Graduate Studies: Professional Actor Training Program:
Letter from Program Head
LETTER FROM THE HEAD OF THE PROGRAM
Welcome to our site, and thanks for your interest in our program. It is said that graduate study in any field should offer students a bridge to their intended profession. The Professional Actor Training Program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has offered such a bridge to its students for more than thirty years, and remains one of the most select and respected actor training programs in the country.
We offer our students a rigorous conservatory training program led by master teachers in excellent facilities, complemented by the opportunity for practical professional training as core members of PlayMakers Repertory Company, the professional LORT theatre associated with the Department of Dramatic Art at UNC Chapel Hill. Each graduating MFA student leaves the PATP earning membership in Actors Equity Association and takes part in the prestigious New Leagues Actor Presentations in New York. Summer opportunities include auditions for A Guthrie Experience (in summer 2009 PATP actors Flor De Liz Perez and Matthew Murphy were among twelve actors selected from leading training programs nationally; Marianne Miller represented the PATP at the Guthrie Experience for summer 2010) and the highly selective Chautauqua Theater Company. Third-year PATP actor Jimmy Kieffer represented the PATP at Chautauqua for summer 2010.
For fall 2011 we will be looking for a select group of talented and ambitious early-career professionals who are committed to furthering their training and to making a substantial contribution as core members of the PlayMakers acting company. PlayMakers’ Producing Artistic Director Joseph Haj, who provides PATP students with candid professional feedback and guidance throughout their time in the program, has been named by American Theatre magazine as one of the 25 theatre artists who will lead the American theatre in the next quarter century. Joe’s leadership and artistry is supplemented by outstanding guest directors and designers. Recent guest directors at PlayMakers include Seret Scott, Davis McCallum, Liesl Tommy, Brendon Fox, Timothy Douglas, Libby Appel, Trezana Beverley, Matthew Arbour, and Tom Quaintance.
A sample of PATP actors’ roles on the PlayMakers mainstage in the past two seasons would include Rosalind, Orlando, Celia, Oliver, and Touchstone in As You Like It; Harper in Angels in America; Grace and Carl in Opus; Kate Nickleby and Sir Mulberry Hawk (among many others) in Nicholas Nickleby; Ann and George Deever in All My Sons; and Cecily and Algernon in The Importance of Being Earnest, and five of the six roles in Shipwrecked: an Entertainment.
Classes in the program are no less rigorous and are the foundation of the training. In addition to regular classes with our superb resident faculty, the Professional Actor Training Program invites leading artistic and industry professionals to join us for workshops and master classes. Recent guest artistic professionals have included
--Ongoing musical theatre master classes with Broadway conductor and coach Steven Gross.
--An eight day residency with screen and stage actor John Carroll Lynch, with his remarkable workshop for young actors, “A Sense of Balance.”
--Two week basic acting workshop with returning PATP faculty member and four-time Emmy winner Joan Darling.
--Two week improv workshop with Zach Ward, Artistic Director of DSI Comedy Theatre.
--Commedia dell’arte master class with Carlos Garcia Estevez of Teatro Punto in Amsterdam.
Recent and upcoming workshops with industry professionals have included:
--Workshop with New York Casting Director Stephanie Klapper.
--Two-day industry and showcase workshop with Mark Schlegel of Cornerstone Talent Agency and Janet Foster of Janet Foster Casting in New York.
--Workshops with Mary Harden and Michael Kirsten of Harden/Curtis Talent Agency in New York.
The cost of graduate training can be a consideration for many prospective students. The Professional Actor Training Program is committed to limiting debt burden for its graduates. Currently most PATP actors receive partial or full tuition remission and a competitive stipend. Due to current economic uncertainties we cannot guarantee tuition and stipend packages in the future, but we remain committed to providing our MFA actors with extraordinary value in addition to exceptional professional training.
We invite you to audition in January and February of 2011 in New York, Chicago, or Chapel Hill. See "Applying to the Program" for information on applications and auditions.
Ray Dooley
Head, Professional Actor Training Program
