Students enrolled in this production based class will work as an ensemble to learn, practice, and perform a 30 min play. The play will be determined by the number of students enrolled in the production class.
Students will:
- audition & be cast in a roles(s) for the selected play,
- hone their acting skills through character analysis and development, activities that work on voice projection, nonverbal communication, improvisation, and much more,
- learn techniques for line memorization,
- practice and implement stage directions/blocking,
- learn how to work as an ensemble,
- have fun and bring the show to life!
All students who register for the class are cast in the production through the audition process that happens on the first day of class. Every role in a production is different and requires different line loads and abilities. Students in this production will have lines to memorize. This means they will require practice time at home.
This class will run on Wednesdays from 5-7pm starting September 13, 2023.
NOTE: All September classes will meet at: Community Church Waterford - 455 S Jefferson St, Waterford, WI 53185. During the month of October class will take place at our regular location: Honey Creek Community Church Hall - 35512 Washington Ave, Honey Creek, WI 53138
NOTE: This class will have a final dress rehearsal and performance on Saturday, October 28, 2023 from 10am - 2pm.
All students enrolled in this class must be available for the final dress rehearsal and performance day. Attendance throughout the seven weeks of class is essential for the rehearsal and performance process.
Tuition for this class covers: royalty fees for the play if applicable, costumes, set, & props
Prerequisite: Must fall within the age range. (8 yr old students will be accepted upon prior approval)
Directors: Patti Punzi & Peter Punzi
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“There are no small parts, only small actors” (Konstantin Stanislaviski)
Stanislavski was the “father of modern acting”. He revolutionized the craft of acting. Not just for lead performers, but for the actors with small parts and for background actors and ensemble. Prior to Stanislavski, actors who were cast in small roles or in the ensemble often gave “smaller” performances. This means their acting lacked a sense of purpose. Their characters lacked depth and commitment and it was more like they were spectators versus performers.
Stanislavski found this unacceptable. When he arrived on the scene he expected his actors to truly engage in their roles with “equal commitment” regardless of the role size.
When Stanislavski’s company, the Moscow Art Theater, toured around the world, spectators immediately noticed the change he had made. Audiences now saw ALL the actors, even those with smaller roles or those in the ensemble, move with a sense of purpose and perform their characters with depth and truth. There was a full commitment by every actor on the stage to achieve their character’s objective no matter if they had hundreds of lines, a handful of lines, or none at all.
Here are Wisconsin Theater Arts, we follow this same philosophy. No matter the size of the role, we expect our actors, our performers to be true to their characters and create realistic representations on stage. Every single role in a play or musical has purpose otherwise it wouldn’t be there. We expect every cast member to have full commitment to their performance regardless of the size of the role they’ve been cast in.
(Stanislavski info from: https://actingmagazine.com/2018/07/there-are-no-small-parts-only-small-actors-konstantin-stanislavski/)