To enroll, unless otherwise noted: Place check payable to DAOR in DAOR mailbox in Gateway. Include name, phone/email, class title.
Macbeth Lectures
Lecturer: Julian Lopez-Morillas Tuesdays, May 14 - May 28 12:30 - 2:30 p.m. Performing Arts Studio, Hillside Fee: $ 25 for members, $ 45 for non-members
As he did with his lectures on Hamlet earlier this year, Lopez-Morillas will take participants through this tragedy scene by scene. He will demonstrate how the playwright uses imagery, rhythm, and sound to build an atmosphere of violence where ambition and the intrusion of the supernatural lead the characters in worlds of guilt, horror and madness. Lopez-Morillas asks all participants to read the play by the first class and invites them to watch one or two of the many, many versions on film and video.
Julian Lopez-Morillas has performed with all the Bay Area theaters, including ACT, Berkeley Rep, California Shakespeare Theater (Cal Shakes), San Jose Rep, the Magic Theater, the Aurora, San Jose Stage, as well as the Denver Center, La Jolla Playhouse, Long Wharf, McCarter Theater, and Chicago’s Court Theater. He directed for many years with the Berkeley Shakespeare Festival (now Cal Shakes), and also for the Marin Theater Company, Berkeley Jewish Theater, San Jose Rep, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and the American Players’ Theater in Wisconsin. He has taught acting, directing, theater history, and Shakespeare for the University of California/Berkeley, San Jose State University, Mills College, Foothill College and Solano College.
For more information, email Stephanie Singer: rosscomgal@gmail.com. Checks should be made out to DAOR and can be submitted at first class. Register with Roanne Butier: rbutier@sbcglobal.net
Introduction to Acting, Beginners
Instructor: Stephanie Singer Mondays, April 8 - May 27 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 Performing Arts Studio, Hillside Fee: $ 50 for members, $ 70 for non-members Class Full - If you'd like to be on the wait list, email Roanne at rbutier@sbcglobal.net.
Introduction to Acting is intended for students new to acting with limited or no stage experience or formal training. The class will focus on script analysis, character intentions, emotional adjustments and given circumstances—a basic, one-step-at-a-time approach to understanding a character and script. Students will be asked to read assigned scripts and work with scene partners outside of class. They will then perform the scenes in a subsequent session. Stephanie studied at the Jean Shelton Acting School in San Francisco and has performed at the Phoenix Theater and the Shelton Theater, both in San Francisco; the Town Hall in Moraga; and the Willows Theater in Concord. She has also performed with Story-Slam in Oakland and participated in comedy writing classes and sketch comedy performances with All-Out Comedy in Oakland. From 2017 to the present, Singer has been a performer and teacher/coach with Oaktown Improv. At DAOR, she taught script analysis and scene study.
Class is limited to 14 students. For questions about the class, email Stephanie Singer: rosscomgal@gmail.com. Checks should be made out to DAOR and can be submitted at first class. Register with Roanne Butier: rbutier@sbcglobal.net
So You Want to Be a Director
Instructor: Michael McGarty Tuesdays, April 9 - May 7 12:30 - 2:30 p.m. Performing Arts Studio, Hillside Fee: $ 40 for members, $ 60 for non-members Class Full - If you'd like to be on the wait list, email Roanne at rbutier@sbcglobal.net. “So You Want to Be a Director” will introduce students to the fundamentals of directing, and will cover the range of talents and responsibilities taken on by the director. These include concept creation, design, casting and working with actors to produce a satisfying experience for an audience. Participants will study techniques in script analysis, design consistency, blocking/stage pictures, and acting chemistry. No previous experience is required. Michael McGarty has directed plays in New York/ New England community and professional theaters for 50 years. A recipient of numerous directing awards, he served as the Harvard Community Theater’s artistic director from its inception in 1990 to 2012, directing over 100 plays including four New England premieres of New York composer Jenny Giering’s work: Show, Crossing Brooklyn,Still Life, and Mistress Cycle.
Class is limited to 14. For questions about the class, email Michael: mmcgarty@gmail.com. Checks should be made out to DAOR and can be submitted at first class. Register with Roanne Butier: rbutier@sbcglobal.net
Play Reading Group
Third Monday each month, 10 am Gateway MPR #1 Facilitator: Lori Michetti No fee
The Play Reading group welcomes actors and non-actors. If interested, just show up at a meeting. The atmosphere is relaxed and fun. A new play is read at each meeting. The characters' parts are changed during the meeting so that each person has the opportunity to read aloud. Enjoyable discussions follow.
The group will read a variety of plays, some comedies, new and contemporary plays, and older plays. Members will have an opportunity to choose a play.
Instructor: Jean Wilcox Session Ended From Abbott and Costello and Carol Burnett to more serious yet still comic work, the class will explore just what makes things funny. Timing, pacing, double takes and other comic business. Each student will have a partner and will spend the entire course on one comedy skit until it is finally honed. The class will be taught by Jean Wilcox, a Shellie Award winning actor and founder of DAOR. She loves to laugh and make others laugh too.
Hamlet Lectures
Session Ended Lecturer: Julian Lopez-Morillas Shakespeare scholar Julian Lopez-Morillas will examine the enduring power of Hamlet's story and illustrate its challenges with excerpts from the work of the great actors and directors who have engaged with its ambiguities and its brilliant poetry, its unsurpassed theatricality and its deep pathos. His presentation will provide insight into why this great work continues to fascinate us to this day. Julian is a professional theatre actor, director and teacher. He has performed with all the major Bay Area theatres including ACT, Berkeley Rep, Cal Shakes, San Jose Rep, the Magic Theatre, the Aurora, San Jose Stage and many others. You may remember his performance as George Orwell in “Interview with an Icon” with Jean Wilcox.
Auditioning Workshop
Session Ended Instructor: Linda Kelp
Auditions are bound to make you feel nervous. It is a feeling that is difficult to shake. A FREE workshop “Auditioning Tips for Naked Stage” will be held on Tuesday, Jan. 16, from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the Performing Arts Studio. Veteran Naked Stage director Linda Kelp will explore the question: What do directors look for at an audition? The class will present practical guidance on preparation, the audition process, and presentation. There will be lots of opportunity for practice and questions. Scenes for reading will be provided.
Improvisation Session Ended Instructor: Cynthia Wilson
DAOR is offering an improvisation class led by seasoned theater arts teacher Cynthia Wilson. The class is open to all levels of experience, and Cynthia describes the class as “a hands on, brain on, experiential class that requires no memorization but does require a commitment to loving, spontaneous fun.” Students will be supported, encouraged, and taught to make as many mistakes as possible, to be used as learning tools!
There is a limit of 20 class members.
“The knowledge that every day there is something more to learn, something higher to reach for, something new to make for others, makes each day infinitely precious” - Uta Hagen -