Winter Session Update!

Hershey Area Playhouse Theatre Academy

- Acting for the 21st Century

January Month of Sundays  Series  - registration Form

Audition Master Class for Adults with Jane Brockman

Winter Session Registration Form

Grades K – 3  - Feb 4^th – March 24^th

Oh No!  Now What? 

Grades K-2 9:00 -10:00  -  $120.00

Cory Wilkerson guest artist.

Come to our imagination station where anything is possible and make up your own mini play to perform for friends and family.  You bring the imagination and we’ll do the rest!  Children explore stories, characters and story problems and answer the question:  oh no, now what?  Our youngest students in grades K-2 will meet at 9:00 to explore story sequence, character, problem and setting as they learn to use their voices and move on stage in stories of their own creation.

Grades 4 -12  - Feb 4^th – March 24^th

Pick two!

In our new “pick two” program, young actors grades 4 and up can rotate through classes planned to give them a taste of theatre from all perspectives.  Pick one or pick two and double the fun! Each class has a special theme designed to assure a strong theatre arts currciulm based on state and national standards for a high quality theatre arts education.  All sessions $120.00

Lights, Camera, Action!  Now what?  

Session 1 – Grades 7-12 - 10:00 -11:00

Session 2 - Grades 3-6 - 11:00 -12:00

Laurie Miller Petersen

Ever wonder how actors learn to act for the camera?   Ever heard of a green screen?  What would you do if you had to perform with a cartoon?  Laurie Miller Petersen takes students through an action packed class in which they learn to act with special effects.  Learn action for the camera and acting to nothing techniques from a pro and create your own green screen movie short. 

Help!  I Need a Hero!

Session 1 – Grades 3-6 - 10:00 -11:00

Session 2 - Grades 7-12 - 11:00 -12:00

Cory Wilkerson guest artists.

Bring your favorite stories to life as action packed camera ready shorts as we romp through history looking for stories of terrible perils from drama and comedy that will help us pump up the acting volume and learn to create a strong character. Students will study vocal production, movement for the stage and bringing to life a character’s inner monologue.  Cameras will be used to capture rehearsals so that students can review the review the “dailies” and give feedback to each other, making everyone a part of both acting and directing.  

Acting classes are coordinated by Ms. Cory Wilkerson, board member in charge of education. Ms. Wilkerson and her staff will be creating a currciulum based on national and state standards for excellence in theatre arts education.

“Special emphasis this year in our revised curriculum, will be a focus on the connection between 21st century skills and theatre arts.” Says Ms. Wilkerson “I want to make it my goal for all of our students that they learn to communicate, stretch their creativity, practice critical thinking skills and learn to collaborate with their peers. Research tells us this will better prepare kids for school and for their life later on in the work world. It’s my goal to make Hershey Area Playhouse a leader in excellence in arts education for the whole child.”

To sign up for any of the acting classes for youth please contact the playhouse at www.hersheyareaplayhouse.com, or you may contact Education director Cory Wilkerson at cory@dramainside.net.

Click for Registration Form

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January Month of Sundays

Adult and Young Adult Acting Classes

Ages 16 and Up

Stay Safe on Stage –  Jan 8^th, 1-5 PM

Instructor:  Laurie Miller Petersen

Stay Safe on Stage will teach the basics in falls, slaps, punches, kicks and more.  Perfect for actors and directors alike, directors of student productions will find this class especially useful. 

Laurie Miller Petersen is a graduate of Northwestern University’s esteemed theatre program and has been an industry professional in New York City for many years.  Laurie has taught combat at NYU, Yale School of Drama, the Neighborhood Playhouse, and numerous other programs throughout the tri-state region and beyond. 

Creating a Character with Physicality – Jan 15^th – 1-5PM

Instructor:  Terri Mastrobuono

Learn to use movement and physicality to bring realism to your role.  How body position and movement bring to life a character?  How can you create the illusion of someone other than yourself? 

Terri Mastrobuono is an Equity actress, director, writer, and arts educator. Terri has been featured at the Philadelphia Fringe Festival, Washington Storyteller's Theatre, Touchstone Theatre, Open Stage of Harrisburg, and Gamut Theatre. Terri has done intensive work in movement and commedia dell arte, studying in Italy with a maestro in the artform.   She is a roster artist with the PA Council on the Arts, and is an adjunct professor of theatre at Elizabethtown College.

Stage Presence for the Working Woman – Jan 22^nd  1-5 PM

Instructor: Lisa Weitzman

Do you want to make a better impression at work? Would you like to be heard, understood and more respected? This introductory workshop will engage the body, voice and imagination to create a more confident presence at work. The approach we will take is based on simple games and exercises used in creative dramatics and acting classes. Wear comfortable clothes and bring a few lines of text from a work presentation.

Lisa Lutton Weitzman is a local actress and teacher at the Capital Area School for the Arts where she is the theater director. Lisa has acted in many venues in south-central PA including the PA Renaissance Faire and Theater  Harrisburg

registration Form

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Meet Our Staff

Ms. Cory Wilkerson
Cory Wilkerson is a director and performer specializing in theatre for youth, and former artistic director of WOW! Theatre. Ms. Wilkerson has taught acting both here and in Atlanta, Georgia public schools. Ms. Wilkerson is a 2004 recipient of a Pennsylvania State Legislature Certificate of Achievement for her work with children and youth. Ms. Wilkerson most recently directed  The King and I and Hello Dolly!  for the Playhouse.  When not directing or performing, Ms. Wilkerson is an arts education consultant.   

Ms. Jennifer Feldser
Jen has been with the Playhouse since the beginning, working behind the scenes as stage manager for many of the productions.  Jennifer most recently directed Songs for a New World and I Love You You’re Perfect Now Change.  Her original production The Other Woman  was awarded Best New Play of the Region by the Kennedy Center during the American College Theatre Festival.  When Jen is not doing theatre she is busy in her regular teaching job keeping track of her students.

Ms.  Laurie Miller Petersen

Laurie Miller Petersen is a graduate of Northwestern University’s esteemed theatre program and has been an industry professional in New York City for many years, Laurie brings knowledge of all facets of theatre.  A performer as well as a director/fight director, her experiences range from outdoor theatre to motion pictures. 

All sessions are held at Hershey Area Playhouse at Country Meadows, Sand Hill Road at Cherry Drive, Hershey, PA

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