We’re delighted to bring Broadway’s best to Texas.”

TMTW’s roster of teaching artists includes Andrew Lippa, Tony Award nominee and composer of the Broadway musical The Addams Family. Lippa’s work on The Wild Party (book/music/lyrics) was recognized in 2000 with the Drama Desk Award for best music. Broadway director Matt Lenz served as the associate director for the original production of Hairspray on Broadway and was recently the associate director for Catch Me If You Can on Broadway. And performer Joyce Chittick has starred in nine original Broadway casts, including Anything Goes, Jersey Boys and Cabaret.

At TMTW, students work side-by-side with these teaching artists and university faculty members. The program offers studio and master classes in acting, voice, dance, audition technique and performance.

“There is tremendous talent in Texas but few options for comprehensive training in all aspects of musical theatre by industry professionals,” Hopkins says. “At TMTW, we give them the added bonus of having our top faculty help prepare them for their colleges’ auditions as well as their careers."

Registration for the 2012 workshop is under way. For more information on Texas Musical Theatre Workshop, visit www.texasmusicaltheatreworkshop.com.

Video and Upcoming: Open House at the Brand New Theatre Company, December 10

Found on-line:

Open House

December 10, 11 a.m. - 5 p.m.

8701 W. Parmer Lane, Suite 1122, Jollyville, Austin, TX 78729 (click for map)

Activities at the Brand New Theatre Co. will officially begin in January. The December 10th Open House is your opportunity to find out how you can get involved. There will be demonstrations of all of BNTC’s classes as well as opportunities to discuss theatre devising with BNTC’s Artistic Director Kara Saunders.

You can stop in to pick up an enrollment form, to drop off an acting resume or playwriting sample or to see if you would like to rent the space for your own rehearsals or classes.

[Apple users: can't see the video? Click to go to YouTube]

Timeline:

11am to 11:30am – Demonstration Classes - Storytelling and Dramatic Play for ages 4 to 6 and Welcome to the Theatre for ages 7 to 10

11:30am to 12pm – Come and Go - Meet the director, check out the space, eat a cookie

12pm to 12:30pm – Demonstration Classes - Acting and Improv for ages 11 to 13 and Acting, Improv and Shakespeare for ages 14 to 18

12:30pm to 1pm – Come and Go

1pm to 1:30pm – Demonstration Classes - Active Analysis for Adults and Physical Approaches to Shakespeare for Adults

1:30pm to 2pm – Come and Go

2pm to 2:45pm – Actor’s Gym Demonstration - Meisner, Viewpoints and Feedback Session

2:45 to 3:30pm – Come and Go

3:30pm to 4pm – Devising Demonstration - See some exercises that are used to create new plays from scratch

4pm to 5pm – Come and Go

Youth Educational Theatre Workshops at the Georgetown Palace from September 13

Received directly:

Youth Educational Theatre Workshops

13 weeks from from September 12

The Georgetown Palace will expand its popular Summer Theatrical Workshops for Children and Teens by offering after school Youth Educational Theatre Workshops beginning September 12th and running for 13 weeks. These pre-professional theatre workshops, for student grades 1 - 12, are designed to allow younger students a chance to discover the world of theatre in a stress-free, highly participatory setting. Students will thrive in the invigorating performance-based workshops, which focus on basic vocal technique, acting skills, and musical theatre. All classes are under the guidance of experienced Teaching Artists who actively work in professional theatres at the local and regional levels.

A complete listing of youth workshops and online registration is now available at www.thegeorgetownpalace.org.

Click to read more at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .

Summer Theatre Training for Youth, State Theatre, Austin

Received via e-mail, news about summer theatre classes for youth at the State Theatre, Austin.

Fairy-Tale Theatre for ages 5 -8, one-week sessions, 9 a.m. to noon, June 14, June 21 and July 5;

Theatre Academy for ages 9 - 16, two-week sessions, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., July 12 - 23; and

Camp Paramount for ages 6 - 18, two weeks, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m., August 2 -13, culminating in a production staged on the Paramount Theatre stage (fully subscribed; waiting list inscription available).

Further information available at www.austintheatre.org.

Opinion: Jill Dolan on “Why Are Our Theatre Students Unhappy?”

Jill Dolan, who just finished nine years with the UT Department of Theatre and Dance, presented a “manifesto” on this subject at the conference of American Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE) in Denver, August, 2008.

An excerpt from the early paragraphs:

What kinds of pressure do we impose [on university students of theatre] by assuming that we’re grooming them for acting careers in professional theatre, instead of encouraging them to refashion their theatre geek-dom into careers as dramaturgs, arts administrators, critics, grant administrators, philanthropists, or maybe most importantly, theatre aficionados who will attend performances regularly and support theatre financially? And most importantly, what structural, cultural, and ideological influences pressure our departments to create this situation?

I just finished a nine-year tenure in the Department of Theatre and Dance at the University of Texas at Austin, one of the largest departments in the country. During my stint there, the undergraduate major was reduced from a high of around 450 students to approximately 300, by various assessments meant to admit a stronger, leaner class. I also saw the growth of the MFA program in acting. Moribund when I arrived, thanks to the leadership of nationally acclaimed actor Fran Dorn, the three-year program soon gained a competitive reputation.

But despite what might seem these successes, the students in our undergrad and graduate acting programs never seemed very happy.

The full text with her analysis and comments is in her blog The Feminist Spectator. See the post of August 19 (and the 21 comments) .

The text is available in .pdf from the ATHE site. Click here.