WaterTower Theatre Expands Education Programs with Master Classes
By: BWW News Desk Aug. 30, 2016
Under the direction of Kyle Eric Bradford, new courses will be offered in the Meisner Acting Technique, Improv, Puppetry, Stage Combat, and Viewpoints. The roster of experienced DFW artists includes John Pszyk (Meisner I/II), John Rawley (Improv), Kyle Igneczi (Puppetry), John-Michael Marrs (Viewpoints), and Stage Combat Dallas (Stage Combat).
Applications for individual classes can be obtained at the WaterTower Theatre box office or found online at www.watertowertheatre.org/education_programs.aspx. Fees and class times vary by course.
These courses have been created as vocational study in the performing arts. Each class will utilize specialized curriculum using various theatrical disciplines to create a well-rounded opportunity for students to build on their professional careers. Although classes are intended as vocational opportunities for those in the performance arts, students of any background and career field are encouraged to attend.
About The Courses:
Meisner I (8 weeks)
Instructor: John Pszyk
September 29 - November 17, 2016
Thursdays from 1:00pm-4:00pm
Fee is $300
Continuing WaterTower Theatre's tradition of excellence in Meisner education, John Psyzk will lead actors through this introductory course, teaching skills that allow actors to become emotionally expressive actors of depth, imagination, and truth. The Meisner Technique works for theatre, film, or television because it demands the actor to be completely truthful. This process will turn you into a spontaneous, instinctive, present, fearless, grounded, connected, moment-to-moment, actor and person. This course provides you with the foundation to craft your own creative process.
Improv (6 weeks)
Instructor: John Rawley
October 4 - November 8, 2016
Tuesdays from 1:00pm-4:00pm
Fee is $250
This immersive course will help actors have a better understanding of improvisation and how it can translate into their work, not just onstage, but in any performance medium. The class will teach them to make stronger choices, solve problems in a positive creative way, gain confidence in their acting skills, and teach them to relax and be more playful onstage.
Meisner II (8 weeks)
Instructor: John Pszyk
February 28 - April 18, 2017
Tuesdays from 1:00pm-4:00pm
Fee is $350 (Meisner I is a pre-requisite for this course)
Continuing in the techniques developed by Sanford Meisner, students will be challenged to further explore the depths of their emotional capabilities in this intermediate course. Applying skills learned in Meisner I, students will be given opportunities to work alongside their classmates through intensive scene studies.
Puppetry (6 weeks)
Instructor: Kyle Igneczi
March 30 - May 4, 2017
Thursdays from 1:00pm-4:00pm
Fee is $350 (includes cost of materials)
Puppetry, in a sense, is the art of creating the illusion of life through movement, stillness, breath, and focus. Students will explore, through a variety of puppetry techniques, new performance styles that can be utilized to enrich their acting skills. Working individually, and as an ensemble, students will create and bring life to numerous creatures throughout the course using hand and rod, found object, and tabletop puppetry. This "hands on" approach to puppetry will stretch your imagination, gaining a new perspective on what it means to bring life to a role.
Using an assortment of materials students will also create their own hand and rod puppet to continue their assured love of puppetry at home!
Stage Combat (6 weeks)
Instructor: Stage Combat Dallas, LLC
May 22 - June 26, 2017
Mondays from 6:30pm-9:30pm
Fee is $250
Stage combat is the art of creating the illusion of physical combat for theatre, film, and television, so it appears real to the audience, but is safe for the performers. The SCDallas team works to explore all areas of combat, weapon, and movement styles that can be incorporated onto stage or screen and strives to enhance the appreciation of the art form as well as promote safety in each aspect of learning, rehearsing, and performing.
Viewpoints Workshop (1-day)
Instructor: John-Michael Marrs
Saturday, October 8 from 2:00pm-4:00pm
Fee is $40
Viewpoints is a technique of improvisation that grew out of the postmodern dance world. It was first articulated by choreographer Mary Overlie, who broke down the two dominant issues performers deal with, time and space, into six categories she called the Six Viewpoints. Since then, the Siti Company and Anne Bogart have expanded Overlie's notions and adapted them for actors. The Viewpoints allows a group of actors to function together spontaneously and intuitively, and to generate bold, theatrical work quickly. It develops flexibility, articulation, and strength in movement and makes ensemble playing really possible. Actors will gain valuable tools that increase awareness onstage, sensitivity to fellow performers, and confidence in making bold choices in their work.
Broadly stated, WaterTower Theatre's education mission is to nurture the academic and emotional education of young people through theatre; and to make the rich benefits reaped from the experience available to all socio-economic levels and all traditionally underserved populations in Addison and Dallas.
