Welcome
Due to unforeseen circumstance, this program has been canceled. If you have any questions, please call 814-863-5100 or e-mail ConferenceInfo1@outreach.psu.edu.
Playwriting Program, May 31–June 14, 2010, in State College, Pennsylvania
Musical Theatre Program, June 7–21, 2010, in State College, Pennsylvania, and New York City
The Penn State Summer Theatre Project offers a unique opportunity to young theatre artists, ages 17 through 22, and young professional playwrights ages 17 through 25. Founded on the professional training methods used in one of the top five musical theatre programs in the country and by the professional playwrights and composers who form the core of two nationally recognized new works festivals, the Summer Theatre Project features an exciting liaison between training and practice. Penn State’s new play festival, Cultural Conversations, and The Penn State New Musicals Festival bring national and international composers, lyricists, and playwrights to Penn State to do new works, and the students in Penn State’s School of Theatre have the privilege of working closely with professional writers on both creating and workshopping new theatre pieces. The relationship between the Summer Theatre Project and the two festivals creates an exciting environment of training and performance, and this extraordinary program is designed to serve the needs of both the highly motivated young theatre professional and the professional playwright, composer, and lyricist.
The musical theatre artists chosen for the summer musical theatre program will spend the first week at Penn State taking classes in acting, musical theatre performance, auditioning, scene study, voice, jazz, tap, and musical theatre styles. Each student chosen will audition for, and appear in, public readings of new plays generated in The Project’s playwriting component and new musicals chosen to showcase the young artists’ talents. During the second week, the musical theatre artists will travel to New York City, where they will participate in Master Classes with Sutton Foster, Adam Guettel, and Broadway singers and choreographers. They will end The Project in New York and State College performances of a new musical chosen to highlight the talents of each individual.
The playwrights chosen for the summer playwriting program will take classes at Penn State in Hero’s Journey, Theatricality as Metaphor, Revising a Play, The Workshop, and New Play Development, and participate in Master Classes with visiting playwrights and artistic directors in the field. This unique training and performance experience sets The Penn State Summer Theatre Project apart from any other summer theatre experience in the country, and the collaboration between creation and performance offers the young writer and actor an opportunity to study, refine, and present his or her own gifts in a supportive and artistically progressive environment.
About the Program
Objectives:
- To introduce young artists to specific skill sets that are immediately applicable to professional work
- To offer young students opportunities to exercise these skill sets in performance settings
- To create a learning and performing experience for the student that can continue developing once the student returns to an educational setting or to professional work
- To create a unique artistic setting that serves performing artists and professional playwrights, composers, and lyricists
Related Links/Resources
Summer Theatre is on Facebook!
Links
www.theatre.psu.edu
www.numusicals.psu.edu
www.culturalconversations.psu.edu
