Performances can be exhilarating, but we also love to focus on an actor's process. Each fall and spring, the young company offers a variety of programs to support and challenge developing actors. For performers in grades 1-12, we hold weekly acting and dance classes, private voice lessons and special workshops connected to young company and Mainstage productions. We vary the structure and focus of our programs to better address the developmental stage and needs of each age group.
The private voice lesson slots have been filled. We are looking to make more time available, so contact Caitlin if you'd like to be put on a waiting list.
Note: There will be no classes on Columbus Day, Monday, October 11.
Download a registration form
Programs
Overture (grades 1-3)
Act 1 (grades 4-6)
Act 2 (grades 7-9)
Act 3 (grades 10-12)
Workshops (for all ages)
Private Voice Lessons (for all ages)
overture
grades 1-3
Theatre is the art of telling a story. Our interdisciplinary overture classes develop voice, acting and dance skills through the exploration of various tales from around the world. Each class will focus on different dance styles and acting skills.
overture: Tappin' Tales
Saturdays | 9:30-11am
September 18 - November 6, 2010
Small Rehearsal Room
Working with three different instructors, students will develop singing, tap dance and mime skills while retelling folk tales from around the world.
In our classes for older performers, every individual starts by taking an Introduction to Acting class at his or her grade level. Based in Stanislavsky's system, the introductory classes give all our actors fundamental skills as well as a shared vocabulary. After Introduction to Acting, students can take the "Next Level" classes in whatever order makes sense for their schedule and skills.
act one
grades 4-6
act 1 for actors in grades 4-6
Living truthfully in imaginary circumstances is one definition of acting that elementary aged actors usually don't have trouble with! We work to help them confidently channel their energy and imagination into performance!
act 1: Introduction to Acting
Mondays | 3:20-4:20pm
September 13 -November 8, 2010
Large Rehearsal Room
Next Level: Acting the Action
Mondays | 3:20-4:20pm
September 13 - November 8, 2010
Small Rehearsal Room
Instructor: Caitlin Lowans
act two
grades 7-9
Actors constantly balance a strong sense of self with an ability to work together as a group. These classes for act 2 focus on developing strong ensembles and instilling self-confidence necessary "to be private in public".
act 2: Introduction to Acting
Mondays | 4:30-5:45pm
September 13 -November 8, 2010
Large Rehearsal Room
Instructor: Caitlin Lowans
Next Level: Constructing Character
Mondays | 4:30-5:45pm
September 13 -November 8, 2010
Small Rehearsal Room
act 2 dance: Broadway Pop
Saturdays | 9-10:15am
September 18 - November 6, 2010
Instructor: Laura Graczyk
With musicals like Hairspray, The Wedding Singer and 13!, the distance between music video and musical theatre dance is shortening. Act 1 students may request permission to join this class.
act three
grades 10-12
Ways of thinking about acting did not begin and end with Stanislavsky. With act 3, we strive to open windows into both professional theatre artist training techniques—like those of Meisner, Suzuki, LeCoq, Laban and Linklater—and disciplines like directing and playwriting.
act 3: Introduction to Acting
Tuesdays | 6:00-7:30pm
September 14 - November 2, 2010
Small Rehearsal Room
Instructor: Eve Kagan
Next Level: LeCoq
Mondays | 6:00-7:30pm
September 13 - November 8, 2010
Small Rehearsal Room
Instructor: Eve Kagan
act 3 dance: Lyrical
Saturdays | 10:15-11:30am
September 18 - November 6, 2010
Instructor: Laura Graczyk
This fusion of jazz, modern and ballet is perfect for those looking to brush-up on their skills or to prepare for Oklahoma! auditions.
workshops
all grades
Our workshops are one time only events usually centered around a Mainstage or young company performance.
Perfect Harmony: Instant A Capella
Develop your inner a capella singer in this glee-ful workshop. (Perfect Harmony is rated PG-13 as it contains mild profanity, irreverent humor, and excessive use of 80's pop songs.) $20 (includes a student ticket to the show)
Saturday, September 18, 2010, 2:15-3:45pm
Large Rehearsal Room
Turn of the Screw: Page to Stage
Learn how to turn a short story into an original work of literature. $20 (includes a student ticket to the show)
Saturday, October 30, 2010, 2:15-3:45pm
Large Rehearsal Room
Winter Show Audition Workshops
Prepare for your Winter Show audition with one of these workshops. In addition to a sneak peek of the dance call, we'll work on selection and performance of audience pieces. Workshop attendance isn't required to audition, but since they're led by the Winter Show artistic team members, it's a great idea! Free. Sign up for this workshop when you register for an audition time.