About the Instructors:
John Pszyk (Meisner I / II)
John earned his M.F.A. in Acting at the University of Iowa where he studied the Meisner technique under Trish Hawkins and served for two years as teaching assistant for Terry Martin (both students of Sanford Meisner). John discovered his gift for teaching at the age of 22 while developing and teaching acting workshops at local high schools. His career has spanned the country, working professionally at regional theatres, in New York City, and throughout DFW. He is currently an Adjunct Professor at Collin College and The Arts Institute of Dallas. He holds a B.A. in Theatre from Barry University in Miami Shores, FL, and has also studied at Southern Methodist University, and Regents University in London.
John Rawley (Improv)
John is the founder of The Alternative Comedy Theater, and is a founding member of the Dallas based improv comedy troupe The Victims. He performs regularly in Dallas and has performed around the country at Out of Bounds (Austin, TX), The Out of the Loop Fringe Festival (Dallas, TX), The Black Box Improv Festival (Atlanta, GA), The Gainesville Improv Festival (Gainesville, FL), The North Carolina Comedy Arts Festival, The Broadway Comedy Club (NYC), Coldtowne Theater (Austin, TX), Satori Coffee House (Mobile, AL), The Hideout (Austin, TX) and The Parkside Lounge (NYC).
John has been a working actor and writer since 1993 and has appeared in commercials (both television and radio) and industrial films for Frito-Lay, Office Depot, Pier One, Motorola, Wrigley's Polar Ice Gum, The Washington Post, Texaco, KFC, Southwest Airlines, Radio Shack, Gamestop, Mission Tortillas, and Linens-n-Things. His film and television credits include Serving Sara, LAX, A House Divided, Chase, and Temple Grandin. He is represented by The Mary Collins Agency (marycollins.com).
Kyle Igneczi (Puppetry)
Having toured the world with some of the biggest names in family entertainment (Sesame Street Live, The USO, Curious George Live) Kyle has garnered an assortment of skills and unique experiences that help him as a successful theatre artist. In addition to his work onstage as an actor he has puppetry and performance credits with the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center Puppetry Conference, John Tartaglia, Chuck E. Cheese, and Sesame Street Live. Locally, his puppetry skills have been seen in The Spark (WaterTower Theatre, "Best of Loop 2015" - Out of the Loop Fringe Festival), Hershel and the Hannukah Goblins (Amphibian Stage Productions, "Best Puppets 2015" - TheaterJones), and as an actor at WaterTower Theatre, Stage West, Casa Mañana, Dallas Children's Theater, and Uptown Players.
Stage Combat Dallas, LLC (Stage Combat)
SCDallas was founded in early 2012 in an effort to unite stage combat and movement enthusiasts in the DFW area. Four years later, the company is actively working as Dallas' only open resource for safe, reliable, and fun Stage Combat and Movement choreography, direction, and instruction.
SCDallas has over 400 members, is host to a phenomenally successful Regional Workshop (The Lonestar Smash), and has organized two successful Certification Training Courses with the Society of American Fight Directors, in addition to their own regularly scheduled "Fight Nights" and workshops. SCDallas teaches in several school districts, at youth Summer Camps, and is the preeminent Fight Director Resource for the Dallas Theatrical Community. Our work has been seen onstage at Dallas Theater Center, Uptown Players, Theatre Three, the Trinity Shakespeare Festival, and many more.
The SCDallas team works to explore all areas of combat, weapon, and movement styles that can be incorporated onto stage or screen and strives to enhance the appreciation of the art form as well as promote safety in each aspect of learning, rehearsing, and performing.
John-Michael Marrs (Viewpoints Workshop)
John-Michael Marrs is an assistant professor of acting in Baylor University's Department of Theatre Arts, where he teaches courses in audition technique and the business of acting, period styles of performance, realism, and the intersection of faith and theatre. John-Michael received his Master of Fine Arts in Acting from the University of Alabama/Alabama Shakespeare Festival.
Locally, John-Michael has performed with Stage West, WaterTower Theatre, and Second Thought Theatre, as well as Amphibian Stage Productions. His New York credits include the New York Classical Theatre and the Ohio Theatre, as well as readings and workshops with The Public Theater, the Cherry Lane Theatre, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, and New World Stages. His regional credits include the Shakespeare Theatre Company, the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Pioneer Theatre Company, and two seasons with the Alabama Shakespeare Festival. Film and voiceover credits include The Mystery of Matter for PBS and the Kennedy Center's Vital Voices' Fatema Akbari Tribute. John-Michael has worked with both the New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts and Yale University. This summer, he studied with Anne Bogart and the Siti Company developing work and studying Viewpoints and the Suzuki Method.
WaterTower Theatre, celebrating its 20th Anniversary Season, is one of the leading regional theatres in North Dallas and Texas. It is consistently recognized for its artistic excellence by the Dallas Theatre League, DFW Theatre Critics Forum, The Dallas Morning News, The Dallas Observer, D Magazine, and The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, among others. WaterTower Theatre has a subscription base of more than 2,000 subscribers and serves an audience of over 28,000 patrons annually.
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