Clown Lab: An Exploration of the World of Theatrical Clown

JUL 6 – AUG 3 | Tuesdays 6:30 – 8:30PM ET

Taught by MELISSA MAHONEY

The clown is unabashed, unafraid, and unrelenting. She is in constant pursuit of pleasure, play, and of course, rip roaring laughter from an audience. But as performers, how do we find this elusive clown within ourselves? In this five-week course, we will dip our toes into the physically and emotionally rigorous world of the clown. We will learn how to activate the body, soften the mind, jump into the present moment, and take big risks on stage through honest, fully-expressive, openhearted play! No prior clown experience necessary, though prior acting training highly recommended.

$185

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Practical Aesthetics on Film: Where Scene Study & On-Camera Technique Meet

JUL 11 – AUG 15 | sundays, 10am – 12PM ET

Taught by CHIVONNE MICHELLE

Practical Aesthetics on Film will develop the actor’s ability to analyze a scene that honors the writer’s intentions, followed by the selection of a deeply personal and connected “as if” that allows for a fully committed pursuit of the action. Students will be required to rehearse their scenes outside of class with their scene partners online. All work in and outside of class will be recorded via Zoom. Following scene work there will be feedback from Chivonne. Each student will have the opportunity to work on three scenes over the course of six weeks, with each scene focusing on a different technical challenge. Scene one is all about applying the practical aesthetics technique. Scene two will take actors through the rigor of adding in an external, (such as physical combat or an accent, or an impediment like intoxication.) Scene three will tackle the challenge of self taping using new covid protocols. The goal of every class is to aid each actor in executing the most truthful and personal embodiment of the scene on camera.

$295

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WHOLE BODY VOCAL PRODUCTION: PART 1

JUL 7 – AUG 11 | WEDNESDAYs, 5 – 6:15PM ET

Taught by Quentin Lee Moore

“The voice is impelled by a desire to communicate.” – Chuck Jones

An introduction to the first 12 core exercises of Atlantic’s Chuck Jones based Vocal warm-up. This class is a voice & speech class that will help you to connect to your breath support and expressive range. It will help you speak more clearly and directly for stage work. It also helps singers. Students will begin to navigate unnecessary blocks of tension that inhibit deep breathing, experience the visceral sensation of an expanding range of resonance, and develop connection to expanded range of vocal expression. In Part 1: students learn the first 12 exercises of Atlantic’s Chuck Jones’ based vocal warm up. The idea of this work is to help the student navigate unnecessary blocks of tension that inhibit deep breathing, and thus range of full resonance, and expression. Release of unnecessary holding in the abdomen around the diaphragm, pelvis, pelvic floor, legs, spine, ribs, shoulders, neck, jaw, tongue, throat – aka, primary and secondary respiratory regions, is explored, so that the organic process of vocal production and the support inherent in the human animal for power and range, can be revealed via the reflexive responsive breath discovered spontaneously on impulse.

Students are introduced to Jones-based “kinesthetic awareness” experientially, through floor work explorations of the visceral sensation of “release” into gravity, and relaxation’s effect on breathing.

$225

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Intro to Stand-Up Comedy Writing, Part 1

JUL 19 – AUG 11 | Mondays & Wednesdays, 6:30 – 8PM ET

Taught by Michelle Capor

Do you enjoy making people laugh? Telling stories? Do your friends tell you you’re funny? Have you ever thought about doing stand up comedy but not sure how to begin? Have you done a little acting, but are wondering how stand up is different? This is a class dedicated to mastering the beginner basics of stand up comedy. Similarly to acting, Stand Up requires a high level of vulnerability and commitment to tell a story, how to find your own comedic voice, and what is unique about the way YOU see the world. Comedian/Actor Michelle Capor, will guide you through weekly writing assignments and performances to help you identify your own brand of funny as well as putting together your first 4-5 minutes of hilarious material. This class will finish with a final very fun, low stakes invited show. This will be a safe and encouraging space for all. Beginners welcome.

$255

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Practical Aesthetics & Tennessee Williams

Taught by KAREN KOHLHAAS

$150 to audit | $325 to participate fully

In this unique class, you will learn and apply the Practical Aesthetics acting technique to a substantial (12-15 minute) scene from a play by Tennessee Williams, and learn a lot about Williams and his work. No prior experience with Practical Aesthetics is required for this class, but all active participants must have previous acting training / scene study experience. It is also possible to enroll in this class as an auditor.

