Rachel Jett News

Today, Risk Again! takes you into the classroom with an introduction to Droznin. This technique, which provides the actor with strength, flexibility, and courage, has been a cornerstone of the National Theater Institute's movement training for the last 15 years

Company Project is a signature of the National Theater Institute's acclaimed theater intensive. As the capstone to 14 weeks of rigorous training at the two-time Tony Award-winning Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, students are prompted with thematic material and collaborate to write, compose, produce, score, direct, design, choreograph, and perform an original production in two weeks. Company Project provides students the opportunity to practice what they've learned at NTI; to work collaboratively as an ensemble; gain confidence in their skills; and astonish us with their talent, breadth of vision, and artistic bravery.

For seven weeks, students of the National Theater Institute Semester and the National Music Theater Institute have been studying playwriting and book writing with Donna Di Novelli, paving the way for one of NTI's signature experiences: Playwrights & Librettists Week. This collaborative week supports and amplifies the voices of the next generation of American theater writers under the mentorship of professional playwrights, librettists, and composers. Scroll down for photos from this year's event!

This week students are honing their acting skills on-camera with NTI alum Matt Newton (NTI Fall '97). Matt is the founder of MN Acting Studio NYC and currently the on-set acting coach for Season 5 of the hit CBS show BLUE BLOODS. As well as teaching Auditioning and Business of the Business for NTI, he is a contributor to BACKSTAGE and the author of the book 10 STEPS TO BREAKING INTO ACTING. Scroll down for photos of Newton working with NTI, plus an exclusive Q&A for Risk Again, in which he shares his NTI memories, what it's like returning to campus as a faculty member, and his advice for young actors!

These are just some of the ways NTI students have responded to working with our alumni company, The Debate Society. The Debate Society is an Obie Award winning, Brooklyn based company that creates new plays through the collaboration of Hannah Bos (writer/performer/NTI Fall '98), Paul Thureen (writer/performer/ NTI Fall '98/ MATS '00), and Oliver Butler (director/developer). The company specializes unexpected stories set in supremely intricate, vividly theatrical worlds.

The National Theater Institute includes a vibrant community of over 3,500 alumni. The many talents of these actors, writers, directors, and designers can be seen on Broadway, Off-Broadway, in films, television, London's West End, and at every major regional theater in the U.S. Actor, writer, director, Josh Radnor (How I Met Your Mother, Happythankyoumoreplease, Liberal Arts, The Graduate) is currently starring in Disgraced on Broadway. Today Risk Again! shares his reflections on studying with NTI in the spring of 1995. Watch the video to hear more about his memories of training at the O'Neill, his play Napoleon Blownapart, and the many ways NTI changed his life as an artist.

As I was reading The O'Neill: The Transformation of Modern American Theater by Jeffrey Sweet and walking through Launchpad of the American Theater: The O'Neill Since 1964, a 50th anniversary exhibit at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, it became clear to me that the ideas, principles, and people that have shaped the O'Neill and the National Theater Institute are still so very evident and become a part of every student who studies with NTI.

The National Music Theater Institute (NMTI) students have just returned to campus from two weeks training in New York City; scroll down for photos from the visit! NMTI is the newest credit-earning, semester-long intensive from the National Theater Institute at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center. Utilizing the O'Neill's 50-year experience in training young theater artists and history of developing new musicals (including Nine, Avenue Q, In The Heights, [title of show], and Violet), NMTI offers broad-based training in all areas of musical theater: acting, singing, directing, writing, dance, composition, and choreography. In addition to the semester's rigorous curriculum-classes 14 hours a day, 7 days a week with emphasis on collaboration and the creation of original work- two weeks of the semester are spent learning in the epicenter of American music theater.

The National Theater Institute is excited to partner with BroadwayWorld to give an inside look at the undergraduate training program that has launched the careers of thousands of actors, directors, dancers, composers, designers, and playwrights since 1970.

Rachel Jett, Artistic Director of the National Theater Institute at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center has named director, playwright, and book writer Jonathan Bernstein as the artistic head of the Institute's new program, the National Music Theater Institute (NMTI).

The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center announces actor/writer/director Josh Radnor will participate in a discussion about his time at the O'Neill's National Theater Institute at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts Bruno Walter Auditorium today, June 19, 2014.

The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center announces actor/writer/director Josh Radnor will participate in a discussion about his time at the O'Neill's National Theater Institute at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts Bruno Walter Auditorium on June 19, 2014. Radnor will join O'Neill alumnus and faculty member Donna Dinovelli (NTI Faculty, librettist and lyricist for opera and musical theater works, Radnor's playwriting instructor) and Moderator Rachel Jett (NTI Artistic Director, teacher, writer, actor, director). Panelists will share memories about how their participation with the National Theater Institute's semester-long, credit-earning training intensives have shaped their career and craft. The event is free and open to the public.

The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, in partnership with The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, presents a series of conversation to coincide with the Library's public exhibition on the O'Neill, 'Launchpad of the American Theater: The O'Neill since 1964.' The three programs -- today, May 29, June 19, and August 7 -- are held in The Library for the Performing Arts' Bruno Walter Auditorium and are free and open to the public.

The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, in partnership with The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, presents a series of conversation to coincide with the Library's public exhibition on the O'Neill, "Launchpad of the American Theater: The O'Neill since 1964." The three programs -- May 29, June 19, and August 7 -- are held in The Library for the Performing Arts' Bruno Walter Auditorium and are free and open to the public.

The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center has launched an exciting new division of the National Theater Institute, the National Music Theater Institute (NMTI). An unparalleled program, NMTI is for driven students seeking a launching pad into the music theater profession through broad-based, ensemble training.

The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center has launched an exciting new division of the National Theater Institute, the National Music Theater Institute (NMTI). An unparalleled program, NMTI is for driven students seeking a launching pad into the music theater profession through broad-based, ensemble training. Applications for the inaugural fall 2014 semester are due by March 20.

The National Alliance for Musical Theatre (NAMT) announced today the eight musicals selected to be part of the 24th Annual Festival of New Musicals at New World Stages (340 West 50th Street).

The National Alliance for Musical Theatre (NAMT) announced today the eight musicals selected to be part of the 24th Annual Festival of New Musicals at New World Stages (340 West 50th Street).

The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center announced today that Rachel Jett will take the reins of its undergraduate training program, the National Theater Institute (NTI) effective January 1, 2012, replacing Jeff Janisheski, who has led the program as Artistic Director since summer 2008. A national search for a permanent replacement will be conducted in spring 2012, to be completed in early summer.