Bucks County Playhouse Announces Fall Educational Offerings

Bucks County Playhouse has announced the lineup of education programs being offered this fall. Classes will take place in Lambertville Hall, 57 Bridge Street, Lambertville, NJ with the exception of the Acting for Adults:

Online Class which will be held via Zoom. Visit www.BucksCountyPlayhouse.org for more information and to register or contact Ellen Gallos, Assistant Director of Education with questions at ellen@buckscountyplayhouse.org.

Acting For Adults: Online Class

October 7 - November 11, 2024 • June Ballinger

Mondays, 6:30PM - 8:30PM EST • Ages 17 to Adult • This is a virtual class.

Through assigned scenes and monologues this class teaches the basic techniques towards reaching truthful behavior in acting. The class is for a multi- generational group of students of varying experience. Using improvisation, assigned scenes and monologues the actor will identify the intersection of their own authentic self to the fictional character. This validating class is fun and encourages compassion and understanding of yourself and those you will be working with. This class will meet virtually via Zoom. Students of varying levels are welcome.

About the Instructor: June Ballinger has performed on Broadway and numerous off-Broadway theatres in New York committed to new work including Ensemble Studio Theatre, Primary Stages, New Federal Theatre. The Working Theatre, Playwrights Realm. Regional experiences include The Actors Theatre of Louisville, The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, New Harmony Theatre, The Great Lakes Theatre Festival and The Kennedy Center. Film/TV credits include the Netflix release “Monster”, “Only Murders in the Building” “The Blacklist” (NBC), “Hunters” (Amazon) “Law & Order” “L&O SVU”( NBC) and various daytime soaps. June was Artistic Director of New Jersey’s Passage Theatre for 22 years where she developed and produced many new plays including a successful annual Solo Show Festival. She wrote and continues to perform her one woman play “Remembrance Day” and has another solo show in development. June is a member of New York’s Ensemble Studio Theatre, a company member of The Actors Center and the National Alliance of Acting Teachers. She teaches Theatre History at Fordham University School of Continuing Education has a private coaching practice as well. She lives in NYC and upstate New York.

Acting For The Camera: Intro Level

October 8 - October 29, 2024 • Johanna Tolentino

Tuesdays, 6:30PM-8:30PM • Ages 15 to Adult

Through assisted scene work from screenplays, this class teaches techniques for acting on camera for television and film. Using copy from television and film scenes, students will learn the process from the audition in the TV casting director’s office, to script analysis, preparing self-tapes, lighting and technology, and tips on how to find an agent. This validating class gives students the tools to start their acting for the camera journey. Students of varying levels are welcome.

Acting For The Camera: Intermediate Level

November 5 - December 3, 2024 • Johanna Tolentino 

Tuesdays, 6:30PM-8:30PM • Ages 15 to Adult

This intensive intermediate class will equip the student with the advanced skills and techniques to elevate the craft and ace those auditions. The class covers: in-depth character breakdown, scene and monologue work, self-tape mastery, connection to material, audition selection, online presence, mindfulness techniques and on-the-spot scene analysis. This class is only open to students who completed the intro level class or have professional experience.

About the Instructor: Johanna Tolentino got her first big break at the age of 16 on the feature film “Lean On Me” with Morgan Freeman. She’s booked co-starring roles on network television such as (Comedy Central) pilot “Alternatino,” “Orange is the New Black” (Netflix), “Do No Harm,” Guest star role on ( NBC), “Law & Order SVU,” co star role on “The Blacklist” and “GOTHAM” (FOX).

Beginner Adult Tap

October 16 - November 20, 2024 • Julie Johnson Thick

Wednesdays, 4:00PM - 5:00PM • Ages 15 to Adult

Led by professional dancer, Julie Johnson Thick, in this six-week class students will learn basic tap steps, fun combinations and further explore this great American dance tradition.

Julie Johnson Thick, choreographer, is an adjunct with priority status, teaching Rider’s Musical Theatre majors tap dance since 2013. Julie and her husband Bob founded the Off-Broadstreet Theatre in Hopewell where she functioned as Managing Producer and Choreographer. Together they produced over 300 shows in 32 years. In NYC Julie danced with Gregory Hines’s Tap Company and Luigi Jazz. Julie has worked as a guest artist at The Ed Sullivan Theatre, Hines and Hatchet, Broadway Dance Center and continues to teach at a NJ dance studio. Her diversified background even includes being the NJAIAW Collegiate State All-Around Champion in gymnastics.

Breaking Into the Voiceover World – Intro Level

October 10 - November 7, 2024 • Pete DeMeo

Thursdays, 6:30PM - 8:30PM • Ages 18 to Adult

Back by popular demand: Breaking into the Voice Over World with Pete DeMeo! There’s never been a better time to break into the voice over world. Almost all voiceover work can now be done remotely from home! In this introductory class, students will receive individual coaching on proper voice over technique for TV and radio commercials and promos, how to approach and personalize copy, how to make a demo and get an agent, and how to work from the comfort of home.