Tennessee Williams remains one of the most frequently produced playwrights of all time, with multiple productions of his plays occurring at any given moment, all over the world. His roles have been played by the greatest actors of each generation since they were written. Williams’ work is ideal for learning and exploring the Practical Aesthetics technique because of the vividness and depth of his characters, the brilliance of his plots and the poetry of his language.

Interspersed between the scenes will be readings from Williams essays on theater, and biographical details that relate to each play. Scenes will be cast based on the group. Thanks to Williams, there are many roles to choose from and everyone will have a great part. Registering for the class signifies that you will accept any role in which you are cast. Please only enroll in this class if you will prepare thoroughly, be a generous, communicative scene partner and give your whole heart to the work!

CLASSIC & CONTEMPORARY: THE POWER OF THE TEXT

Taught by MADDIE CORMAN & FRANK WOOD
$365

Taught by working professional actors, this class will use scenes from several classical and contemporary plays. Actors will be assigned material from both categories and asked to evaluate the different challenges of each. We will use the scenes to explore where the two types of texts diverge or converge when it comes to applying acting choices and technique. We expect to find that in all cases the careful examination of the text reveals character, but wonder if plays written in or close to our life-time persuade us to ignore questions of rhythm, rhyme and style to the detriment of the play’s potential; do we miss addressing character choices when a play written mostly in verse draws our attention to how we say something rather than why we are saying it? Starting with a table read of each play this class intends to make discussion of textual evidence a central aspect of exploration. When actors are on their feet we can celebrate the intermingling of the writers imagination and the actor’s imagination illuminated by their own biases and experience. We will challenge actors to defend their choices and encourage them to surprise us as well. We hope to incorporate our experience in professional theatre to help inform our teaching and will make room for questions and discussions about the lyrical and the more technical aspects of being a working actor. Material will be selected from work that Ms. Corman and Mr. Wood have performed. Examples include: A Winter’s Tale, Brendan Jacob Jenkin’s Appropriate, Bruce Norris’s Clybourne Park, Geoffrey Nauftt’s NEXT FALL, Tracy Letts’ August: Osage County, Richard Greenberg’s Babylon Line.

UNPACK THE MONOLOGUE: SELF TAPE

Taught by Ricardo Coke-Thomas

$365

An excellent opportunity to perfect your audition monologue tool kit with actor, manager and educator Mr. Coke-Thomas. The art of acting, in a lot of circumstances, is taught through your interactions with others, but what happens when there is no one else? What happens when you have to fill the moments on your own? It can be a daunting challenge, right? This class will show you how to breakdown and analyze the words, in order to create memorable moments and equip you with the tools to take any monologue to the next level. Learn how to approach the monologue and lift the text off the page freeing the actor up to play around with different choices and feel confident about doing so. We will discover the moments and find honesty in them. Participants will be introduced to the fundamentals of self-taping and apply these techniques to their work in class.

Participants will prepare a one to two-minute monologue prior to the first class.

INTRO TO STAND UP COMEDY WRITING

taught by michelle capor

$255

Do you enjoy making people laugh? Telling stories? Do your friends tell you you’re funny? Have you ever thought about doing stand up comedy but you’re not sure how to begin? Have you done a little acting, but are wondering how stand up is different? This is a class dedicated to mastering the beginner basics of stand up comedy. Similar to acting, Stand Up requires a high level of vulnerability and commitment to tell a story, how to find your own comedic voice, and what is unique about the way YOU see the world. Comedian / Actor Michelle Capor, will guide you through weekly writing assignments and performances to help you identify your own brand of funny as well as putting together your first 4-5 minutes of hilarious material. This class will finish with a final very fun, low stakes, invited show. This will be a safe and encouraging space for all. Beginners welcome.

MAGIC & POETIC REALISM 

taught by ANTHONY HOLIDAY

$245

Come explore and grow together as an artist! This class is for all artists, actors, performers and theater professionals interested in collectively developing their creative understanding of the works of playwrights that are Black, Puerto Rican, Mexican, Bi-Racial, etc. We are to explore the gambit of writers young and old. This second part class is to create a starting point with questions. A very specific set of questions that I’ve learned along the way. 

