Nov/Dec 2010 Classes
Master Series: Chicago Aesthetics
Victory Gardens Fresh Squeezed puts its stamp on the PTC for the first time with this special lab that explores ways new plays are being created in Chicago.
Join local companies creating work through unique processes and with singular aesthetics. Participants will spend two consecutive Saturdays with each company, learning style, tone and developmental technique distinctive to their work but applicable to your own. This class is appropriate for writers, actors, and directors, but be prepared to do all three.
Included in the cost of registration are complimentary tickets to attend a performance by both The Neo-Futurists and The New Colony. Students are asked to attend The Neo-Futurist’s Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind on Friday, November 26 at 11:30pm or Sunday, November 28 at 7:00pm at The Neo-Futurarium ( 5153 N. Ashland Ave. ). Attending one of these performances will be crucial to establishing a shared vocabulary for class. If you are not able to attend either of these performances you must let us know at time of registration. Students will also be invited to attend The New Colony’s Pancake Breakfast opening Nov. 27 at The Viaduct (3111 N Western Ave)
Instructor: Members of the Neo-Futurist and The New Colony ensembles
Location: Victory Gardens Biograph Theater
Day of the week: Saturday
Term Length: Four Weeks (span of five weeks with Thanksgiving weekend off)
Class Schedule:
Saturday, November 13, 2010 from 4:00 to 7:00 PM (The New Colony)
Saturday, November 20, 2010 from 4:00 to 7:00 PM (The New Colony)
Saturday, December 4, 2010 12:00 to 3:00 PM (Neo-Futurists)
Saturday, December 11, 2010 12:00 to 3:00 PM (Neo-Futurists)
Class Limit: 16 | Cost: $150 | Register
A One Day Intensive Workshop In Music Theater Auditioning
Make your 8, 16 or 32 bar audition fabulous! Join Music Director Margaret James and Actor/Singer/Teacher Kathy Cowan as they lead a one day intensive workshop in Musical Theater auditioning. This innovative workshop will focus on the student, providing irreplaceable practical experience with thoughtful inspiring guidance and technical and artistic direction to bring out the truth and dynamism of your performance. Please bring sheet music for the accompanist.
Instructors: Kathy Cowan and Margaret James
Location: Victory Gardens Rehearsal Room
Date: Saturday December 18, 2010 | Time: 12pm-4pm
Class Limit: 12 | Cost: $100 | Register
January 2011 Classes
Playwriting Track
Literary Adaptation
Chicago Playwright Seth Bockley will guide writers through adapting literary source materials for theater-- discovering the heart of a story, and the best way to bring an author’s voice to the stage. Techniques will include approaches to dialogue, scene structuring, writing for visual theater, devised adaptation, and dynamic collaboration with authors.
Instructor: Seth Bockley
Location: Victory Gardens Rehearsal Room
Day of the week: Saturdays | Time: 1pm-4pm
Term Length: Eight Weeks | First Class: January 8, 2011
Class Limit: 12 | Cost: $250 | Register
Acting Track
Improv & Instinct
Get out of your head! Rebecca Sohn’s class will help you get out of your head by getting you into your body. She’ll help you create characters that move differently and have a different point of view. You’ll make clear, active choices that take you away from judgment and into the movement. All levels of experience are welcome.
Instructor: Rebecca Sohn
Location: Victory Gardens Rehearsal Room
Day of the week: Mondays | Time: 10am-1pm
Term Length: Eight Weeks | First Class: January 3, 2011
Class Limit: 12 | Cost: $250 | Register
Monologues & Auditions
Taught by Court Theatre Casting Director Cree Rankin, this class will follow on developing techniques for auditions. Included will be ways to determine what is expected of different types of auditions, résumé review, preparing sides, and researching the people/companies you audition for. Participants will work on monologues for general auditions and will read pre-chosen sides with readers. Independent work is required.
Instructor: Cree Rankin
Location: Victory Gardens Rehearsal Room
Day of the week: Mondays | Time: 6pm-9pm
Term Length: Eight Weeks | First Class: January 3, 2011
Class Limit: 12 | Cost: $250 | Register
Scene Study
Join 25-year veteran actor/singer and Professional Training Center Director Robert Cornelius for an exploration of technique through scene study work using a variety of disciplines to further develop and sharpen acting instincts. Independent outside work is a required component of this class.
Instructor: Robert Cornelius
Location: Victory Gardens Rehearsal Room
Day of the week: Mondays | Time: 1pm-4pm
Term Length: Eight Weeks | First Class: January 3, 2011
Class Limit: 12 | Cost: $250 | Register
Acting through Song
Designed for the currently active performer, Acting Through Song is perfect for anyone wanting a new perspective on his or her performance. Season cabaret and musical theater performer George Howe will help students explore how to tell a story through song. Students should come prepared with a solo for the first class.
