The New School At Media Theater Looks Forward To Season Two, Begins 9/19

The New School enters its second season September 19 and meets throughout the year until April on Monday nights. The students are in two age groups, and all of them had to either be interviewed by Jesse Cline, Artistic Director or audition to become a part of the intense two-semester process.

Jesse Cline, Artistic Director for The Media Theatre, created The New School last season. "This is a teaching concept that changes behavior," he said of the conservatory-style music theatre program. "Audiences know when an actor is truthful or not. They may not be able to identify exactly why they feel the way they do, but audiences have a sixth sense about communication from the stage. The New School assists young actors in finding the truth in everything they do."

"This cannot be taught in the same way math or other academia is approached," Cline continued. "It's intended to strengthen the core of a student's personality and to find out what makes them unique so that the core of their performance is strengthened."

Cline instructs the acting portion of the School, with Media Theatre's Resident Music Director Tom Fosnocht teaching vocal music and music study. Kaylan Wetzel is the choreographer.

"The music component of the New School curriculum will be a quantitative assessment of each student's musicianship," Fosnocht explained. "The assessments will encompass an introductory and intermediate understanding of reading music as well as a basic knowledge of music terminology."

Fosnocht is definitely one who practices what he teaches. He has been studying piano since age five when he began formal lessons with Paula Skutnick-Henley, becoming aware at an early age of the intricacies of music. He studied with The Philadelphia Orchestra's Kyoko Takeuti and worked with The Curtis Institute's Susan Kiefner. He attended Oberlin Conservatory, under the tutelage of Monique Duphil and jazz great Sanford Margolis. He has performed at the San Francisco Palace of Fine Arts and Seattle's Benaroya Hall. Receiving his BM from Oberlin in 2009, Fosnocht turned his sights to the Philadelphia region near his family and became an active composer and arranger in the area.

Since 2010, Fosnocht has became an integral part of the continued mission at The Media Theatre, which focuses on music theatre and education. He music directed the Broadway Series productions of "Rent", "Jekyll and Hyde: The Musical", "The Last Five Years", and "Annie" during which time he worked with Emmy-winner Wanda Sykes in her music theatre debut. His next venture, aside from The New School, is the theatre's fall musical "Chicago" which features Broadway star and "American Idol" sensation Justin Guarini as Billy Flynn.

Dance is an essential element of music theatre and will be an important element during The New School's Monday night classes. Kaylan Wetzel, who just finished an entire summer as the choreographer for Camp Media Theatre, will bring her knowledge to the forefront of the movement courses. "As an actor, one of your most important tools is the command of your body," she said. "Through movement and body awareness you add strength to a role and dance, even in its basic form, tells a story."

The New School will assist young actors in various forms. "The class will have a strong focus on character driven movement and storytelling through choreography," Kaylan explained. "We will learn dance combinations from some of Broadway's most popular musicals and study jazz and ballet as well as music theatre dance technique."

Kaylan is a graduate of the Conservatory of Performing Arts at Point Park University. She was seen in "The Who's Tommy" at The Media Theatre, and has been in productions of "Cats", "A Chorus Line", "Rent" and "Little Shop of Horrors" for which she received a Best Actress nomination from BroadwayWorld.com.

"Acting, music, and dance are intertwined throughout this program," Cline added. "The objective of the New School is to incorporate all of these elements into a common approach put forth by the faculty. If one were to synthesize the fundamental premise it would be that ‘the truth is everything'. This premise is essential and should maintain itself in everything that takes place on stage."

For more information regarding The Media Theatre's New School, which is by audition only, or any of the theatre's weekly acting or voice classes for children, teens, and adults, visit www.mediatheatre.org or call 610-891-0100.

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