* Permission Slips

All students attending Bomb-itty of Errors at Syracuse Stage Saturday March 15th, please make sure you bring in your permission slips this week. Those students that do not have their signed permission slips in prior to the field trip will not be able to attend the performance. (Which would be a real bummer, so get them in folks!)

Notion Pictures: Casting Q & A

Casting Director, Barbara Cokus of Notions Pictures will join us for an in-class workshop. This Emmy-Award winning film and video production company's work comes into thousands of households each day. Notion Picture's client list is long and includes work that I am sure any Syracusian would recognize. They have produced commercials for such clients as, The Syracuse International Film Festival, Centro, The New York State Fair, The Corning Glass Museum and Raymour & Flanigan.

Behind the scenes at the Notion Pictures you can find Ms. Cokus casting talent, arranging for costume designers, hiring a translator and/or voice-over narrator, selecting music, and scouting locations. She also speaks regularly to young performers interested in pursing work in television commercials.

Full Cast Audio Workshop

Friday, February 15th Full Cast Audio Artistic Director, Dan Bostick will be joining us for a workshop! Learn about audiobook production, casting voice talent and why vocal exercises, character development and stretching your imagination are great for the stage and the page!

Founded by Moongobble and Me Series author Bruce Coville, Full Cast Audio (FCA) has a simple rule: to produce unabridged full cast recordings of great books for young readers. Whenever possible, they also invite the author to serve as narrator. Some of the Full Cast Audio productions include The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale,The Cat Ate my Gymsuit by Paula Danzier and The Evil Elves by Bruce Coville.

Hip - Shake Workshop February 28th!

Okay, this might seem like a strange comparison, but trust us, Shakespeare was a stone cold gangsta. With Hip-Shake, we’ll show you how the Grandmaster Bard and modern hip-hop artists use the English language in very similar ways. Here’s a few facts about Shakespeare that might just boost his street cred.

ONE A 1589 production of Comedy of Errors probably felt more like a rap concert than a trip to the opera. While the royal and elite audience members sat in private boxes, the ‘floor seats’ (standing room only) were available to the lower-class masses of ‘groundlings,’ as they were called. We don’t think there was a mosh pit, but it could get pretty raucous down there. Check out page 8 for more on the groundlings.

TWO Shakespeare came from nothing. His parents couldn’t read or write, but he managed to be- come one of the most prolific writers of all time. Not bad, huh?

THREE Don’t let the frilly clothes fool you. Shakespeare was tough. The year he was born, his town was hit with the Black Plague, and Baby Shakes survived. 50 Cent may have been hit with a few shells (he don’t walk with a limp,) but he never had to deal with the Plague.

FOUR Rap producer and artist Timbaland raised $800,000 for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. Russell Simmons and Sean Combs are outspoken political activists. But Shakespeare wins again. Queen Elizabeth I was one of his biggest fans. Show me George Bush at a Snoop Dogg show and we’ll talk.

FIVE He didn’t think to add “-izzle” to any of them, but Shakespeare invented an estimated 1,700 words. Here’s a few of our favorites: assassin, bloody, critic, generous, gloomy, gnarled, laughable, lonely, majestic, and puke.

When Hip-Shake visits your class, you will have the chance to ask the characters any questions you like. Be creative! If something they say makes you wonder “why?” or “how?” make a note of it and ask when it is appropriate. We’ve even given you some space below for your notes! Here are a few subjects you might want to consider, but just use this as a starting point. What do you really want to know?

Blog info. courtesy of Syracuse Stage

Visit from Violinist Tai Murray

Friday, February 29th Kuumba students will have an opportunity to meet national violin virtuoso Tai Murray. Ms. Murray is a rising young star within the world of classical music, and only in her early 20s. Known for her beautiful, mature phrasing and graceful bow work, Murray has received critical acclaim from coast to coast. She has also drawn attention as one of the few African-American musicians involved in classical music.

Click to learn more about Tai Murray

Full Cast Audio Workshop Rescheduled

Thursday classes are canceled, Our Full Cast Audio workshop has been rescheduled for Friday, February 15th.

AUDITION NOTICE!

The Gifford Family Theater (GFT) is holding auditions for Go, Dog. Go!, Wednesday and Thursday, February 6 & 7, from 6:30pm-9:30pm. Go, Dog. Go! will run May 20th - June 14th at the Coyne Center for Performing Arts .

* Actors need to prepare a 1 minute comedic monologue and sing 16 bars of up-tempo music.

Students auditioning will have some in-class rehearsal time and additional time can be scheduled with me on Tuesdays or Saturdays. Marcia Hagan is also open to working with students on song selection and the 16 bars of music required for the audition.

The Gifford Family Theatre, in residence at Le Moyne College's Coyne Center for the Performing Arts, is Central New York's newest Theatre for Young Audiences. In the belief that the arts are crucial to the development of children and their subsequent participation in our community, the Gifford Family Theatre is committed to providing professional theatre to children and families, with affordable public performances and school matinees.

