Graduate Studies: Professional Actor Training Program:
Curriculum
Training: Course of Study
First Year: Foundations
Acting (Drama 720): Action and objective, personalization and creative use of self, affective memory, moment-to-moment awareness, given circumstances, “targets”; beginning acting for the camera.
Voice/Speech/Text (Drama 722): Athletic and cyclical breathing; alignment; dynamic tension; warm-up; range extension; pitch and stress work; 360 degree resonance; vocal care and stamina; expansion through emotion; improving speech detail; introduction to International Phonetic Alphabet; General American pronunciation in varying contemporary and classical styles; text analysis.
Movement (Drama 724): Balance, physical/psychological extension, flexibility, stress/adaptive strategies, sensory acuity. Empty handed combat; circus skills.
Rehearsal and Performance (Drama 726): Appropriate roles with PlayMakers Repertory Company, studio productions, and rehearsal projects.
Second Year: Variations
Acting (Drama 721): Application of acting process to a variety of classical and formal texts including Shakespeare; continuing use of camera.
Voice/Speech/Dialects (Drama 723): Application of advanced vocal technique to scene study, classical texts, and demanding performance spaces; develop an approach to character voice and character perspective; explore dialect and accent study that applies advanced use of International Phonetic Alphabet.
Movement (Drama 725): Transforming and masking, increasing physical and imaginative range, understanding how movement creates meaning.
Rehearsal and Performance (Drama 727): Continuing work at PlayMakers Repertory Company, studio productions, and rehearsal projects.
Third Year: Synthesis
Acting (Drama 728A): Self-scripting; the business of acting; showcase preparation and presentation in New York City; continuing use of camera; appropriate roles with PlayMakers Repertory Company; projects.
Movement (Drama 728M): Aikido and T'ai Chi Ch'uan for the actor.
Voice/Speech (Drama 728V): Camera integration including commercial & scene technique, auditions, and original film projects. Refining and integrating performance skills on and off stage; basic microphone and voiceover technique.
Guest Workshops
Course of Study is supplemented by workshops and special classes taught by distinguished guests. Past workshops: Pat McCorkle (McCorkle Casting), Daniel Swee (Lincoln Center Theatre), Jay Binder (Binder Casting), Janet Foster (Janet Foster Casting), Zan Sawyer-Dailey (Actors Theatre of Louisville), Stephanie Klapper (Stephanie Klapper Casting), Julie Tucker (Julie Tucker Casting), Liz Woodman (Liz Woodman Casting), Heidi Griffiths (NY Public Theater), Mary Harden and Nancy Curtis (Harden/Curtis Associates), Mark Schlegel (Cornerstone Talent Agency), and creative artists such as Libby Appel, Liesl Tommy, Trezana Beverly, Anne Bogart, P.J. Paparelli, Mark Rydell, John Carroll Lynch, Ellen McLaughlin, Brendon Fox.
