ANMT's Musical Theatre Boot Camp is
a summer series of workshops, lectures, and practicums designed to give
participants a chance to work quickly over a concentrated six week period.
It's also a great place to check us out before committing to our full curriculum
in the fall.
The 2010 Boot Camp will take place
between July 11 and August 22.
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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!
In Los Angeles, nearly EVERY audition demands fantastic cold reading skills. This is the workshop to learn the skills you need to ace those auditions.
You will learn a quick and easy system to break down the emotional content of a scene and then quickly embody emotional life and relationship in performance with very little prep time. You will learn to get off the page while auditioning and really letting your scene live in the audition room, so you book the job!
Class open to participants 15 years and above. Class size limited to 10 participants.
Start from scratch laying out a score: enter the notes of the melody; the accompaniment; the chords; the lyrics; add the dynamics and other expressions (tempi, character names, etc.). Next: work on laying it out so that it looks pleasant to the eye. The instructor will demonstrate, and then each participant will get a chance to step up to the computer and try it out. (Pre-requisite: a rudimentary knowledge of Finale software). NOTE: this session will take place at the office of the instructor (in North Hollywood). When you register for the course you will be given the exact address.
The Book Lab is designed as an introduction to writing the book of a musical while also outlining the collaborative steps involved in creating a new musical with the whole team. The book of a musical is not just the spoken words, but encompasses the entire story of the musical. The Bookwriter is officially responsible for the writing of the book, but the entire writing team needs to collaborate on the story.
The collaborative process is explored through six units including: THE IDEA, THE OUTLINE, THE ROUGH DRAFT, ADDING SONGS, REVISIONS, and FINISHING TOUCHES. Along the way, other topics are incorporated including:
Unwavering Want Action Loops Conflict Adaptation Language of an outline Story structure Creating a Character Worksheet Exposition Character Diction Dialogue Song Spotting Incorporating Songs Dealing with Feedback Collaboration Agreements Project Pitches Public Domain
This course qualifies as the Book Lab element of the Academy for New Musical Theatre's Core Curriculum, and is also available online.
Three Saturday mornings from 10:00am to 1:00pm (plus online lectures and homework)
This course will focus on emotionally connecting to your material and finding the 'scene' in your song to help you really make each song incredibly personal, alive and uniquely your own.
Each singer needs to bring in one short audition song with the sheet music cut and marked in your key. Your song should be no longer than a minute, and be between 16-32 bars in length.
Note: This course can also serve as your Performers' Workshop audition for the upcoming season.
In this exciting team-taught course, Broadway voice teacher Rebecca Somberg and Broadway actor/director Joshua Finkel team together to provide men and women (ages 15 and up) an amazing two weekend experience where each actor will get intensive individual coaching in vocal technique and song performance.
The first weekend will concentrate on learning and using the Legit Voice. Each day will begin with Rebecca imparting personally tailored understandable vocal intensive work distinguishing the sensations, techniques and specific voice warm ups for the Legit Voice (during the first weekend) and then for the Belt Voice (on the second weekend).
Then each singer will work individually with master coach Joshua Finkel and take those techniques and skills into performance: learning to make emotional choices that support and reinforce that particular vocal placement resulting in a fully realized emotional performance.
At the end of the course, there will be a fun showcase where each student will perform their legit and belt audition song in front of family, friends, and potential employers.
Results that usually take years to perfect will be yours in only two weekends, and you will leave with two polished audition songs for your book!
To prepare for the course: each singer will need to bring a recording device to record their work in class. In addition, each singer needs to bring sheet music in their key and prepare 2 one minute audition songs: one using the Legit Voice and another using the Belt Voice. The music for the Legit Voice should be chosen from the classic musical theatre canon (such as Rodgers and Hammerstein, Lerner and Loewe, Irving Berlin, Gershwin, etc.) The music for the Belt Voice can come from that same canon, but could also be from the contemporary musical theatre canon (such as Wicked, Rock of Ages, Rent, Jersey Boys, Mamma Mia, etc.) Participants should also bring a notecard stating either what you particularly want to work on, or any questions you have about the meaning of the 'legit' and 'belt' voice.
Note: This course can be considered your audition for future Performers' Workshop sessions at ANMT.
An in-depth examination of classic and contemporary language written for the musical stage, accompanied by a Dialogue Measuring Sheet to help you test the exercises you will write in the class. Tell the story, reveal character, point forward in the action and for God's sake get to the next song as fast as you can!
From Showboat to Spring Awakening, American musicals are overwhelmingly adapted from existing plays, novels, short stories and films. The short course compares source material to the resulting musicals and provides participants with the opportunity to plan an adaptation of a public domain story.
Thinking about producing yourself? Wondering what makes producers tick? Looking for financing for your new show? Theatrical Attorney/Producer Gordon Firemark will walk participants through the process of financing plays and musicals. The program will explore sources of funding, typical business structures and the attendant legal requirements and restrictions associated with financing a show.
Do you struggle with plot construction? Does getting from the beginning of your story to the end sometimes feel like trekking through a dense, impenetrable forest? Would you like a simple, easy way to think your way through the clutter as you weave your story plots, be they musical or otherwise? Are you seeking a straightforward, efficient method to create rich, compelling, three-dimensional characters? Then check out this dynamic seminar dedicated to revealing the seven basic plot points (or guideposts) that are found in most of the memorable, popular stories with which we’re all familiar. Find out why stories work – and why they just as often fail. Discover how to strengthen your own storytelling (even within songs intended to move plot and character forward) by learning the story events that most audience members intuitively expect out of all tales, even though they rarely know or care what those are.
The old adage for storytelling success is this: simple plot, complex character. The afternoon will also include a discussion of the fundamental principles of character structure, and how to create complex, three-dimensional characters by exploring the physiological, sociological, and psychological characteristics that make great characters seem alive and real.
