Classes are offered four times a year with a cost of $335 for 8 weeks.
Early enrollment discounts of between $20-$35 are available based on early registration dates. No discounts are offered 10 days before the session begins.
Most classes are offered every session but can not be guaranteed. Cancellation and refund policies.
FUNDAMENTALS OF ACTING | ACT II SCENE STUDY
Take the next step in the study and performance of scenes and monologues, with tools for creating precise, focused, relaxed and playful relationships on stage. First, through monologue work, students revisit key basics: objectives, text analysis, listening, relaxed awareness and focus. Next, through scene work with partners, they apply these tools, with the primary focus on cultivating the ability to openly and honestly listen and respond. Students will present one monologue and at least one scene. Using in-class exercises, they will also hone such skills as concentration, body awareness, emotional freedom and specificity, actions, play, heightening emotional connection, self-awareness, self-confidence, commitment, comfort, confusion, fear, character physicalization, stage fright, memorization and storytelling. If this sounds like a lot, it is! In this class, we work, we laugh and we learn a great deal. Prerequisite: at least one semester of actor training.
TUESDAYS 7-10 p.m., January 21 - March 10, 2020
Jenna (Jan) Cole is an actor, educator and director who has taught in the SCR Conservatory since 2006. She most recently appeared at SCR in Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike (2018) as Sonia, and in The Wind in the Willows (2004), in the inaugural season of SCR's Theatre for Young Audiences series. She has also taught at Geva Theatre Center, Pomona College, Chapman University, Point Park University and West Virginia University, teaching courses such as voice and speech, beginning and intermediate acting, text analysis, playwriting, acting Shakespeare, acting style, scene study, acting for the camera and advanced directing. She has directed As You Like It, Under Milkwood, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, La Ronde, The Beard of Avon, Blithe Spirit, Old Times and The Shape of Things. As a longtime resident artist at A Noise Within, Cole taught in the youth acting, summer with Shakespeare, and acting internship programs, and performed in plays such as The Way of the World, Hamlet, Twelfth Night, Hay Fever, The Three Sisters, The Seagull, King Lear, The Winter’s Tale, Much Ado About Nothing, Design for Living, A Flea in Her Ear, Tartuffe and A Midsummer Night’s Dream with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl. She has also performed at the Pasadena Playhouse, the Mark Taper Forum, the Ahmanson, Shakespeare Orange County, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Sacramento Theatre Company, Geva Theatre Center, Arizona Theatre Company, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, the Pittsburgh Playhouse and PlayMakers Repertory Company. She also appeared in the television shows "Picket Fences," "The George Carlin Show," "Pros and Cons" and "Her Last Chance," as well as in numerous commercials, voiceovers and DVD narration. Cole holds an MFA in acting from the American Conservatory Theater and is a certified associate teacher of Fitzmaurice Voicework.
IMPROVISATION | IMPROVISATION WORKSHOP
This is a class for students who have moved beyond the basics of improvisation and want a more intense experience. Instructor Greg Atkins' no-nonsense, high-energy approach to improvisation will help students break through fear of the unknown and prepare for any acting (or life) challenge, whether on stage or off. Using the beginning improv class as a springboard, this class will show students how to:
- liberate spontaneity
- think quickly on their feet
- enhance creativity
- make exciting dramatic choices
As Atkins says in his best-selling book
IMPROV!, "There are only four areas in which improvisation will help you: auditions, performances, business and life."
Prerequisite: Advanced Improv and/or permission from the instructor.
WEDNESDAYS 7-10 p.m., January 22 - March 11, 2020
Instructor: Greg Atkins
Atkins has written and/or created shows for Dream Works, Buena Vista, Sony, Fox, Universal Studios, Sea World, the Torch Ceremonies for the Atlanta and Salt Lake City Olympics, Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon, the Walt Disney Co., as well as numerous corporate clients and was a consultant on "Whose Line is it Anyway." His book
IMPROV! is in its 19th printing and his many published plays are produced around the world (see samuelfrench.com, bakersplays.com, and hitplays.com). As a director/performer, Atkins travels with an international team of improv actors to exotic locals such as Prague, Singapore, New Delhi and Irvine. He has worked at SCR as a playwright, director, actor or teacher for more than 30 years.
Learn more about Atkins.
FUNDAMENTALS OF ACTING | ACT III ADVANCED SCENE STUDY AND CHARACTERIZATION
Digs deeper into creating more believable, focused and truthful onstage relationships. By this point, students should feel comfortable with the language of the basic tools and may find more and more consistency in the ability to apply these tools. Among the skills we concentrate on are relaxation, commitment, listening, truthful response, characterization and speaking heightened language. There will be time to address any individual blocks actors might be struggling with. By working on multiple scenes in eight weeks, students learn how to make committed choices in a relatively short period of time, which is one of the hallmarks of the professional actor. Prerequisite: completion of two semesters of actor training.
