Theatre Historiography: (Re)Imagining Th
This course approaches the study of theatre practices and theories using historiographic methods that challenge canonical narratives about performance that have long dominated theater history curricula. It raises important questions such as: What constitutes a theatre history? Who has historically been responsible for narrating theatre’s past? What sources have been used? What biases have been present in attempts to construct a global theatre history narrative? Why is understanding histories of theatre and performance relevant today? Unlike a traditional theatre history course that follows a chronological and geographically organized structure, this course encourages students to act as historiographers, proposing unique and innovative genealogies of the past.
The course is structured following a
constellation
approach that organizes plays, performances, and theories from various places and times around a theme. The initial part of the course will serve as an introduction, exploring key, often competing concepts in theatre scholarship, such as history vs. historiography; canonical vs. decolonial, anti-racist, anti-ableist methodologies; and text-based traditions vs. embodied practices. We will then immerse ourselves in the study of constellations, including “Embodied Practice”, “Materialities: architecture, spaces and objects”, “Spectatorship”, “Colonial Past-Presents.” Constellations incorporate canonical and non-canonical dramatic texts and theories. Critical approaches, plays and performances within a constellation don't explicitly converse; instead, they exist in tension, responding to our object-formation and revealing a self-reflective dimension. Constellations focus on both the cases themselves and our epistemic procedures for examining the past.
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Instructor:
Maria Jose Contreras
Info - 3 points
FUNDAMENTALS OF DIRECTING
Directing is the art of articulating and sharing vision. This course will explore how directors locate the deep “why” behind their work, both their oeuvre and their individual projects, and how that “why” translates into every element of production: design, casting, direction of the actors, and producing choices. We will study the articulation of vision through both the macro and micro lens: how directors develop the big vision behind a project and also how directors communicate vision in the moment to moment work of a rehearsal process. The first part of every class will be devoted to the macro: articulation of vision. We will study master directors and the way they translate intention into aesthetic choices and process. We will learn a process of excavating the deepest intentions of the author (be that the playwright, an auteur director, or a collective) and integrating those intentions thoughtfully into all other production choices. And we will practice articulating the vision behind a dream project. The second part of each class will be a practicum exploring the communication directors use when working with actors to craft scenes. Students will apply fundamental directing skills through a progression from silent scenes to neutral scenes and finally scenes of their own choosing.
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Instructor:
Lisa Rothe
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Instructor:
Katherine Wilkinson
Info - 3 points
HISTORY OF PERFORMANCE
This class will look at selected eras of theater with an emphasis on performance.
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Instructor:
Bertha Ferdman
Info - 3 points
INTRODUCTION TO DRAMATURGY
This course provides an introduction to major schools of thought about play structure and the practice of dramaturgy in the western theatre. Through directed readings and an ongoing practical project centered around one play, students will develop a deeper understanding of how dramatic writing functions as a blueprint for a life on the stage, and a refined vocabulary to describe story structures and dramatic writing techniques. By learning to view and question a play from a kaleidoscopic range of angles, students will enhance their abilities to take a printed text onto the live stage.
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Instructor:
E. C Parker
Info - 3 points
SOLO SHOWS
We will use the experience of writing a piece with built-in constraints – cast size with a solo show – to expand our thinking about what is a theatrical event. We will work toward becoming more in touch with our imaginations and in greater awareness and command of what we know. We will explore what is of interest to each of us now, through in-class writing and outside assignments.
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Instructor:
Leslie Ayvazian
Wikipedia Info - 3 points
CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN PLAYS
A Thematic Exploration
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Instructor:
James Ijames
Info - 3 points
ARTISTIC RESEARCH
This graduate course is designed to explore the ways in which research can be approached through artistic practices. Through interdisciplinary approaches, students will explore and develop the use of artistic methodologies in their research practices, culminating in a final multidisciplinary art project that demonstrates the integration of these practices into their research.
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Instructor:
Maria Jose Contreras
Info - 3 points
SPEECH I
In this course, students will enhance and deepen their understanding of how the human voice and articulators partner together to create language. They will explore their own individual Idiolects and gain the skills to recalibrate their instruments in order to enhance the expressiveness and dynamic contrast of their speech. The phonemes of the International Alphabet (IPA) will be employed to specify the sounds of Detailed North American English (DNAE).
