New York, March 27, 2006—For three weeks this June, there will be more Tony award-winning talent in a small classroom in Greenwich Village than on any Broadway stage. A select group of students will benefit from the tips of the trade from musical theater stars, choreographers, and casting agents as part of a new program just announced by The New School for Drama, The Summer Music Theater Immersion Experience. The program, which begins June 12, is designed to prepare aspiring performing artists for a career in music theater, and is open to undergraduate and graduate students, as well as professionals looking for more specialized training.
“Music theater is one of the most collaborative, difficult, and competitive fields of all performing arts, and The New School for Drama’s location in New York allows the program to take advantage of everything the city has to offer,” said Robert LuPone, director of The New School for Drama and co-artistic director of MCC Theater in New York City. “The Immersion Experience will provide master classes, workshops, and attention to the individual that will give students the ability to walk into any music theater audition or rehearsal prepared, confident, and ready to compete with other performers in the industry.”
Under the direction of New School Drama Faculty Member Keith Buhl and Music Theater Group producer Diane Wondisford, a faculty of distinguished industry professionals will be joined by visiting music theater artists and professionals who will teach master classes and workshops. Guest-instructors currently scheduled to teach include Tony Award/Drama Desk Award/Outer Critics Circle Award-winners Michael Cerveris (Sweeney Todd, Assassins, The Who’s Tommy), Wayne Cilento (Choreographer: The Who's Tommy, Sweet Charity, Wicked), Bill Irwin (Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Fool Moon, The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?), Donna McKechnie (A Chorus Line original cast), Donna Murphy (The King and I, Wonderful Town, Passion), Denis O’Hare (Take Me Out, Assassins, Sweet Charity), Michelle Pawk (Hollywood Arms, Mamma Mia!, Cabaret), Christopher Sieber (Spamalot, Chicago, Into the Woods), and Bernard Telsey (Casting Director: The Color Purple, Hairspray, Wicked, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, and co-artistic director of MCC Theater).
A new initiative spearheaded by New School for Drama Director Robert LuPone, the program is an extension of the school’s redesigned curriculum, which is focused not only on serious training, but also on performance and building the careers of a new generation of actors, directors, and playwrights. “Robert LuPone is an amazing resource for this school and for this program,” said New School President Bob Kerrey. “A wonderful actor, director, and teacher himself, he knows first hand what it takes to make it in this business. It’s about cultivating your talent with serious training, learning the insider’s tricks, and building contacts—especially in New York City. Three weeks with these folks in our Summer Music Theater Immersion Experience and you’ve accomplished all three tasks.”
The intensive program will include a challenging array of activities that engage students day and night. As music theater is a demanding art form that requires a wide range of skills, instruction will be offered in speech, voice, acting, and dance. Students will also have the opportunity to see three Broadway shows and speak to the casts afterward—giving them the rare chance to learn and interact with successful theater actors, dancers, and singers. Two of the productions featured in the program are Sweeney Toddand The Light in the Piazza. In addition, participants will receive two individual voice lessons, and two individual vocal coaching sessions. Small classes of no more that 24 participants will allow for copious feedback and help students access the full range of their imaginative and creative powers.
For more information about the Summer Music Theater Immersion Experience, including how to register for the program, please email [email protected], call 212.229.5859 x2628, or visit www.drama.newschool.edu.
At The New School for Drama, the instinct to create is revered. Through its interrelated, three-year MFA program in acting, directing, or playwriting, the school is forging the next generation of performing artists. A faculty of working professionals brings to the fore each student’s unique and original voice, and helps them establish a rooted sense of who they are as individuals and as artists. The New School’s history in the dramatic arts began in the 1940s, when the Dramatic Workshop, led by founder Erwin Piscator and a faculty including Stella Adler and Lee Strasberg, fostered artistic voices as distinctive as Tennessee Williams and Marlon Brando. Since 1994, the university has offered an MFA degree in the performing arts. For more information, visit www.drama.newschool.edu.