Category Archives: Education and Summer Camp Programs
The Wide World of Accents: Irish Edition!
Want to Learn Irish?
“The Wide World of Accents: Irish Edition!”
Back by popular demand and ONE DAY ONLY!
Instructor: Shley Snider
Date and Time: Tuesday, March 17th from 6:30pm to 8:30pm at Western Reserve Playhouse
Cost: $35.00 Limit to 15
For our favorite March holiday, WRP thought it only fitting to teach you the coolest St. Paddy’s party trick! Everyone has an accent, and using different ones from all over the world can be a big part of our theatrical endeavors. Come and learn how to discover your own accent as well as how to successfully deliver an Irish brogue! This workshop includes placement, vowel, and consonant changes, and the signature sing-song lilt!
All students are encouraged to wear green!
Our instructor, Shley Snider, has a Master of Fine Arts in Performance from the University of Southern Mississippi (summa cum laude), a Master of Liberal Studies in Museum Theatre from Fort Hays State University (cum laude), and a Bachelor of Arts in Communications and Theatre, also from Fort Hays (magna cum laude). She is an Adjunct Instructor in Theatre Arts at Ashland University. A part of the Ohio theatre scene for just over a year, Shley has already been spotted in productions with Ensemble Theatre, Ohio Shakespeare Festival, Cleveland Shakespeare Festival, French Creek Theatre, Akron Symphony Orchestra, The Illusion Factory, and Players Guild, as well as various professional mystery theatres. (But she can’t tell us which ones- it’s a mystery!) A specialist in all things “voice,” Shley holds Practitioner Status with The Lessac Kinesensic Training and Research Institute, works as a dialect and voiceover coach, and even does some voice over herself. Her real claim to vocal fame, though, has been as a comedy rapper, performing in such venues as the PIT NYC, Lyric Theatre Miami, and the Impractical Jokers Cruise.
Calling All Young Playwrights to This Brand-New Event!
Western Reserve Playhouse is so excited to announce our Young Artist’s Playwright Festival of 2020! This is a brand-new event that we’re holding at The Barn, and we hope to have it be a smash-hit!
This festival targets young playwrights of all ages (age limit: 19) to write up a short play for a competition. A board of theatre connoisseurs will then pick the best play in each age group, and that play will be performed on our stage!
However, there’s a catch: not only will students and children be writing these plays, but they’ll also be directing them! It’ll be a blast to have our adult WRP actors learn from our young directors and production staff!
All of the information about the festival and how to sign up can be found here: https://thewrp.org/young-artists-playwright-festival-2020/
Questions? Email Dawn at dawn@thewrp.org or Hannah at hannah@thewrp.org
Tell everyone you know, and get writing!
Introducing WRP’s 2020 Youth Summer Camps!
THE GREATEST SHOW
By The CAMPERS
Ages: 3-6 (potty trained)
Do you want to have your child learn the basics of theater while they write their own play? Our wildly successful Itty Bitty Camp is back! Have your child come and spend a week with us doing crafts, writing a show, learning a song, and being able to perform for you!
DISNEY’S FROZEN KIDS
By Jennifer Lee
Ages: 6-12
Do you want to build a snowman?
You’ll love this fanciful and heartwarming stage adaptation of the celebrated animated film. Join Anna, Elsa, Olaf, Sven, and all of your favorite characters as they embark on an epic, ice-filled journey of self-discovery, camaraderie, and the real meaning of true love. Adapted for young performers, this musical includes favorite Frozen songs such as “Love Is an Open Door,” “Do You Want to Build a Snowman?,” and “Let It Go,” as well as wonderful new songs from the Broadway production. This production of Frozen KIDS is sure to prove that “some people are worth melting for.”
Ages: 13+
Have fun with some of Shakespeare’s most famous characters in this comical one act TV talent show parody!
Our host, Puck, the mischievous fairy from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, is joined by the Fool, a classic Shakespearean side character, who adds wit and fun with his not-so-foolish interjections.
There’s all the trademark Shakespeare tragedy — plots against kings, pining for love, witch’s predictions of forlorn fates — but with comedic twists including pillow fights, rubber chicken duels, and a disco dance finale where the judges decide to award themselves the winners. With minimal sets and props, Shakespeare’s Got Talent! introduces students to another side of many of Shakespeare’s most famous characters and plays in a manner that’s quite silly, highly entertaining, and easily relatable.
2020 Education Classes
WRP is excited to announce its 2020 Winter Education Programs.
PLAY! (The Joy of Creating Play in Performance)
Instructor: Victoria Kirgesner
Dates/Time: January 29th – March 18th / Wednesdays 4:30pm – 6:00pm (8 weeks)
Designed for students 8-13 years of age
Cost: $95.00/student
Putting on a play (performing in or participating in any way) is one of the most fulfilling experiences to the young student, as it engages the mind, especially the young mind, in all of the important facets of everyday life through a creative conduit. In this class, students will embrace and conquer all of the aspects of putting on a play: from basic acting/performance skills (including rhetoric, elocution, and memorization), to stage construction, crafting props, designing lights and costumes, marketing, and everything in between. Using theatre games designed by Viola Spolin and Paul Sills’ famed improvisation troupe Second City, the students will put on a very special performance: a play created and written by all of the students. Based on one or a series of stories that the group holds dear to their hearts, the ensemble will devise a brand-new performance never before-seen, and then go on to produce it to the fullest. Students will not only be introduced to how to put on a play in a technical sense but how to work together, problem solve in a group, and sharpen respectful public presentation skills. The course will conclude in a public performance on the last day of class.