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Instructor:
Elizabeth Hayes
Info - 2 points
VOICE & ALEXANDER TECHNIQUE I
In the 1890s, Frederick Mathias (F.M.) Alexander, a Shakespearian actor and spoken recitalist from Australia, began experiencing severe voice loss after he performed. The medical profession of his day prescribed vocal rest which worked well enough until Alexander’s next performance when he would leave the stage as hoarse as before. Frustrated that his vocal issues were not resolving, Alexander intuited that it must be something that he was doing to himself while he performed that was contributing to the loss of his voice. Doctors agreed with Alexander but they were at a loss to say what he was doing that was causing his problems.Thus began F. M.’s journey. The discoveries he made are what we now know as the Alexander Technique, and in the past 100 plus years, AT has become a valuable part of the curriculum in music conservatories and drama schools throughout the world. Many extraordinary actors have been lifelong students of the Alexander Technique for the many ways it helps their body, voice and breath in performance.
Our work together is experiential and sensory, and it involves a way of thinking which is highly creative and improvisational. It is an art, and it takes time to evolve in us. At the beginning things are bound to be confusing. You are learning a new language—a language of body and breath—and you cannot understand it through your old ways of feeling or visualizing. Confusion is absolutely normal, but it shifts as you develop a new awareness of yourself. Our work is a process of discovery and the only requirement for you as a student is to stay open and to try not to worry about getting something “right.” This is easier said than done, but I will be reminding you of it all the time. It helps if you can keep a “beginner’s mind” so that every lesson becomes a source of wonder.
For an actor, your body is your instrument and how you use your body determines how well you move on stage, produce your voice, and perform. The Alexander Technique is a mind-body discipline that helps students improve their psycho-physical coordination while helping them become aware of physical habits that may be inhibiting their breathing and the expressiveness, energy and strength of their voice and body. In our work together, you will begin to gain an awareness of improved physical coordination and ease leading to a freer and more expressive voice and body.
Vocal production relies on psychological and physical coordination—an alignmen
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Instructor:
Jean McClelland
Info - 1 points
THE ACTOR'S BODY III
This course deepens the actor’s working understanding of their body as “instrument” and teaches practical application of learned skill sets for professional practice and complex use.The course achieves this objective by examining current practice and providing solutions for real time obstacles and challenges actors are encountering in their daily practice in classes and rehearsals. Challenges faced are explored specifically in context of class vocabulary as well as by providing increasingly complex tasks that require use of multiple skills sets at once.The course continues the work of developing physical ease and awareness and expands each actor also to prepare body and being for work in ensemble.
AMERICAN SPECTACLE
In this workshop, students will create original writing that is in conversation with American theatrical traditions beyond the proscenium. We will investigate and engage theatrical forms, such as the side show, courtroom drama, violence as spectacle and performance art. The aim is to encourage students to think more expansively and non-traditionally in their approach to writing and making theatre.
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Instructor:
Lynn Nottage
Wikipedia Info - 3 points
LEADERSHIP FOR STAGE MANAGERS I
LEADERSHIP - STAGE MANAGE
Position, people, procedures, and productivity: this class will introduce first year students to the concept of the stage manager as the CE/OO (Chief Executive/Operating Officer) for a production. The primary focus will be on human resources management; organizational charts for both the commercial and not- for-profit arenas will be introduced and “best leadership practices” will be discussed. Texts and reading materials from non-theatrical sources will provide the basis for discussion. An individualized reading- writing project and presentation will spotlight the role of the stage manager within the larger context of theatrical production.
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Instructor:
Michael Passaro
Info - 3 points
STAGE MANAGEMENT METHODOLOGIES I
SM METHODS: CREATING BWAY SHOW
The course aims to offer students a realistic view and understanding of what is involved in maintaining a long-running commercial musical production. Through discussion with professionals and practical presentation we will explore the many and varied aspects of this collaborative industry.
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Instructor:
Sarah Harris
Info - 3 points
STAGE MANAGEMENT & TECHNICAL PRODUCTION
STAGE MGMT. & TECH. PRODU
The class will explore all aspects of modern technical theatre as currently practiced on Broadway. The intent will be to develop the vernacular and concepts necessary for the modern Stage Manager to communicate effectively with their technical departments and to have a more than passing understanding of what problems those departments are forced to cope with in the production scheme.