Instructor: George Howe
Location: Victory Gardens Rehearsal Room
Day of the week: Tuesdays | Time: 6pm-9pm
Term Length: Eight Weeks | First Class: January 4, 2011
Class Limit: 10 | Cost: $200 | Register
Master Series
Master Class: 10 Min. Plays
Join DePaul Theatre School Dean and VG Playwrights Ensemble Member Dean Corrin for a class that proves a play doesn’t have to be long to be large. Ten-minute plays can explore big issues on a small scale. This class presents techniques for finding the essence of your idea and giving it a complete and immediate dramatic action.
Instructor: VG Playwrights Ensemble Member Dean Corrin
Location: Victory Gardens Richard Christiansen Theater
Day of the week: Mondays | Time: 6pm-9pm
Term Length: Eight Weeks | First Class: January 3, 2011
Class Limit: 12 | Cost: $250 | Register
Master Class: Voice & Dialect
Taught by acclaimed dialect coach and Lifeline Theatre artistic ensemble member, Elise Kauzlaric, the focus of this class will be on dialects most useful for stage and film work as well as the fundamentals of healthy vocal technique. Students will work in a number of dialects tailored to their specific personal goals through ear training and text work
with scenes and monologues.
Instructor: Elise Kauzlric
Location: Victory Gardens Richard Christiansen Theater
Day of the week: Tuesdays | Time: 1pm-4pm
Term Length: Eight Weeks | First Class: January 4, 2011
Class Limit: 12 | Cost: $200 | Register
Master Class: Pinter in Winter
Come work with the Master, VG Artistic Director Dennis Zacek. This scene study course will explore the intricacies of one of the greatest dramatists of the 20th century, Harold Pinter. Independent outside work is a required component of this class. Students are required to audition for this course. Please bring a headshot and résumé to audition.
Instructor: Dennis Zacek
Location: Victory Gardens Rehearsal Room
Day of the week: Saturdays | Time: 10am-1pm
Term Length: Eight Weeks | First Class: January 8, 2011
Auditions: November 29th at 11am & December 13th at 1pm
Both auditions will be held at the Biograph Theater
Class Limit: 12 | Cost: $250 | Register
No deposit necessary to audition.
Master Class: Singing Technique for Actors
Don't be afraid! Your voice is just muscle. You can learn to use it better. Come and work on your singing technique without fear. Vocal Pedagogue Kathy Cowan and Music Director Margaret James can teach you how to use your voice well. Classes will include personal evaluation, instruction specific to you, general voice work and then practical
experience getting your new, strong, healthy technique into your material. Four weeks that can change your singing for the rest of your life. Have confidence that your voice can sing an 8-show week!
Instructors: Kathy Cowan and Margaret James
Location: Victory Gardens Rehearsal Room
Day of the week: Wednesdays | Time: 7pm-10pm
Term Length: Four Weeks
Class Schedule: March 2nd, March 9th, March 16th, and March 23rd
Class Limit: 12 | Cost: $150 | Register
Access
The Artists Development Workshop
(in association with The Access Project)
A playwriting course which emphasizes developing the dramatic voices of previously unheard populations, particularly disabled people. The class is fully integrated between disabled and non-disabled writers, and provides a relaxed yet structured atmosphere to develop ideas, read work aloud, discuss, and re-write. Limited enrollment. Donations to the Access Project accepted.
Instructor: Lisa Dillman
Location: Victory Gardens Rehearsal Room
Day of the week: Saturdays | Time: 1pm to 4pm
Term Length: Eight Weeks | First Class: Saturday, January 8, 2011
Cost: $50 donation suggested | Register
March 2011 Workshop
Performance Workshop with Tim Miller
Join Tim Miller and a group of like-minded artists in an intensive week-long workshop exploring the creation of original personal performance. Tim will share a variety of strategies for mining the tremendous energies and stories in our lives and transforming them into theater. Using personal memories and myths as a jumping off point, participants will see how a deep sense of one's own history creates performances that jump out from the body onto the stage. The fierce creativity generated in the workshop will culminate in an ensemble-generated public performance. Please bring your hearts and brains, your hopes and fears.
Class dates and times are as follows:
Wednesday, March 2, 2011 from 6:00 to 10:00 PM • Thursday, March 3, 2011 from 6:00 to 10:00 PM
Friday, March 4, 20100 from 6:00 to 10:00 PM • Saturday, March 5, 2011 from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM
Sunday, March 6, 2011 from 3:00 PM to 9:00 PM (through end of performance)
Sunday, March 6, 2011 Workshop Performance at 7:30 PM
Essential Info: Last year’s class filled up quickly, reserve early
Cost: $250 | Earlybird/Returning: $200 | Register
Term length: Five-day workshop with a final public performance.
First class: Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Questions? Contact
Robert Cornelius
773.549.5788
rcornelius@victorygardens.org
