Discover Bay Street Theater's Exciting Line-up of Fall Classes

Bay Street Theater & Sag Harbor Center for the Arts has revealed the Fall 2023 line-up of classes and workshops offering something for everyone in the community ages 7-87+ including actors, non-actors, aspiring actors, comedians, dancers, clowns, and wellness enthusiasts. Everyone is welcome! Said Allen O'Reilly, Bay Street Theater's Director of Education and Community Outreach, "After a busy Summer conducting camps with participants from around the world, it's always great to return to our Fall offerings where we will once again provide varied and quality educational experiences for beloved locals!"

To enroll, please visit our Box Office any day 11 AM - 5 PM, or contact us 24/7 at BayStreet.org. For additional information on any classes feel free to contact Allen O'Reilly at allen@baystreet.org.

The Fall line-up includes:

Annie Jr.

Directed by Bethany Dellapolla (photo)
September 16th - October 28th
Saturdays, 10 am - 1 pm
Performance - Monday, October 30th, 4 pm -7 pm at Bay Street
Ages 7 and up (including Adults)!
$300.00

Based on the popular comic strip and adapted from the Tony Award-winning Best Musical, with a beloved book and score by Tony Award winners, Thomas Meehan, Charles Strouse and Martin Charnin, Annie JR. features everyone’s favorite little redhead in her very first adventure. With featured roles and ensemble parts, Annie Jr. will culminate with a performance on The Bay Street Stage! 

Bethany Dellapolla is an actress, teacher, director, and choreographer based in NYC and Long Island. She has coached and taught at Broadway Dance Center, Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center, Bay Street Theater, and Pierson Middle-High School where she has been fortunate to direct and/or choreograph many shows for children and adults, such as The Little Mermaid, The Drowsy Chaperone, Anything Goes, Seussical, Beauty and the Beast, Peter Pan Jr., Willy Wonka, Shrek, and 13. As an actress, Bethany has performed in everything from independent film to radio and theatre. Most recently, Bethany was seen as Mrs. Potts/Villager in Beauty and the Beast (BroadwayWorld.com nomination - Best Actress in a Musical).

Stress Relief Workshop

With Angelika Ahrens (photo)
Saturday, September 23rd
10:00 am - 12:00 pm
Ages 14 and up!
$125.00

Actors often stress about everything— This workshop provides you with a toolbox of simple stress relief techniques, for everybody, not only actors. You will learn how to ground yourself, reach your goals, gain self-confidence, reduce stress, and connect your body and mind.

Angelika Ahrens has devoted her life to teaching anti-stress techniques and yoga and will share her strategies including simple exercises, breathing techniques, positive thinking, what foods to eat (and avoid), and more with us. She has been working for TV news for more than 20 years as a moderator, editor, and journalist in economic news in Europe and later as a correspondent in New York City. Yoga and Qigong also helped her to be successful in “Dancing with the Stars” in Austria.

Clown Curious for Kids

with Reverend Barbara Ann Michaels (photo)
Saturday, September 30th
10:00 am - 12:00 pm @ Bay Street Theater
Ages 9-13
$125.00

Everyone is funny because humor is part of being human - including you! Come discover how to be yourself and create positive humor and laughter with other kids (and grown-ups!) as a clown. Clowns take the ups and downs of life and make them into fun games and stories that help the audience feel good. We’ll learn some classic clown skits, find out about red noses and wear them, and learn some of the rules of body language and comedy. You’re invited to play being a clown for a day!

Clown Curious for Adults

with Reverend Barbara Ann Michaels (photo)
Saturday, September 30th
1:00-3:00 pm
Ages 18 and up!
Christ Church: Sag Harbor
$125.00

Clown theater is a hilarious and deeply vulnerable art form. We take in the ups and downs of life and laugh them out. It's also personally transformative because our clown characters are based on ourselves, not on characters we invent. Come play, and learn some of the rules of humor and body language that you can then apply to further connection in any setting, personal or professional. First, we share a light body warm-up, then play simple group games that help us feel creative and related. We each don our red nose (provided) in a fun ritual. From there, we engage each other in classic physical comedy exercises, discovering more about our own clown characters along the way. No performance experience is needed just an open spirit.

New York-based performance artist Barbara Ann Michaels creates humorous participatory artworks that foster deep human connection via people feeling seen, heard and celebrated. She also trains facilitators on the universal rules of body language and humor. Ms. Michaels makes a career of the interplay of love, art, and comedy, devising interactive events as awakening takes on shared cultural experiences.
 

Think You’re Funny?

