So a few years back we made the realization that we can do something that many other theaters can not do. We have a lot of really talented artists – many of whom tour the world – coming to our venue to perform. We can provide our students access to those artists (given their schedules permit). Just about everyone we’ve ever asked to give up a few hours of their time on an afternoon of a performance or the day after, has been willing to do it.

As a result, our students have had unprecedented access to artists they otherwise would never be able to meet, let alone work with. A few years back we had Kristy Cates, who was Elphaba in Broadway in Chicago’s Wicked, come out to teach a master class on musical theatre performance. She did a whole series of workshops that were completely sold out. After that, we had singer/songwriter Shawn Mullins come in to teach a masterclass songwriting for guitar.

After Mullins, Michael Ingersoll of Jersey Boys taught a two-day intensive on vocal technique and stage presence. Who better to cover that topic…

Then his wife Angela, herself a very accomplished actress, taught an audition workshop. Michael then returned for a symposium on the touring Broadway experience. Several members of the Jersey Boys band gave workshops: Guitarist David Sarkis did a workshop on becoming a solo artist, and Ted Mulligan also of the Mulligan Mosaics Big Band gave a masterclass on jazz technique.

Many of these are free, some had a low cost entry fee. All were phenomenal.

We’ve just announced our Artist Workshop series for 2010/2011. If you’re interested in being a part of any of these, call our education front office: 847.577.5982 x221.