Conservatory Classes

Join Music Director and educator Doug Peck for a challenging, cleansing, demystifying day of group work on building your artistic voice and audition repertoire. Each student will gain added confidence in their presentation, as well as a concrete plan for moving forward with ambition and excitement.

Are you a sound designer or composer? Do you want to learn how to have better, more productive conversations with the other members of your artistic team? This 1-day seminar with veteran composer and sound designer Josh Schmidt will prepare you for the world of collaborating with other theatre artists. Students will gain insight into script analysis, cue composition, organization, and planning in hopes of the most responsive collaboration possible between Composer/Sound Designers and their directors, fellow designers, and actors.

Acting is a profession like no other. There are no rules to success. Many actors spend all their time working on their craft, while failing to understand or appreciate the most fundamental and important aspect of their career: the Business of Acting. In this 6-hour intensive workshop, Johnny Kastl (Scrubs, The Beast), teaches new and seasoned actors how to take charge of their career to succeed where others thought they couldn’t. The course will cover defining your “type,” strategies to make the most of your time with casting directors, and short- and long-term planning to achieve your career goals. For actors who wish to become—or already are—professional, working actors, this class will be among the most important of their career.

Are you a young actor (or a parent/guardian) facing the daunting task of auditioning for high school, conservatory or college? This 3-day workshop is for you! Learn how to choose material that will showcase your range and make an impression in an audition setting. During the first session, get insight on the tricks to selecting a monologue from Senn Arts Lead Theatre Teacher and professional actor, Joel Ewing (Co-Artistic Director, The Yard, Actor with Jackalope and TimeLine). Then spend a couple of weeks rehearsing on your own, before diving into two days of monologue coaching focused on the power of slating effectively, making bold choices, and connecting to your material, taught by actor and long-time teaching artist Robert Cornelius (Rightlynd at Victory Gardens Theater and Lottery Dayat Goodman Theatre).

This class is geared towards playwrights who have already completed a first draft of a play and are looking to take it to the next stage of its artistic development. Students will explore the craft of dramaturgy, helping them develop the tools to examine their work critically, ask the right questions, and make purposeful changes to their text. With the guidance of award-winning playwright Calamity West, participants will gain a better understanding of the rewriting and development process.

Want to develop your acting skills while exploring the work of African American women playwrights? Join us for a 5-week acting seminar highlighting plays from the 20th and 21st century written by both well-established and upcoming voices. In this class, curated and coached by director Andrea J. Dymond and actor Celeste Williams, students will engage with work that views the world through a dynamic lens, while rehearsing and performing scenes to hone their artistic skills.

This two day intensive workshop with Casting Director, Claire Simon (Empire, Chicago PD, Chicago Fire) and Erica Daniels, Executive Director, Victory Gardens and former Associate Artistic Director and Casting Director, Steppenwolf Theatre Company will help bring a professionalism to your audition process.

Day one will focus on the Theater monologue, while day two you will work on auditioning with sides drawn television. The interview process, professional advice (Headshot/ Resume, Branding) and Q and A will also be a part of this workshop.

Required: Prior professional experience and training, determined by headshot and resume.