Minimum of 4 enrolled to have class.
SHAKESPEARE IN PERFORMANCE
Instructor: Kyle Huff
Dates/Time: January 23rd – March 12th / Thursdays 4:30pm – 6:00pm (8 weeks)
Ages 13+
Cost: $95.00
Come and explore our greatest poet! On our journey we’ll not only find ourselves in some of the greatest plays ever performed and poems ever written; but, we will discover the true art of play and the joy of group creativity as we build a brand new performance based on The Bard’s work. In this course we will…
- Introduce students to the significance of Shakespeare in our culture.
- Introduce the students to and expand upon effective use of narrative storytelling, acting, memorization, relevant production elements (i.e. set creation, costuming, lighting, properties, marketing), elocution, rhetoric, and classical literature.
- Discover the joy of Shakespeare’s poetry by performing his speeches, soliloquies, and scenes.
- Create an open and creative environment for all of our artists.
Minimum of 4 enrolled to have class.
PLAYER UNIVERSE!
(An introduction to performance with “Steven Universe”)
Instructor: Jacob Gaspar
Dates/Time: February 1st – March 21st / Saturdays 10:00am – 11:30am (ages 6-11) – (8 weeks)
Cost: $95.00
Join us for an epic mission to save the universe from evil with Steven, the Crystal Gems, and the rest of Beach City! This famed cartoon is known for embracing the beautiful imperfections of life and telling a coming-of-age by showing that it’s not only okay, but beautiful, to accept all beings as they are; furthermore, to love what you love and never be ashamed. Using this and theatre games designed to teach skills such as acting, group problem solving, and public speaking, this class will also guide students into creating their own, brand-new performance! Designed for children 8 years or older, we will save the universe with play, storytelling, music, and much, much more.
Minimum of 4 enrolled to have class.
THE ACTOR AT WORK
(An advanced look at all the actor is tasked with. From the Audition to the Audience)
Instructor: August Scarpelli
Dates/Time: January 28th – March 17th / Tuesdays – 4:30pm – 6:00pm (8 weeks)
Ages: 13+
Cost: $95.00
Acting: one of the oldest and most celebrated arts. We have had “actors” in our culture for as long as we can tell. We are all natural storytellers. Acting today comes with a lot of obstacles and requires a lot of preparation. Tasks such as how to prepare most effectively and efficiently for an audition, rehearsals, and performances is what we will be discovering in this course. In this course students will…
- Explore a series of techniques geared towards performing a successful audition.
- Learn how and what to prepare, as well as how to behave and perform in this unique setting.
- Students will be required to “audition” for a specific play in front of a panel of local professionals.
- Teach and sharpen the technical skills that an actor uses to do their work.
- Study the great acting teachers and innovators from Stanislavski to Chekov, Brecht, Spolin, Brook, and well beyond (all will be taught).
- Prepare a scene with a partner(s) from a classic and challenging play – this scene will be the final presentation in front of local professionals.
Minimum of 4 enrolled to have class.
LET’S PUT ON A PLAY!
(Six weeks to put on a play? We can do it!)
Instructor: Zachary Manthey and Executive Artistic Director, Dawn Sniadak-Yamokoski
Dates/Time: February 10th – March 16th / Mondays 4:30 pm – 5:30 pm (6 weeks)
Ages (4-8)
Cost: $75.00
This course is offered for our youngest age group and our newest “thespians.” In this class students will be introduced to the basics of the stage and what all goes into putting on a production. Students will spend classes working on 10-15 minute plays that will have them delving into new worlds and broadening their imagination, while learning introductory skills in theatre arts. The final class will be a showcase of all our students’ hard work!
Minimum of 4 enrolled to have class.
WRP WORKSHOP SERIES
The Wide World of Accents 1
(How to discover your own accent and master others)
Instructor: Shley Snider
Dates/Time: January 13th – February 3rd / Mondays – 4:30 pm – 6:00 pm (4 weeks)
Ages: 13+
Cost: $55.00
Everyone has an accent and using different ones from all over the world can be a big part of our theatrical endeavors. Come and learn how to discover your own accent and how to successfully deliver an RP British, New York, Scottish, and German accent. Not only a useful skill for auditioning, but one of the most fun tricks in theatre!
Minimum of 4 enrolled to have class.
Enhancing Musical Theater Performance
Instructor: Jacob Bremkamp
Dates/Time: January 25th – February 15th / Saturdays – 2:00pm – 3:30pm (4 weeks)
Ages: 8th – 12th Grade
Cost: $55.00
This course is designed to help the musical theater performer advance their stagecraft, focusing on three core elements: Specificity, Authenticity, and Vocal Performance. Through one-on-one training, this class will be an intimate group of people who wish to bring in specific songs that they are interested in exploring dramatically (either audition pieces or musical numbers that will challenge them).
Once the class is assembled, all participants will bring in sheet music of one full song that they wish to work on throughout the course, along with the choice of a 16 bar cut of audition material they would like to have for their audition books. We will work both one-on-one and as a group, analyzing, interpreting, and ultimately cleaning/polishing final performances of these musical numbers.
The goal is to help identify what we connect with on a personal level in the songs we bring to the table, and how we can find new ways of giving them authentic life on stage, utilizing these core elements. This class is for those who are interested in taking their musical theater performance to the next level, and to ultimately help give performers a “boost” in the effectiveness of their unique interpretations of modern and classical musical theater repertoire.
Minimum of 4 enrolled to have class.