Imagine having the possibility to think on your own and justify your choices with characters that look like you, speak like you and have an ancestry as close to yours as Hamlet has to Shakespeare, Chekhov has to to Astrov.   The nuance, specificity and accessibility of language, poetic realism as well as context and history will be examined to further grow appreciation of the material.  Explore a room with complete safety and comfort under the tutelage of playwrights and actors. Succeed or fail unapologetic-ally with trying to analyze POC work of which we don’t know.

With these works that fall under Poetic and Magical realism or simply Realism I want you to always have a place to start. A simple technique that gets the juices flowing and the breath vibrating. 

Make no mistake there is no “right way” or “wrong way” it’s some tools that I’ve accumulated over time from the Atlantic Conservatory and Yale School of Drama that will steer us to “is this working” or “is this NOT working” as opposed to my other which was a free and boundless exploration of exploring your objective. This class will have a structure and we will learn to explore infinitely inside that structure. Most importantly, we will have fun with structure.

WHOLE BODY VOCAL PRODUCTION

taught by quentin lee more

$225

An Introduction to the next 12 core exercises of Atlantic’s Chuck Jones–based vocal warm-up. This class is a speaking voice & speech class that will help you to connect to your breath support and expressive range. It will help you speak more clearly and directly for stage work. It also helps singers. Students will begin to navigate unnecessary blocks of tension that inhibit deep breathing, experience the visceral sensation of an expanding range of resonance and develop connection to expanded range of vocal expression. In Part 2: students learn the second set of the 12 exercises which form the 24 core exercises of Atlantic’s Chuck Jones–based vocal warm–up. Students are introduced to Jones-based “kinesthetic awareness” experientially through floor work explorations of the visceral sensation of “release” into gravity and relaxation’s effect on breathing. Release of unnecessary holding in the abdomen around the diaphragm, pelvis, pelvic floor, legs, spine, ribs, shoulders, neck, jaw, tongue, throat – aka, primary and secondary respiratory regions – is explored, so that the organic process of vocal production and the support inherent in the human animal for power and range can be revealed via the reflexive responsive breath discovered spontaneously on impulse.

EPISODIC TELEVISION AUDITION WORKSHOP WITH CASTING DIRECTOR JACK BOWDAN

taught by JACK BOWDAN

$165

Hone and perfect your TV/Film audition skills in this 2-Day intensive with Casting Director Jack Bowdan. You will be assigned Guest Star and Co-Star scenes to prepare. In class, Jack generously works with you, giving you productive feedback and individualized adjustments for your scenes. Class additionally includes Q&A discussing Jack’s background in theatre and TV/film, professional industry information and question/answer period. Recent credits include “Prodigal Son” on Fox and “The Code” on CBS! TV/FILM Credits: Nine, Dreamgirls, Chicago, Everything Relative, Opening Doors/HBO. The television films Once Upon A Mattress, The Music Man, Young at Heart, Chasing the Dragon. The series “New York News,” “Going to Extremes,” “I’ll Fly Away.” East Coast casting for Warner Bros. Television (all pilots and TV films, 5 years), Sony Pictures Television, the pilots “Cold Feet” and “Lateline” and an extensive resume in theater, including Broadway, Off-Broadway, National Tours, and regional theater.

Chekhov: Uncle Vanya

taught by ANYA SAFFIR

$375

This class is for actors, directors, dramaturges, teachers and Chekhov-lovers who seek an intimate understanding of Uncle Vanya, as well as an expansion and refinement of their artistic practice. In the spirit of Stanislavsky and the Moscow Art Theater, we will begin the course with a careful read of textual selections and dramaturgical materials, and enjoy extensive ensemble conversation and vocabulary building for the scene study that will follow. Students will use the Practical Aesthetics script analysis method in order to make our textual discoveries and instincts playable, immediate, clear and compelling. As is always the case in our technique, we will use action and moment as our pillars: structure and script analysis followed by moment-to-moment freedom and intimacy. In this way, the class is a devoted training ground in Practical Aesthetics, a method uniquely suited to finding the spirit of abandon and free play that Chekhov so particularly invites.

Pre-requisite: Chekhov I & II.  Open to newcomers with some background in Chekhov and Practical Aesthetics, apply for consideration