New Musicals Inc. to Offer Musical Theatre Summer Courses

New Musicals Inc. announces the 2015 Summer Musical Theatre Boot Camp with courses for bookwriters, lyricists, and performers.

WHAT ARE THEM DOTS ALL ABOUT? A CRASH COURSE IN READING MUSIC

4 Tuesday evenings 7pm to 11pm
July 7, 14, 21, 28
$115

Lyricists and Actors....get the the tools you need to conquer your fear of reading music, in four easy and fun-filled sessions. I'll guide you gently through rhythm, key signatures, time signatures, and general shape of melodic line. I'll begin each session with an hour of basics, then move on to actual singin' in the room, and finish each session with an hour of more advanced topics (like intervals and chords, and meaning of musical notation). Warning, though: I don't want to mislead you. 16 hours alone won't be enough to learn how to read music. You'll need a little more practice time. However, I'll ply you with a fantastic collection of sight-reading excerpts, and plenty of exercises to do in your car, so that you can keep improving long after the course has ended. My goal for actors would be to help you be able to follow along in rehearsals or callbacks, and not be completely dependent on making a rehearsal recording. For lyricists, my goal is for you to be able to croak out the basic contour of a melody in the right rhythm, to help you with things like prosody and rhyme schemes etc.

Warning: Though we'd only meet four times (in July), there would be a LOT of practice in between sessions; you won't be able to just pick this up during classtimes. However, you could do almost all of the homework in your car, just listening and singing along. My goal isn't to turn you into a sight-singer in four sessions...however, in the four sessions I think I can give you enough tools to work on and drills that if you're diligent, you should see huge results by, say, November or December.

OUTLINING LAB

Instructor: Elise Dewsberry
Six Thursday evenings from 8pm to 11pm
July 2, 9, 16, 23, 30, and August 6
Course Fee: $395 (discounted from the regular online fee of $595)

The Outlining Lab is available in-person OR online (or a combination of the two!) Video lectures, exercises, handouts, and tests are all available online. Attend the live sessions for feedback on your homework assignments - or submit your work online if you can't make the sessions.

An outline can be an invaluable writer's tool for clarifying the structure and story arc of a musical idea. It can then serve as a blueprint for the rough draft that the collaborators will use to develop the new musical. Writers who skip this important step in the development process are likely to find themselves bogged down with a partially written new show that is riddled with logical inconsistencies, and does not compellingly deliver the intentions of the creative team.

In the Outlining Lab, you will be lead step-by-step through the process of developing a musical idea from concept through to a working outline, with detailed constructive feedback along the way. By the end of this ten-unit course, you should have a well-developed and detailed outline that will solidly prepare you for the collaborative task of writing your new musical.

Along with the basic six steps to an outline, other topics dealt with will include:

Types of Conflict
20 Questions for your Outline
Language of an Outline
Dealing with Feedback
Pitch and Synopsis
One-Liner and Logline

Don't start writing until your outline is rock solid!

And three Master Classes for the musical theatre performer presented by Joshua Finkel:

GETTING AN AGENT OR MANAGER

This 3 session Master Class with Joshua Finkel prepares and tailors your audition material to best suit your type and strengths. We'll start together for two sessions preparing your interview, streamlining your marketing materials, your personal presentation and your audition material. Then in the third week, you'll get to meet, work with and audition for some top agents/managers in LA.

You'll get a chance to have honest discussions with as many as four agents, audition for them, and get great inside info about how they see you, what their agency is looking for and where they see your best casting possibilities. Your takeaway from this class: how agencies REALLY work and where to find the best fit for you.

3 sessions for $375.00
Sunday, July 12 from 11am to 2pm
Sunday, July 19 from 11am to 2pm
Sunday, July 26 from 11am to 2pm

BUILD AND PERFORM AN ORIGINAL CABARET ACT

You're funny, right? Charismatic? Unique? It's time to put together your own cabaret act, and find YOUR audience! Broadway's Joshua Finkel and popular vocal coach Jake Anthony will lead you through your own journey, discovering what's the most theatrical, entertaining and moving about YOU...and help you fashion patter, jokes, songs and specialty material which makes you shine. Plus create and own your Cabaret Songbook that ANY pianist can play, giving you maximum flexibility in where you can perform your act. Also, learn to build and keep your audience by getting a great system on how to update your act and keep giving your audience new material every time you perform. Includes a Final Video of your Cabaret Set! One of Joshua's most popular courses, this class comes in two flavors: a 4-session pack in which you concentrate on a powerful 10-minute showcase; or a 10-session pack in which you can build an entire SET.

$350 for 4 sessions
Wednesday, July 1 from 7pm to 11pm
Wednesday, July 8 from 7pm to 11pm
Wednesday, July 22 from 7pm to 11pm
Wednesday, July 29 from 7pm to 11pm

BUILD YOUR AUDITION BOOK

This 4 session class fills in all the holes in your audition material. Never be frustrated that your audition songbook is outdated or that you can't audition for a certain project because you don't have the correct song. This is your chance to build 4-6 new songs each cut to 16 bar, 32 bar and a 2 minute 'full' cut. Each song will be in your key and you'll have a great rehearsal track of each cut to rehearse with before auditions. In addition, learn to connect powerfully with each song so it really comes alive and shows your vocal and emotional range when you perform!

Monday, June 29 from 7pm to 10pm
Monday, July 13 from 7pm to 10pm
Monday, July 20 from 7pm to 10pm
Monday, July 27 from 7pm to 10pm

NOTE: This class is currently sold-out. We are accepting Waiting List applications.

All Boot Camp courses take place at New Musicals Inc. at 5628 Vineland Avenue in North Holllywood. For more information, and to register for courses visit NMI.ORG

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