With Paul Anthony (photo)
October 16 - November 27
Mondays, 7:00 - 9:00 pm
Adults 21 and up
$250.00
(Maximum of ten participants)

Have you ever thought about trying Stand-Up Comedy? Do people tell you you’re funny? When you go to a comedy show, do you think to yourself, “I could do that!” Then this is the class for you! Join us for this fun, hands-on intensive where we’ll take you behind the curtain, and teach you from the ground up about becoming a stand-up comedian, and the Art of Stand- Up Comedy. In this class you will learn how to connect with an audience, write comedic sketches, become a better public speaker, perform your art, the business of comedy, and much more! Special Guest comedians will also visit our class to give students additional insight into the world of stand-up comedy.

Paul Anthony is a veteran comedian from Long Island. He is best known for his work as the founder and official host of the Long Island Comedy Festival, which started in 2006. Paul Anthony performs regularly at top venues and has shared the stage with comedians such as Louie Anderson, Gary Gulman, Judy Gold, Vic Dibitetto, and Robert Klein. Other shows he’s developed include Mom’s Night Out: The Comedy Show FOR Moms, BY Moms, The 50+ Comedy Tour, The Berkshire Comedy Festival, and the new Hamptons Comedy Festival, which launched at Bay Street Theater this past April and returns again this fall with two big shows.

Touch Dancing

with Alphonso Triggiani (photo)
October 3-November 21st
Tuesdays, 6:30-8:00 pm
For Adults ages 18 and up
$250.00/ $40.00 drop-in rate per class
Under the guidance of Touch Dancing Artistic Director Alphonso Triggiani and his associates, participants will learn “real dancing for real people” and will focus on aspects of “social dancing” as opposed to competitive ballroom dancing. Open to both beginners as well as experienced dancers, this class with inspire you with the confidence to both “lead” and “follow;” and will cover the disciplines of Disco, Latin, and Smooth along the way! Most of all, this course promises to be a great deal of fun for all involved! Both singles and couples are welcome! Drop-in rates are available. For adults ages 18 and up. Dance lessons for the first hour, followed by a half-hour of supervised practice dancing.
 

Everything Voice-Over

with Allen O'Reilly (photo)
October 4th - November 22nd
Wednesdays, 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
$250.00/$40 drop-in rate per class
(Maximum of sixteen participants)
In this eight-week offering, participants will have the opportunity to dig into the lucrative world of voice-over. Led by Director of Education and Community Outreach, Allen O’Reilly who has done over forty audiobooks as well as radio and spots for the NHL, Chick-Fil-A, Coca-Cola, and The Georgia Lottery, this class will be broken into four parts: Radio spots, the study of accents (British Standard, Southern, New York and various European). Also, Audiobooks and Animation Voice-Over are a part of the curriculum, and both of those sessions will feature special guests! At the final session, participants will be able to record a radio spot, dialect monologue, or audiobook sample of their choice at a local studio!
 

On-Camera Scenework! 

with Meghan Rafferty (photo)
October 14th - November 18th (No class November 11th)
Saturdays, 10:00-12:00 pm
Ages 16 and up
$300.00/$80.00 drop-in rate per class

Teens, ages 16 and up, and adults will be given a new scene to work on each week and will work as “partners,” as they would in real-world callback situations. In addition, the first class will be focused on “cold reading,” where students will potentially have just 20 minutes to prepare for an audition! A common phenomenon in the world of auditioning for film and television. Not only will Meghan give you invaluable feedback on your scene, but she will also give participants advice on all aspects of self- taping including set-up, recording, editing, and how to send an audition tape to casting directors that will bring you to the next level. Don’t miss this truly unique opportunity to work with an industry professional who also happens to be one of only three New York casting directors who are also working actors!

Meghan Rafferty is a New York-based casting director and actor known for her work on HBO’s The Leftovers and the film Paterson, and for associate casting films The Wolf of Wall Street and Hugo, and HBO’s Boardwalk Empire. Meghan has taught hundreds of on-camera classes in the New York area, and at many universities and performing arts colleges across Long Island.
 
Bay Street Theater is a year-round, not-for-profit professional theater and community cultural center, that endeavors to innovate, educate, and entertain a diverse community through the practice of the performing arts. It serves as a social and cultural gathering place, an educational resource, and a home for a community of artists.
 
Bay Street Theater is a fully vaccinated company. All attendance is available via touchless ticketing. Masks are optional upon entry to the theater and when seated. For a full list of COVID-19-related safety procedures and guidelines for in-person events, please visit us online at baystreet.org.

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