PLEASE NOTE: This class requires a commitment to outside rehearsal time with assigned scene partners.
WEDNESDAYS 7-10 p.m., January 22 - March 11, 2020
Jenna (Jan) Cole is an actor, educator and director who has taught in the SCR Conservatory since 2006. She most recently appeared at SCR in Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike (2018) as Sonia, and in The Wind in the Willows (2004), in the inaugural season of SCR's Theatre for Young Audiences series. She has also taught at Geva Theatre Center, Pomona College, Chapman University, Point Park University and West Virginia University, teaching courses such as voice and speech, beginning and intermediate acting, text analysis, playwriting, acting Shakespeare, acting style, scene study, acting for the camera and advanced directing. She has directed As You Like It, Under Milkwood, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, La Ronde, The Beard of Avon, Blithe Spirit, Old Times and The Shape of Things. As a longtime resident artist at A Noise Within, Cole taught in the youth acting, summer with Shakespeare, and acting internship programs, and performed in plays such as The Way of the World, Hamlet, Twelfth Night, Hay Fever, The Three Sisters, The Seagull, King Lear, The Winter’s Tale, Much Ado About Nothing, Design for Living, A Flea in Her Ear, Tartuffe and A Midsummer Night’s Dream with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl. She has also performed at the Pasadena Playhouse, the Mark Taper Forum, the Ahmanson, Shakespeare Orange County, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Sacramento Theatre Company, Geva Theatre Center, Arizona Theatre Company, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, the Pittsburgh Playhouse and PlayMakers Repertory Company. She also appeared in the television shows "Picket Fences," "The George Carlin Show," "Pros and Cons" and "Her Last Chance," as well as in numerous commercials, voiceovers and DVD narration. Cole holds an MFA in acting from the American Conservatory Theater and is a certified associate teacher of Fitzmaurice Voicework.
ON-CAMERA AUDITION AND PERFORMANCE TECHNIQUE
Learn audition, call-back and performance technique for use in on-camera situations. And do this in a fun, supportive learning environment. Actors rehearse in the class using real scripts, video playback and discussion. They'll explore by using working television and film scenes directly on camera. Scene work will include older and currently filming scripts, and include current filming techniques. We will cover drama, comedy and commercials from guest star to co-star and will discuss the business of acting, from headshots and resumes to building credits.
Enrollment is limited.
Prerequisite: At least one year of actor training and ability to memorize.
MONDAYS 6-9 p.m., January 27 - March 23, 2020
No class on Feburary 17, Presidents Day
Instructor: Jay Scully
Scully spent three months in 2018 coaching the main cast of the feature film SuperFly for Sony Pictures, Joel Silver and Director X in Atlanta. He has cast over 50 feature films and television shows, and worked extensively on set as an acting teacher and coach. Recent coaching work includes Paradise Pictures, a pilot for USA Network, The Fosters (Freeform), as well as features for directors J.J. Abrams (Super 8), Judd Apatow (This Is 40), and James Wan (Furious 7). He has coached a number of Hollywood's top actors privately, including Frieda Pinto, Moran Atias, and the late Paul Walker, as well as NBC Sports Color Commentators. As a writer/director he most recently co-created and directed the pilot presentation Big & $ave. His feature script The Overview Effect is in development at Bad Robot. Jay received his M.F.A. in Acting from Brandeis University and was a founding cast member of Expanded Arts, a theatre company in New York.
ACTING SHAKESPEARE
Students will perform and analyze monologues in order to explore Shakespeare’s use of language and create text-based characterization. This is the class serious acting students have been waiting for. But even those who attend the program’s evening classes in order to overcome shyness and gain spontaneity, can now add a little Shakespeare to their developing skills.
Prerequisite: completed Act I and II at SCR, two semesters of acting training elsewhere or permission from the instructor.
Look for this class to be offered in the Fall of 2020
Instructor: Hisa Takakuwa
Takakuwa is a classically trained actor, director and educator. She has worked at many theatrical institutions around the country including the Sundance Children’s Theatre, The Music Center on Tour and the Indiana Repertory Theatre. At SCR, she appeared in
The Man Who Came to Dinner and in 14 seasons of
A Christmas Carol and Education Touring Productions. As SCR’s Theatre Conservatory Director, she has directed numerous Players productions including
Metamorphoses, Hard Times, Cinderella, Mansfield Park, Into the Woods, Snow Angel, Seussical, Annie, Peter Pan, Mary Poppins and
Bliss. While a longtime resident artist at the classical repertory company A Noise Within, she appeared in many productions including
The Triumph of Love, The Comedy of Errors, The Misanthrope, Another Part of the Forest, The Seagull and
Our Town. She directed
Henry V, Twelfth Night and
Shooting Stars at the Actors Co-op theatre in Hollywood. She holds a BA from Smith College and an MFA from the California Institute of the Arts.