How do artists make art? How do we evaluate it? In this course, students of all levels get to experience firsthand the particular challenges and rewards of art making through practical engagement with five fields — creative writing, visual art, theater, dance, and music — under the guidance of professionals.
Introduction to Theatre Making is a working laboratory, which gives students hands-on experience with theatre's fundamental building blocks - writing, design, acting, directing, and producing.
Was the Bard the original master of ceremony straight out of Stratford-upon-Avon? This performance laboratory explores the intersection of Shakespeare's language and plays with the culture, style, and artistry of Hip Hop. Students will use performance alongside an examination of the art, storytelling, and poetry of Hip Hop's greatest artists to develop a unique and immersive understanding of Shakespeare's greatest hits.
This is a workshop based class for those interested in multi-skilled performance and in how performance skills can illuminate new forms of theatre making.
Why do people love Broadway musicals? This class examines the social forms co-created by performers and audiences, both during a performance and in the wider culture.
This course will explore the history and practice of musical theatre. Starting with the American musical's roots in minstrelsy and burlesque, the class will continue with Show Boat, the musicals of Rodgers & Hammerstein, Stephen Sondheim, and contemporary shows.
This course offers an exploration of visual storytelling, combined with a grounding in the practical, communicative, collaborative and anti-racist skills necessary to create physical environments for live theater making. Students are mentored as designers, directors or creators (often in teams) on realized projects for the theater program season. Individualized class plans allow students to design for realized productions, to imagine physical environments for un-realized productions, or to explore contemporary visualization techniques, depending on their area of interest, experience and skill level.
Taking THR 451 will involve participating in one of two focused rehearsal processes, led by faculty directors, culminating in public performances.
Greg Kotis and Mark Hollmann, the Tony Award-winning writers of Urinetown The Musical, will lead a workshop in which students work in teams to write original 10-minute musicals. No experience necessary but each student will try their hand at writing book and lyrics and composing music and performing in the ten-minute musicals. We will study several points of craft including story structure, shaping material for an original musical, song structure, and the art of collaboration. Students will refine their understanding of these points throughout the practical work of writing the book, lyrics, and music of an original 10-minute musical.