To schedule an audition please call the Gifford Family Theater at 445-4230. Auditions are by appointment only.

In-Class Reading

Your books, Acting A-Z: The Young Actor's Guide to a Stage or Screen Career by Katherine Mayfield arrived last week. This book covers the skills needed for success on stage and off. Thursday, January 17th we read pages 37-43 entitled "Everything You'll Need".
Here are some of the important points that you picked out of your reading.

(cont.)

Syracuse Stage Tour

West Side Story directed & choreographed by Anthony Salatino (2002)
January 23rd, we're taking a quick trip across the street for a tour of Syracuse Stage, Central New York's premier professional theatre. Founded in 1974 by Arthur Storch, Stage has produced more than 220 plays in 34 seasons including numerous world and American premieres. Each season audiences enjoy an exciting mix of comedies, dramas and musicals featuring the finest professional theatre artists. In addition, Stage maintains a educational outreach program that serves nearly 30,000 students from 24 counties.

Stage attracts leading designers, directors and performers from New York and leading regional theatres around the country. Visiting artists are supported by a full-time and seasonal staff of artisans, technicians and administrators who are responsible for all aspects of the theatre from building sets, props and costumes to marketing, development and box office.


Stage Visit Pic

Backstage Pass for Bomb-itty of Errors

You have a guest pass! The theater class is getting a sneak peak of Syracuse Stage's production of The Bomb-itty of Errors which opens March 12th. The class will have the opportunity to observe some rehearsals and ask the cast and director questions about the show. This is your chance to observe the skills that you have been working on in class in action. Watch carefully to find out how the tools you have learned, come into "play".


The Bomb-itty of Errors
Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors comes in for an “ad-rap-tation” as four gifted performers hit the street to launch an assault of non-stop, lightning-paced, side-splitting comedy. With its origin in the Roman playwright Plautus’ wild comedy The Menaechmi, the play involves two sets of identical twins and multiple cases of mistaken identity. This latest incarnation is a hip-hop, rap romp retelling of the famous comedy. After all, the Bard was a master of “word.”


**Dates: TBA

Class Assignment

I know that a few of you have a problem with the word homework, I will start instead with this, your assignment to be completed by Wednesday April 30th, is to choose one actor, director or playwright from the list below. Every student will be required to turn in a two page paper about the artist that you have choosen. Included in the paper should be, a bit about their background, education and career. Please also tell me why you choose this person and if there is anything historically significant or unique about the artist.

Please choose from the list below - if you have someone in mind that is not on the list just let me know so the name can be added.

Hattie McDaniel * Sidney Poiter * Paul Robeson * Pearl Cleage * August Wilson * Ruby Dee * Suzan Lori-Parks * Amiri Baraka * Wol Soyinka * Langston Hughes * Ntozake Shange * Cheryl West * Lorraine Hansberry * Regina Taylor * Audra MacDonald * Diahann Carrol * Ethel Waters * Harry Belafont * Eartha Kitt * Lena Horne* Bill Bojangles Robinson Alice Childress * LaChanze * Phylica Rashad * August Wilson * Paul Robeson * Sidney Poiter * Lynne Nottage * Angela Bassett * Taye Diggs * MorganFreeman * Samuel L. Jackson * Richard Roundtree * Nia Long * Morris Chestnut * Harold Perrineau * Terrence Howard * Sanaa Lathan * Monica Calhoun * James Earl Jones

Stage Directions

Blocking A director may give you instruction such as “cross downstage right or ”sit in chair upstage center”. This diagram outlines standard stage directions used in blocking. Stage directions are from the point of the actor facing the audience.

Field Trip! LeMoyne College Coyne Theatre Tour

Ok class, we are on the road tomorrow so please get to class on time and remember to bring your journals. We will be visiting the W. Carroll Coyne Center for the Performing Arts, a 20,000 square foot facility dedicated to education and performance at Le Moyne College.

The PAC includes a flexible main theatre, a studio theatre, dance and design studios, classrooms, production shops and attractive lobby. Theatre arts, music, and dance students are the primary users of the PAC. It is home to eleven student performance ensembles and the Le Moyne campus venue for visiting professional artists. The PAC also hosts two community outreach organizations: The Gifford Family Theatre and Music Journeys, Inc.

Pictures from the Tour

Class Professional Headshots

An 8″x10″ headshot print is essentially “a business card for actors” which is presented to casting directors who decide whether a person has the right “look” for a particular part for a role in a movie, TV show, or theatrical part.

A headshot is more than just a pretty picture. A good headshot is intended to show a person “as they are”, focusing on the person’s best qualities. It won’t make you look older. It won’t make you look like someone else. A good headshot will give the casting agent a hint of the person’s character, or show their potential for a particular role the casting director is looking to fill.


While taking pictures, you should not be thinking about anything except being present in the here and now. Remember, your headshots need to catch that something special about you. The camera does not need to capture you thinking about whether you forgot your homework in your locker - because believe me - it will!



**Special thanks to photographer Brantley Carroll