Acting Program

Acting Studio offers rising high school juniors and seniors an opportunity to train in an intensive pre-college acting program. Applicants selected for the program participate in rigorous acting, voice and speech, movement and scene study classes to learn the art of acting for the stage. During the five-week program, students refine and perform audition pieces and theatrical scenes. Students who complete the program will have an opportunity to showcase the acting skills they have learned.

Please note: This program is designed for students who want an accelerated acting training experience, have respect for the rehearsal process, and understand how to manage their time and complete assignments both in and out of the classroom. Students entering grades 11 and 12 who are between the ages of 16 and 18 as of July 6, 2013 and who have the desire and maturity to receive constructive criticism about their work and give helpful feedback to others during the program are encouraged to apply.

Program Features

Acting Studio focuses on developing and strengthening performance skills and knowledge of acting for the stage. Students who participate in this program:

• Expand vocal, physical, and emotional range to develop complex and dynamic characters
• Practice actor preparation skills, including relaxation, trust, discipline, and sense of play
• Analyze scripts to determine a character’s intentions, actions, subtext, expectations, obstacles, tactics, and objectives
• Study theatre history and playwrights with an emphasis on Shakespeare, Modern and 20th Century
• Discover, prepare and build a repertoire of monologues suitable for auditions
• Explore the basic skills and principles of stage combat
• Receive individual coaching
• Build confident stage presence and excellent audition techniques

Acting Showcase

Students will have an opportunity to perform in a final showcase performance, scheduled for Saturday, August 10, 2013. The final performance gives students a chance to demonstrate acting skills they have accumulated throughout the program.

Program Dates and Costs

Program Dates (including required orientation): July 6–August 10, 2013
Showcase: August 10, 2013
Move-out day for on-campus students: August 11, 2013–by noon

Acting Program per student: $3,595
Lunch, Monday through Friday, is included in the program fee.

On-Campus Housing per student: $3,195

Non-refundable application fee: $30
Acting Program Priority Application Deadline: March 15, 2013

Who May Apply

The Pre-College Studio Acting Program is designed for students who want an accelerated acting training experience, have respect for the rehearsal process, and understand how to manage their time and complete assignments both in and out of the classroom. Students entering grades 11 and 12 during the 2013-2014 academic year and who have the desire and maturity to receive constructive criticism about their work and give helpful feedback to others during the program are encouraged to apply.

Each candidate for the Acting Studio Program must submit the required application form (completed and signed), a non-refundable $30 application fee, and the following required documents.

• Student Statement of Purpose: In one or two pages, please describe: 1) what you hope to achieve during the studio program, and 2) an event you feel has prepared you for the pre-college program.

• Essay: In one page, discuss a theater production and/or actor that you believe is most influential or inspirational to your stage work.

• Teacher Recommendation: Please submit at least one recommendation, completed by a teacher who knows your work, in a sealed envelope with the teacher’s signature across the back seal. If possible, the teacher should know your work in the field to which you are applying.

• Photo and résumé of your theatrical experience

An audition is not necessary for candidates who apply to the Acting Studio Program. However, all applicants who are accepted into the program will be required to perform two contrasting monologues at a skills assessment during the first week of the program. At the assessment, program instructors will evaluate each student’s acting skills. Each student must perform—from memory—one classical and one contemporary monologue. Each monologue should be no longer than two minutes.

We will accept applications through June 17, 2013. Admission to Emerson College's Arts and Communication Pre-College Programs is on a rolling basis. We suggest applying early, as space is limited. Admission decisions are made frequently.

The priority application deadline for Acting Studio is March 15, 2013.

International Student Applicants
International student applicants must provide additional application materials. Read international student information for applicants to pre-college programs.

Acting Studio Classes

Movement
In the Movement class students study a wide range of movement techniques with a focus on relaxation, release and alignment as a foundation for their vocal and acting work. Students learn about and practice various styles of movement (Grotowski & Lecoq exercises; Laban; Alexander Technique; Vinyasa Yoga), as well as methods to observe, research and employ the wide variety of human physical behavior they will embody on the stage. Special attention is paid to the students’ recognition and understanding of the correlation between voice and movement.

Voice and Speech
In the Voice and Speech class students study a variety of vocal methods and techniques aimed at strengthening and expanding the range of their vocal abilities and options as performers. These skills include an understanding of breath, phonation, resonance and articulation, as well as dynamic variations in pitch, pause, power and presence. Students learn to analyze play texts and make specific vocal choices to meet the demands of classical and modern plays with heightened text. Special focus is given to the integration of voice and physical characterization.

Monologue and Scene Study for Auditions
The Monologue and Scene Study for Auditions class is designed to develop and improve acting skills through in-depth script analysis, scene, and monologue work. Emphasis is placed on discovering and performing the dramatic action that drives the text. Students gain insights on how to select audition monologues that are suited to their age, acting range, and skills. They develop strategies to remain positive, focused, and professional throughout the process and strengthen their vocal, physical and characterization skills to meet the needs of their selected monologues and scene work.

Michael Chekhov Technique
The Michael Chekhov Technique class is an actor-centered course focused on the study of kinesthetic movement and the relationship of the actor to themselves, to others and to the space via specifics found in the Michael Chekhov Acting Technique researched by The Michael Chekhov Association (MICHA). Additionally, students draw on several movement vocabularies (such as, but not limited to, Laban, Stage Combat, Contact Improv, and Jerzy Grotowski, Lecoq, etc.). This course, although exploratory, has a practical performance component.

Stage Combat
The Stage Combat class focuses on the study of safe choreographed stage violence. Though movement training, this course is also considered a physical acting and performance class with working techniques founded through research by the Society of American Fight Directors (SAFD). Students explore basic skills and principles using rapier and dagger and applying those skills to the study of unarmed combat as well. The goal of this course is to create and understand the illusion of violence in a safe, believable, and theatrically viable manner from the perspective of the inside (performer) and outside (audience/director/tech.).

Script Analysis/Dramatic Literature: A Process of Actor and Director Preparation for Performance
In the Script Analysis/Dramatic Literature, A Process of Actor and Director Preparation for Performance class students read and analyze two contemporary American plays from the perspective of both the actor and the director. Students work with a unique series of clear steps that are important and useful in an actor and director’s preparation for performance. These steps are offered as a guide to an investigative thought process that can complement work in voice and movement, combined with instincts and talent. As well, these steps will help guide in devising a director’s “handle” on a script.

Schedule

Schedule is subject to change.
Monday–Friday,
9:00 am–5:00 pm & 6:30–8:30 pm
Monday, Wednesday and Friday,
7:00 pm–9:00 pm
Tuesday and Thursday evenings: rehearsal and homework time as assigned by instructors.
Saturday,
9:00 am–12:00 pm

EMERSON COLLEGE RESERVES THE RIGHT TO CHANGE ANY PROVISION OF THIS PROGRAM AT ANY TIME. THE COLLEGE SPECIFICALLY RESERVES THE RIGHT TO CHANGE ITS TUITION RATES AND ANY OTHER FINANCIAL CHARGES. THE COLLEGE ALSO RESERVES THE RIGHT TO REARRANGE ITS COURSES AND CLASS HOURS, TO DROP COURSES FOR WHICH REGISTRATION FALLS BELOW THE MINIMUM ENROLLMENT, AND TO CHANGE INSTRUCTOR ASSIGNMENTS.