Breaking Into the Voiceover World - Intermediate Level

November 14 - December 12, 2024 • Pete DeMeo

Thursdays, 6:30PM - 8:30PM • Ages 18 to Adult

The intermediate voiceover class is a workshop focused to encourage active participation and coaching. Teaching Artist, Pete DeMeo, will take participants deeper into various reads (commercial, promo and long form). Core elements of this class include: live reads, personalized coaching, interpreting direction in session, developing voice technique and storytelling. This class is only open to students who completed the intro level class or have professional experience.

About the Instructor: You hear Pete every morning as the in-show voice of The Today Show on NBC. As an Emmy-nominated voice over artist, he has voiced hundreds of commercial, promo and political spots for national TV and radio, in addition to narrating over 400 documentaries for The Discovery Channel, HBO, The Learning Channel, A&E, National Geographic, The History Channel, PBS and Animal Planet.

Improv

October 16 - November 13, 2024

Will Dennis

Wednesdays, 7:00PM-9:00PM • Ages 15 to Adult

Back by popular demand, this class offers two hours of collaborative acting games, improv techniques and opportunities to nurture creativity. No experience necessary – just a desire to laugh! 

About the Instructor: Will Dennis is a local professional actor, teacher and owner/operator of improv studio, UnScripted Productions in Newtown, PA. As a member of Actors Equity Association, he’s been seen on many local stages: Walnut Street Theater, Delaware Theatre Company, Act II Playhouse, Montgomery Theatre, etc. Will is also the former Assistant Director of Education at Philadelphia Theatre Company. He lives in Newtown, PA with his family and dog, Mumford.

Making a Musical: New Theater Workshop for Teens

November 9 - November 10, 2024

David Lee White and Kate Brennan

Saturday and Sunday, 10:00AM - 3:00PM • Ages 13 to 18

Composer, lyricist Kate Brennan and playwright, director David Lee White, creators of ALiEN8 (Bucks County Playhouse’s Youth Company 2023 production) return to the Playhouse this fall for a special two-day developmental workshop on their latest musical, Book of Wonder. Through vocal, acting, and improvisation exercises participants become a part of the musical development process, bringing scenes and songs to life as this new theater piece takes shape.

About the Instructors: Kate Brennan is a performer, educator and creator who performed and taught for a decade in Philadelphia and NYC before relocating to Oklahoma City to become Head of Voice in the BFA program at Oklahoma City University. In Philadelphia she worked with a variety of theatre companies including New Paradise Laboratories, Walnut Street Theatre, Lunavid a Theatre Co., EgoPo Classic Theatre Co., Mauckingbird, Pig Iron, Simpatico Theatre Project and Passage Theatre Co. Brennan is also the Artistic Director for BCKSEET Productions. Brennan has taught at University of Virginia, Temple University, St. Joseph’s University, Rosemont College, Montgomery County Community College, McCarter Theatre Center and Merion Mercy among others. In NY she taught with Theatre Direct International’s Broadway Classroom program as well as HB Studios. Brennan is the creator of three musicals: “Some Assembly Required” (2010), “El Fuego” (2012) and “ALIEN8” (2017). Written with playwright David Lee White, “ALiEN8” was most recently developed with the McCarter Theatre Center Education Program and in two productions at Bucks County Playhouse. Other shows co-created with White include “Clean Slate” and the short plays “Monumental” and “Seeing Someone.” She is writer and host for The Brennan Book Blog Podcast. Kate holds an MFA from the University of Virginia.

David Lee White is a New Jersey based playwright who, for 14 years, was the Associate Artistic Director and Resident Playwright at Passage Theatre in Trenton. Passage produced several of White’s plays including “Blood: A Comedy,” “Slippery as Sin,” and “White Baby.” In 2016, White was commissioned by the New Jersey Performing Arts Center’s Stage Exchange Program and Passage Theatre to create the play “Fixed”, based on interviews with mental health care professionals and people suffering from bi-polar and schizoaffective disorders. Also at Passage, David created “Stoop Theatre” with the Trenton High drama club and created the show “This Trenton Life” which was the subject an Emmy-Award nominated broadcast on PCK Media’s State of the Arts. His solo show “Panter Hollow” was performed at Dreamcatcher Rep, The United Solo Festival in NY, The New Jersey Fringe Festival, Passage Theatre, Arcade Comedy Theatre in Pittsburgh, Point Park College and Drexel University. He created three shows for the High School Summer Intensive in McCarter Theater’s education program “Five Minutes to Places” and the musicals “ALiEN8” and “Clean Slate” with composer Kate Brennan. Other collaborations with Brennan include the short plays “Monumental” and “Seeing Someone.” Other works include “Ways to Be Happy,” “The Festial Quartet” and “Rocket Sex Magic” – a comedy about real life rocket scientist/occultist Jack Parsons. Current projects include two musicals: “Live Stream” with composer Sarah Donner and co-creator Adam Immerwahr, and “The Angry Grammarian” with composer Jeffrey Barg. White received a BA from the University of Missouri-Kansas City and an MFA from the University of Pittsburgh.

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