The Theater YEAR CURRICULUM

Do you have a love for the stage as well as the camera? You can broaden your career opportunities to include the theater—and become a “triple threat” actor who does it all—with the training of our theater year. In expanding your repertoire of skills to the stage, you’ll learn the unique vocal and physical skills needed to perform and project to the audience. You’ll also study theater history and theatrical styles in exciting, non-traditional classes. Throughout the year, you’ll bring all your skills together in a variety of performance opportunities, including two productions mounted in professional New York theater spaces. It takes solid training to move seamlessly from a theater production to a film audition to a commercial voice-over booth to a three-camera soap shoot. The goal of the theater year is to give you the ability to change gears without thinking. When the curtain goes up or the director calls “Action!” you’ll be ready.

THE300

ACTING I

Continue the Platform Year exploration of Meisner and Stanislavski techniques into the exercises of Bobby Lewis and Uta Hagen. Progress through a series of traditional acting exercises while also acting in monologues and scenes from theater texts of the 19th and 20th centuries. Discuss fundamental acting theory.

THE301

VOICE AND SPEECH III

Continue the exploration of vocal tools begun in Voice and Speech I and II, maintaining the goal of improved vocal clarity and expressiveness. Achieve vocal goals through vocal warm-up exercises, articulation drills and breath support exercises as well as through performances encouraging exploration of the voice as an emotional and characterization tool. Explore vocal skills necessary for all major areas of theater history, which support scene work in Acting I and II. Learn two dialects commonly used in contemporary theater. Explore choral singing as a means of volume support and projection for the stage.

THE302

MOVEMENT FOR ACTORS III

Build on the foundation laid in Movement for Actors I and II with continued exploration of physical awareness, expressiveness, flexibility and impulses. Continue experiential exercises for heightened awareness of the body as an acting instrument, with an added emphasis on period movement and basic theatrical dance styles. Build on toning and strengthening warm-ups for alignment, grace and grounding. Learn the basics of stage combat, beginning with hand-tohand combat.

THE303

IMPROVISATION II

Learn Viola Spolin’s theater games, from preliminary orientation exercises; space work; activity doing; and who, what, where games, to advanced transformationalcharacter work used as a rehearsal tool for dramatic scripts. Explore playfulness, expressiveness, group building skills, and focus. Work on developing the characters you explored in Acting I.

THE304

THEATER HISTORY/LITERARY ANALYSIS I

Read classic plays and explore their relationship to other art forms of the time as well as their context in world history. Form independent thought and opinions based on analysis. Learn the basics of dramaturgical research and information collection while working on the technical
aspects necessary for the performance of texts from the 19th and 20th centuries.

THE305

ACTING II

Increase comprehension of scene structure and acting requirements as established by
the text. Gain an understanding of the shifting acting requirements for scripts from the beginning of Greek/Roman theater through to modern drama of the 19th century. Increase awareness of a character’s intentions, motivations, and activities to fulfill the demands of the script, and of how to specifically achieve these in a scene. Increase focus and comfort on stage. Develop the ability to imaginatively create a character and relate to partners, as well as to adjust acting technique to suit the needs of stage performance versus film/television performance.

THE306

VOICE AND SPEECH IV

Continue the work explored in Voice and Speech III. In this advanced voice class, achieve the goal of vocal clarity and expressiveness through vocal warm-up exercises, articulation drills, and breath support exercises. Explore the use of the voice as an acting tool in performance. Develop the vocal skills necessary for all areas of theater history, which support the scene work in Acting I and II. Learn two dialects commonly used in contemporary theater.

THE307

MOVEMENT FOR ACTORS IV

Continue the work of Movement for Actors III. Explore physical awareness, expressiveness, flexibility and impulses,and experiential exercises for heightened awareness of the body as an acting instrument, with additional emphasis onperiod movement and basic theatrical dance styles. Build on toning and strengthening warm-ups for alignment,grace and grounding. Add basic weaponry skills to training in stage combat.

THE308

ONE-ACT PROJECT

Use the performance of one-act plays to work on multiple-character ensemble scenes, create and maintain characters over the course of a full script, and understandthe full character arc, throughline of action, multiple conflicts, climax and denouement of a script. Gain focus and stamina in performance. Learn the fundamentals of stage direction, such as composition, picturization, imagery, tempo, movement and technical requirements to develop appreciation and understanding of the director’s job and to reinforce a healthy actor-director relationship.

THE309

THEATER HISTORY/LITERARY ANALYSIS II

Continue the work begun in Theater History/Literary Analysis I. Read plays and gather dramaturgical research while exploring the world that produced the play. Explore theatrical texts beginning with the Greek and Roman theater and continue on through the early 19th century.

THE310

PRODUCTION PRACTICUM I

Learn the wide array of technical aspects that support a theatrical production, as well as professional procedures and work ethics for rehearsal and performance.