United Solo to Offer Master Classes With James Lecesne, Adam Wade, And Austin Pendleton

In addition to presenting 120 productions, the world's largest solo theatre festival has launched a series of Master Classes, for theater artists, students, and enthusiasts with all levels of experience. United Solo Master Series is led by world-class theatre professionals, whose accomplishments and credits guarantee a top-notch educational experience for class participants. The first class, taught by Pau Aran Gimeno, a dancer and choreographer with Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch, enjoyed an enthusiastic reception. Now, three new classes are open for enrollment, including:

THE STORY WORKSHOP with James Lecesne, Saturday, Nov. 11 at 11am
In this exclusive tutorial, James Lecesne, playwright and star of "The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey," and screenwriter of the Oscar-winning film "Trevor," will teach the basics of solo story-making and provide structural tools to bring stories into the world. Participants should be familiar with "A Streetcar Named Desire," a common story the class will discuss.

STORYTELLING FOR SOULFUL HUMANS with Adam Wade, Friday, Nov. 17 at 2pm
Adam Wade, a 20-time Moth winner who appeared on Girls and Inside Amy Schumer, will teach adapting ideas and experiences into stories. He will teach students how to face the fear of getting up and speaking in front of a group, and how to harness the power of connecting to other humans in this technology-fueled world.

SCENE STUDY & MONOLOGUES with Austin Pendleton, Saturday, Nov. 18 at 5pm
Legendary actor and director Austin Pendleton will help students with scenes and monologues. Having coached actors for decades, he will offer his incomparable critique and help activate the class's full acting potential. Mr. Pendleton asks each participant to bring one monologue and one scene.

Pre-registration is required in order to participate. All classes will take place at Theatre Row: Stage Door, 407 West 41st Street, New York, NY 10036. Each of the Master Classes in the Program is offered separately and requires a separate sign-up. For more details and pre-registration please go to: http://unitedsolo.org/us/uedu

James Lecense has been telling stories for over 25 years. Credits include, "The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey" (Outer Critic Circle Award), "Word of Mouth" (Drama Desk, Outer Critic Circle), and "One Man Band." James wrote the screenplay for the Academy Award-winning short film "Trevor," which inspired the founding of The Trevor Project, the only nationwide 24-hour suicide prevention helpline for LGBT & questioning youth. As a writer, James adapted Armistead Maupin's "Further Tales of the City" as a mini-series for Showtime and was a writer for the TV series "Will & Grace." He created "The Road Home: Stories of Children of War," a play based on interviews with survivors of wars in Tibet, Bosnia, and Cambodia, and presented at the International Peace Conference at The Hague. James has taught at The NYU School of Continuing Education, The New School, The Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, and The New York Film Academy. His young adult novel, "Absolute Brightness," was published by Harper Collins and was awarded The William Morris Award by the American Librarian Association and was nominated for a Lambda Literary Award. His novel, "Trevor," was published by Seven Stores Press in 2012 and with Sarah Moon he co-edited "The Letter Q: Queer Writer's Letters to Their Younger Selves."

Adam Wade is an inimitable fixture in both the New York City storytelling and comedy scenes. He is the winner of 20 SLAMS at The Moth (18 StorySLAM victories and 2 GrandSLAM Championships) with 20 different winning stories. He has toured across North America with The Moth Main Stage. His stories have appeared on The Moth Radio Hour and The Moth Podcast. Adam has been performing his New York Times and Time Out New York's critic's pick monthly solo show "The Adam Wade from NH Show" since January 2010. He is also a regular performer on Nights of Our Lives at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, and has made several appearances on Asssscat 3000 (guest monologist), Whiplash and Night Train with Wyatt Cenac. Adam recently released his debut storytelling/comedy album "Adam Wade: The Human Comedy" by Comedy Dynamics. The album was enthusiastically lauded in Sarah Larson's profile of Adam in The New Yorker. He has been seen on HBO's GIRLS Season 5 finale and on Season 2 and 3 of Comedy Central's Inside Amy Schumer. In 2017, Adam began hosting a tech web series for Bloomberg called Conversations with Coders as well as a series he created called Wade on the Bench in Hoboken. A seasoned teacher of his craft, since 2010, Adam has been teaching a variety of 6-week Storytelling Classes at NYC's Magnet Theater.

Austin Pendleton is a playwright, actor, director, teacher, and a Steppenwolf ensemble member since 1987. He received critical acclaim in 1964 for his performance as Motel in the original Broadway cast of "Fiddler on the Roof." He appeared in "The Last Sweet Days of Isaac" (for which he won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Performance and an Obie Award), "The Diary of Anne Frank," "Goodtime Charley," and "Up from Paradise" as well as many other plays. In August 2006, Mr. Pendleton played the Chaplain in Bertolt Brecht's "Mother Courage and Her Children" with Meryl Streep and Kevin Kline in The Public Theater production. As a director, Mr. Pendleton has worked extensively on and off-Broadway. His direction of Elizabeth Taylor and Maureen Stapleton in Lillian Hellman's "The Little Foxes" garnered him a Tony Award nomination. Additional directing credits include "Between Riverside and Crazy," "Uncle Vanya," "Three Sisters," "Ivanov," and "Hamlet," all at Classic Stage Company in New York. He has made over 100 appearances in television and film. His film work is as diverse as "A Beautiful Mind," "Mr. & Mrs. Bridge" and "The Muppet Movie." In 2007, Austin Pendleton received a Special Award for his contributions to American theater at the 52nd Annual Drama Desk Awards.