Tues., October 26 and Wed., October 27
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat 4:00-4:45pm
13! 5:00-6:15pm
with Caitlin Lowans
Oklahoma! 6:30-7:45pm
with Chris Carcione and John Howrey
Private Voice Lessons
For All Ages
The young company offers half-hour long private voice lessons Mondays through Thursdays in the late afternoon and evening. Students sign up for a twelve-week semester that culminates in a public recital. Lessons will begin in mid-September and continue through the end of November. Private voice lessons are $300 per semester.
Instructors: Jeanne LaForgia, John Howrey, Liam Forde
Instructors
Chris Carcione Chris previously worked with the young company on Les Miserables (Director), Sweeney Todd (Director), West Side Story (Choreographer/Co-Director), 42nd Street (Director/Choreographer) and The Pajama Game (Choreographer). This fall, he will direct The Best Christmas Pageant Ever in Stoneham's Mainstage season. He directed The Shape of Things with The SpontaneousTheater Project, a fringe company he co-founded. Chris is the Assistant to the Artistic Director at the Huntington Theatre Company where his assistant directing credits include The Miracle at Naples, Becky Shaw and Prelude to a Kiss. For Rose, who taught me everything I know about musical theatre.
Liam Forde was musical director for this summer's Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. He is entering his senior year at the Boston Conservatory pursuing a BFA in Musical Theatre. Favorite music direction credits include Gypsy (Seacoast Repertory Theater), Hair (Prescott Park Arts Festival), and the Boston Conservatory’s Cabaret.
Laura Graczyk recently choreographed The Pirates of Penzance and Footloose for the young company. Laura is going to be a sophomore at the Boston Conservatory of Music and is a proud member of Cellar Door Productions. She was last seen as the White Queen in the world premiere of Alice, written by Lesley Anderson and Andrew Barbato.
John Howrey (Private Voice Lessons) Stoneham: Footloose (2010), Les Miserables; The Winter 2010 Young Company Cabaret, 42nd Street, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Once Upon A Mattress, Footloose (2005). Elsewhere: Bye Bye Birdie (ACT, DSMS); The Rocky Horror Show (Suffolk University); Oklahoma! (DSHS); Personals; Pageant (Naughty Austin); Guys and Dolls (DSMS); You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown (AMT); Evita; The Santaland Diaries (ZACH), and more. John will be working with Chris Carcione on the Winter 2011 young company production of Oklahoma! and will be on Stoneham's Mainstage as music director for Sunfish. In his real life, John is a graphic designer.
Eve Kagan is a professional actress (AEA/SAG) and international teaching-artist. She spent the last two years running the IB Drama program at the International School of Uganda. Eve has performed in the Boston area since 2005, playing the title role in Gypsy at Stoneham Theatre and receiving an IRNE nomination for her work in the critically acclaimed production of Talking to Terrorists with Súgán Theatre. Eve trained as an actress in LA, NYC and London (LAMDA), and has taught theatre courses in acting, movement, Shakespeare, and theatre for social change to students at Huntington, Stoneham, and Wheelock Family theatres. Eve received her EdM in Arts in Education from Harvard – her research focused on the power of theatre to combat apathy and develop empathy in youth through active dialogue and creative collaboration.
Jeanne LaForgia (Private Voice Lessons) begins her third season as a vocal instructor for the Young Company. Jeanne was previously head of Performing Arts at Boston University Academy where she taught voice and directed over 25 musical and dramatic productions. She has written and directed for Boston Lyric Opera's Young Audiences Program. On stage, Jeanne has played numerous leading soprano musical theater and opera roles throughout the country. She frequently performs Broadway and cabaret standards with recent appearances at the Scullers Jazz Club and was featured on National Public Radio. Jeanne performed and taught voice for many summers at the Tanglewood Institute and Music Center. In 2004, she received the Harvard Club Prize for Excellence in Teaching. She holds a BA in Drama and English from Dartmouth College and a MM in Vocal Performance from Boston University.
Caitlin Lowans has directed or co-directed nineteen shows for the young company. For the Winter and Summer programs: Cats, My Fair Lady, West Side Story, Wonderful Town, Company, The Boyfriend, What the Wolf Saw, Once Upon a Mattress, Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella, Just So, Damn Yankees, How to Eat Like a Child, and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. For the Resident Youth Ensemble, she directed The Trojan Women and The Rimers of Eldritch. In 2007, she and Joy Lamberton of Playhouse Education co-founded Kids4Kids, for which she has directed Go, Dog. Go!, Twelfth Night; Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Night's Dream. For the Mainstage, she has helmed eight shows, most recently My Fair Lady and The Dinosaur Musical. Her Thrill Me for the Emerging Stages series earned her an IRNE nomination for best musical and best director. Caitlin holds an EdM in Arts in Education from Harvard University. For Stoneham's Season 11, she will direct The Turn of the Screw and Sunfish on the Mainstage, and 13 for the young company.
Questions? Contact us! (781)279-7885 x104, or: education@stonehamtheatre.org
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