The ultimate goal being an appreciation and deeper understanding of the work performed by the technical departments, leading to enhanced co-operation on the part of all concerned.
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Instructor:
Daniel Hoffman
Wikipedia Info - 3 points
OTHER FRONTIERS IN STAGE MANAGEMENT
OTHER FRONTIERS: DANCE
TBD
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Instructor:
Jacqueline Reid
Info - 1.5 points
THEATRE MANAGEMENT & ADMINISTRATION I
THEATRE MGMT & ADMIN I
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Instructor:
Steven E Chaikelson
CULPA: 5
Info
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Instructor:
Timothy A Hess
Info - 3 points
PRESS, PUBLICITY, & AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT
PRESS, PUB. & AUD. DEVELO
This semester, you will create a publicity campaign for a Broadway show opening this season. During our
second class, you will be assigned the show that you will work on all semester. Each weekly assignment on
your show leads up to our final class on December 10th, when you will each give a brief presentation on the
challenges and successes you found while working on your show.
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Instructor:
Chris Boneau
Wikipedia Info - 3 points
ADVERTISING FOR THEATRE
This course is designed to give an overall introduction to advertising for theatre. From
developing strategy to analyzing data, students will be introduced to elements of advertising
including strategy, creative, traditional advertising, and digital advertising, then develop a clear
understanding of how each of those tools are used in the theatre industry.
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Instructor:
Amanda Pekoe
Info - 1.5 points
SEMINAR IN STAGE MANAGEMENT III
MUSICAL STRUCTURE
Musicals, especially those that have traditionally originated on Broadway, are complex pieces of machinery that are designed to produce a variety of energies in the theater. When taken collectively, those energies constitute the aesthetic of the experience. As with plays, stage managers are charged with coordinating all of a musical’s production elements. However, stage managers should also be able to view a musical from every angle; that is, read it intelligently and analyze it dramatically so they can accurately gauge their contribution to the overall aesthetic. This course seeks to provide stage managers with a customized template to do that: in other words, how to connect what’s on the page and the stage to their own standard methodologies, cue calling, and the CEO/COO perspective. In the contemporary professional landscape, these are important tools that will help them optimize their work on musicals.
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Instructor:
Michael Passaro
Info - 3 points
CRITICAL ISSUES IN STAGE MANAGEMENT
INTIMACY DIRECTION FOR SM
Conflict Resilience. Developing the comfort and skills necessary to respond to disagreements and mis-alignments is essential for leaders and stage managers. Through a series of discussions, experienced guests, reading, role-playing, and in-class exercises, this workshop style class will present an overview of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) and Restorative Process theory and techniques with a practical focus on building our skills and comfort level to be able to reframe conflict as a chance for learning, understanding, and change.
Exceeding EDI. The impact of incorporating Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, Accessibility and Belonging into the commercial theater industry in a post George Floyd era. As stage managers, it is crucial that there is a framework for supporting the evolving identities and needs of the many populations present in a theater setting. Through a series of articles, in-class discussions, written reflections and conversations with working professionals, we will develop an understanding of a variety of social issues that currently exist in the industry while building a toolkit on how to navigate them.
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Instructor:
Katherine A Mahoney
Info - 1.5 points
CRITICAL ISSUES IN STAGE MANAGEMENT
CRIT ISSUES: CONFLICT RES
Conflict Resilience. Developing the comfort and skills necessary to respond to disagreements and mis-alignments is essential for leaders and stage managers. Through a series of discussions, experienced guests, reading, role-playing, and in-class exercises, this workshop style class will present an overview of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) and Restorative Process theory and techniques with a practical focus on building our skills and comfort level to be able to reframe conflict as a chance for learning, understanding, and change.
Exceeding EDI. The impact of incorporating Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, Accessibility and Belonging into the commercial theater industry in a post George Floyd era. As stage managers, it is crucial that there is a framework for supporting the evolving identities and needs of the many populations present in a theater setting. Through a series of articles, in-class discussions, written reflections and conversations with working professionals, we will develop an understanding of a variety of social issues that currently exist in the industry while building a toolkit on how to navigate them.
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Instructor:
Fredric Hanson
Info - 1.5 points
Navigating DEAIB: Strategies for Stage M
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility and Belonging (DEIAB) is more than a series of practices; it incorporates values and principles that run counter to the traditional, exclusionary power dynamics that have impacted the commercial theatre industry for decades. With a focus on creating or re-establishing positive relationships amongst all community members, Critical Issues in Stage Management considers real-world proficiencies in diversity, equity, inclusion and consent-forward practices that have direct application to our work as Stage Managers.
