Wheelock Family Theatre Announces Acting Classes

Wheelock Family Theatre announces Vacation Week Institutes in February and April (public schools) and March (private/home schools).

Wheelock Family Theatre offers New England youth and teens education programs that are sustained by both a professional theatre staff and an institution of higher learning, Wheelock College, whose mission is improving the quality of life for children and families.

The result is a dynamic and exciting drama curriculum for youngsters between the ages of 6 and 17 that teaches drama skills AND connects those skills to child development theory and practice.

Child development faculty at Wheelock College work with theatre artist-educators to create challenging drama and movement games, improvisations, and exercises that help youngsters learn not just the HOW but also the WHY of onstage thoughts, feelings, and actions.

WFT 2012 Vacation Week Institutes

FEBRUARY:  Monday, 2/20-Friday, 2/24, 9am-3:30pm                       Tuition:  $400

Children (ages 6-8):  Lions and Scarecrows and Tin Men, Oh My!  Instructor:  Lisa Rowe-Beddoe.  Children will experience the land of Oz through the eyes of its many non-human characters.  How do you move when you are made of straw or tin?  Where does courage come from?  What’s a typical day like for a flying monkey?  These and other questions will be investigated and imaginatively answered!

Youth (ages 9-11): Musical Theatre: The Wizard of Oz!  Instructors:  John O’Neil, Laura DeGiacomo.  Using WFT’s production  as a model, students will explore a variety of ways to interpret characters, songs and dances from the musical.  Students will also compare this adaptation to another musical version of Baum’s story - The Wiz-  and mount scenes and production numbers from both shows!

Ages 11-14:  Fantastical Acting!  Instructors:  Kortney Adams, Alan White.  Unleash your inner Tin Man or Wicked Witch of the West!  Working with characters from The Wizard of Oz and other plays, students will learn how to bring characters from the realm of fantasy to life in vivid and believable ways. 

Teen (ages 12-16):  Opera and Dramatic Performance. Instructors:  Grace Napier, Marie McCarville.  This Wheelock Family Theatre-Boston Lyric Opera collaboration will explore the exciting connections between theatre and opera through the operetta Tom Sawyer: The Ageless Boy.  Students will discover how to fuse the heightened drama and grounded singing that dramatic opera requires.  They will also learn to express the comic and dramatic sides of these familiar characters in words, movement and song!

MARCH:  Monday, 3/19-Friday, 3/23, 9am-3:30pm.            Tuition:  $400 ($150 deposit due)

For private and home-school students.       

Children (ages 6-8):  Imagination Playground!  Instructor:  Lisa Rowe-Beddoe.  A terrific introduction to the world of theatre.  Children will exercise their imaginations through creative movement, drama games and improvisations.  When characters and stories are added, the explorations lead to theatre! 

Youth (ages 9-11): An Actor’s Challenge: Overcoming Obstacles Onstage.  Instructors:  Kortney Adams, Alan White.  What makes for great drama is a character’s struggle to contend with great dilemmas and difficulties.   Working with scenes from The Miracle Worker and other plays, students will explore how Helen Keller and other real and fictional characters fight to overcome real-life challenges.

Teen (ages 12-16):  Opera and Dramatic Performance.  Instructors:  Grace Napier, Marie McCarville.  This Wheelock Family Theatre-Boston Lyric Opera collaboration will explore the exciting connections between theatre and opera through the operetta Tom Sawyer: The Ageless Boy.  Students will discover how to fuse the heightened drama and grounded singing that dramatic opera requires.  They will also learn to express the comic and dramatic sides of these familiar characters in words, movement and song! 

APRIL:  Monday, 4/16-Friday, 4/20, 9am-3:30pm              Tuition:  $400 ($150 deposit due)

Children (ages 6-8):  Imagination Playground!  Instructor:  tba.   A terrific introduction to the world of theatre.   Children will exercise their imaginations through creative movement, drama games and improvisations.  When characters and stories are added, the explorations lead to theatre!

Youth (ages 9-11):  An Actor’s Challenge: Overcoming Obstacles Onstage.   Instructors:  Kortney Adams, Alan White.  What makes for great drama is a character’s struggle to contend with great dilemmas and difficulties.   Working with scenes from The Miracle Workerand other plays, students will explore how Helen Keller and other real and fictional characters fight to overcome real-life challenges.

Teen (ages 12-16):  The Actor’s Voice: Vocal Training for the Stage .  Instructor:  tba.  The  complete actor knows  how to imaginatively use his or her voice in a variety of ways.  This class will focus on proper vocal technique, dialects and accents, and freeing emotions through the voice. 

Send Registration to:

Education Programs. Wheelock Family Theatre. 200 The Riverway. Boston. MA 02215. You can also register over the telephone: 617-879-2252 or online www.WheelockFamilyTheatre.org.

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