Metropolitan Acting School Classes   Developing the Actor's Voice Teacher: Matt Daniels     Time: Saturdays 11:00 am to 1:00 pm, January 26 to March 16 The craft of acting calls for specialized skills. How do you evince every iota of emotional truth, but still convey the beauty of the language, making sure every word is heard? Matt will coach you in how best to use your instrument to give the text to the audience. You will learn solid techniques for breath and volume control, pure tone and precise pitch, and elimination of speech impediments and regionalisms. You will then learn how to apply those skills to a verse text. Voice and speech are complex tools, and, like any other tools, you must learn how to use them. Anyone can swing a hammer, but a master carpenter swings it once, and the nail is in.     Shakespeare - Making It Your Own Teacher: Jane Titus     Assistant Teacher: Scott Barrow     Time: Saturdays 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm, January 19 to March 9 The goal of this course is to familiarize the actor with the many variations of Shakespeare's verse and to make the actor more aware of the different kinds of rhetorical devices that are used in heightened language. We will make the language accessible and the structure informative instead of cumbersome to the actor. With new ownership of the language students will be constantly presenting in class with freer and more spontaneous delivery, while still preserving the structure of the verse. The preliminary work will be on a short prepared monologue. The second half of the course work will focus on tackling new material using the techniques learned in class. A small class size will allow for personal attention and instruction tailored to all levels and strengths.     Serious Fun - The Art of Improv Teacher: Jeff Miller     Time: Tuesdays 7:00 pm to 9:30 pm, January 22 to March 12 The class will focus on the power of improvisation to create spontaneous, real moments on stage. We will explore both comedy improvisation and "serious" actor-based improvisation. Program: - The principles of good improvisation - Exercises to loosen-up, relax, and remove inhibitions and focus energy - A system for creating well-formed stories within scenes - Exploration of improvisation to create powerful moments - Lots of silly fun   Acting in Style Teacher: Jane Titus     Time: Wednesdays 7:00 pm to 9:30 pm, January 23 to March 13 How do I hold a fan? Did people really talk like this? How do I walk with a sword? How can I act in all these clothes? How do I sit in a corset? DID they sit in a corset? Why is it called the Restoration, anyway? These are only a few of the questions that will be addressed in this 8 week course; A class for the actor who is ready to embrace the physical life, manners, elocutionary style, culture and political environment history prior to 1900. The course will focus on the 18th Century for the first 4 weeks and the 19th Century for the remainder. Each actor will do scene work from both periods.   Bios Scott Barrow is a graduate of Brandeis University's MFA in acting Program, Scott has both taught and acted with Shakespeare and Company, Boston's Commonwealth Shakespeare, and the Vineyard Playhouse. He has also taught classes including acting, stage combat, and Theatre Production at UMASS Boston, University of Richmond, Brandeis University, and several local high schools. Additional acting credits include Trinity Repertory, North Shore Music Theatre, New Repertory Theatre, Neo Paradigm and the Fringe Fest. Matt Daniels is a graduate of Julliard School Drama Division, where he studied with, among others, The Shakespeare Theater's Michael Kahn, CSC's Barry Edelstein, Gloria Foster, Tom Hulce, and Vanessa Redgrave. He honed his vocal skills under the eyes of Elizabeth Smith, Ralph Zito, Robert Neff Williams, and Deborah Hecht. He has coached voice and verse for Inverse Theater Co., Gorilla Repertory Theater Co., 2texans Theater Co., Yale's undergrad drama department, and the upcoming film, Macbeth, the Comedy (www.tristanfilms.net). In addition to dramatic ventures, Matt is also a presentation coach for publishing, television, and Wall Street executives. Jeff Miller has over 10 years of improvisation experience, as well as 17 years of acting experience. During that time he has been in many improvisational groups including Comedy Sportz Philadelphia, Freestyle Repertory Theatre (Theatre Sports NYC), and Ka-Baam!! (www.ka-baam.com) He learned Meisner technique from William Esper at the W.E. Studio and has been teaching Improvisation for over 7 years. He is the Artistic Director of the NYU Medical School Improvisation group, Humerus. Jane Titus has taught for over 20 years, both privately and institutionally. She works as an actress, producer, dramaturge and vocal coach. She taught for Mountain View Community College in their professional training program. She was an artist in residence with Young Audiences of Dallas and the Junior Players Guild. She designed the training programs for Shakespeare Festival of Dallas. She co-founded the educational program at Addison Centre Theatre. She has worked extensively with incarcerated youth in many different institutional settings. The major influences in her teaching career have been Joe Chaikin, Patsy Rodenberg, Kristin Linklater and Patrick Tucker. She is a graduate of Reed College and further trained at the University of Washington and the Royal National Theatre in London.