During this course we will examine the impact of incorporating Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, Accessibility and Belonging into the commercial theater industry in a post George Floyd era. As stage managers, it is crucial that there is a framework for supporting the evolving identities and needs of the many populations present in a theater setting. Through a series of articles, group projects, in-class discussions, written reflections and conversations with working professionals, we will develop an understanding of a variety of social issues that currently exist in the industry while building a toolkit on how to navigate them.
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Instructor:
Erin Dunlevy
Info - 3 points
THEATRE PRACTICUM II
IMPULSE/STIMULUS/SPECIFICITY
TBD
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Instructor:
Tina Benko
Info - 3 points
PRODUCTION & TECHNICAL MANAGEMENT
PRODUCTION & TECH. MANAGE
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Instructor:
Ryan Murphy
Info - 3 points
DIALECTS & ACCENTS
This course continues the actor’s work of experiencing voice and text in a free body as a means to develop versatile and transformative speech. Students will deepen and refine their knowledge of the phonemes of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), as well as the ability to categorize and utilize Lexical Sets in pursuit of a dialect/accent. Students will demonstrate their ability to notate texts and transcribe dialects and accents into both IPA and practically apply the framework of the Four Pillars and the Voice Recipe.
The student will use these tools, supplemented by handouts, video & audio resources and independent research, to study several accents/dialects in class as well as at least one additional independently researched accent/dialect. The goal of the class is to expand upon the actor’s choices of speech and vocal expression and to acquaint her/him with the resources necessary to truthfully portray an individual utilizing a dialect/accent on stage or screen.
Students will develop their own unique process for learning accents and dialects
, as well as efficiently and effectively applying their progression to texts via a combination of practice sentences, scene work, conversation, improvisation, cold readings, and a prepared monologue. Students will complete the course having created a personal, in-depth method for researching and performing a role in which an accent or dialect is required.
Students will do self-directed and supported research as part of their study. They will consciously and intelligently assimilate this contextual research into their embodiment choices. The final project is a presentation of their research and the sharing of a monologue that is ideally
written in the student’s selected dialect or accent
.
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Instructor:
Elizabeth Hayes
Info - 2 points
ACTING III
MFA acting students will tackle verse drama and heightened language. We will spend much of our time investigating Shakespeare’s writing, with a focus on King Lear and Much Ado about Nothing, and will weave in contemporary heightened language texts throughout the semester.
Goals
To develop students into keen interpreters of heightened theatrical language, both classical and contemporary
To enable students to express their instinctive emotional responses to the rhythms, sounds and the mysteries contained in great language texts
To bring character and the specific imaginative world of each play alive thru the language
To foster each actor’s unique voice
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Instructor:
Peter Fernandez
Wikipedia Info - 3 points
SHAKESPEARE IN PERFORMANCE
This class, will primarily focus on the challenges of interpreting and performing Shakespeare.
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Instructor:
Scott V Whitehurst
Info - 3 points
DIRECTOR-DESIGNER WORKSHOP
To begin to develop an understanding and vocabulary in relation to theatrical design with a central emphasis on the roles of scenery and costumes in telling a dramatic story.
The class will begin with a general introduction into the issues and goals of the course, after which there will be three sessions devoted to issues of scene design and three sessions devoted to issues of costume design. Shakespeare’s Hamlet will be the focus for these discussions. Over the course of these sessions, directors will be asked to gather visual research and, in the end, arrive at a concept for their production of the play.
Directors will also be asked to visit one set and one costume class so that they can see how designers are grappling with the same principles and developing different approaches to interpreting and realizing a theatrical text for the stage.
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Instructor:
Anne Bogart
Wikipedia Info - 3 points
ADVANCED PLAY DIRECTING SEMINAR
ADV. PLAY DIRECTING SEMIN
This class will focus in on how to direct opera and will cover the process of making an opera from analysing the score until the opening night. The aims are to: 1) Introduce theatre directing students to the practical differences between theatre and opera directing; 2) Equip them with practical skills and knowledge so that they could walk into any opera rehearsal room (either as an assistant or a director) and know exactly what to expect and how to manage the process; 3) Offer them techniques to strengthen their skill of interpretation or concept by guiding them to focus in on one specific opera case study; and 4) Introduce them to specialist professional practitioners, like conductors, singers and set designers, to allow them to understand the art form through the lens of the collaborators the opera director works with.
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Instructor:
Anne Bogart
Wikipedia Info - 3 points
DIRECTED STUDIES IN PLAYWRITING
DIRECTED STUDIES - PLAYWR
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Instructor:
Lynn Nottage
Wikipedia Info - 3 points
REHEARSAL AND PRODUCTION
R&P: ASM
The Materials, Chekhov, & 3rd Year PWF presentations provide an excellent opportunity for stage managers to apply the skills they have acquired through their classroom work and practical training. Each of these productions is attached to three separate “Rehearsal & Production” courses; as such, each requires stage managers to take the lead position as PSM (Production Stage Manager) and shepherd each of the following from pre-production and rehearsals through final presentation.
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Instructor:
Linda Marvel
Info - 1.5 points
REHEARSAL AND PRODUCTION
R&P: PSM
The Materials, Chekhov, & 3rd Year PWF presentations provide an excellent opportunity for stage managers to apply the skills they have acquired through their classroom work and practical training. Each of these productions is attached to three separate “Rehearsal & Production” courses; as such, each requires stage managers to take the lead position as PSM (Production Stage Manager) and shepherd each of the following from pre-production and rehearsals through final presentation.
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Instructor:
Linda Marvel
Info - 1.5 points
CURRENT ISSUES IN STAGE MANAGEMENT
PEOPLE AND PRACTICE
The function of a stage manager in the process of a musical – through the use of technological advances. This class will be an in-depth examination of how modern stage management contributes to this process through the implementation of seminal methodologies. Focus will be placed on how digital platforms can be used to support this process from beginning to end.
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Instructor:
Cody Richard
Info - 3 points
MARKETING TOOLS AND AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT
MARKETING & AUDIENCE DEVE
This half-semester course introduces students to the marketing tools and audience development strategies available to the not-for-profit theatre institution. It starts with an investigation of theories of relevance; an assessment of who is (and is not) currently in the audience and why; and a look at the role that mission and vision play in shaping an institution’s engagement plans and priorities. Through case studies, related readings, and writing assignments, the remaining weeks explore the different techniques by which a theatre can connect with potential theatregoers, including paid advertising, direct response, online/social media, and surveys/research studies.
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Instructor:
Victoria Bailey
Info - 1.5 points
ADVANCED SEMINAR IN THEATRE MANAGEMENT
ADV SEMINAR IN THEATRE MG
Aspects of the commercial theatre with perspectives from Executives of The Shubert Organization.
The Shubert Organization owns 17 Broadway, 6 Off-Broadway and 2 “road” theatres. It is a multi-million dollar company with significant real estate holdings, a substantial investment portfolio, a major ticketing operation and over 1,500 employees. But whether you are dealing with a 1,750-seat theatre or a converted garage, the issues are the same: What shows should be produced/booked? How to find an audience for them? How to make the most of ever-advancing modes of technology? How to contend with artistic, financial, organizational and legal challenges? The fundamental question: How to present the finest work in the best possible circumstances for the largest number of people in order to achieve the greatest artistic and financial return possible?
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Instructor:
Charles Flateman
Info - 3 points
INTERNATIONAL PRODUCING & PRESENTING
INTL FESTIVALS & TOURING
Theatrical experiences are more frequently crossing borders to not only share art around the world, but also to remain financially and culturally sustainable. This is the first course offered by the Theatre Program that looks at the vision and logistics of bringing theatre to places all over the world.
“The work of a director can be summed up in two very simple words. Why and How.” -- Peter Brook,
On Directing
As theatre producers and managers, we’ll ask “Why and How” in a preliminary investigation into the missions and mechanics of producing international festivals and tours. We will consider our roles as members of the international performing arts community and our relationships to our artists, our audiences, and our international partners and colleagues.
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Instructor:
Ellen Dennis
Info - 3 points
PROOF OF CONCEPT
This class is specifically designed to give the 3rd year student an opportunity to learn how to create their own work in a safe and structured environment. The work will be broken into 7 parts and 10 classes.
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Instructor:
Rafi Silver
Info - 0 points