Musical theatre continues to be a central focus of the music department. Classes concentrate on sight reading, rhythm, choral and solo singing, auditioning, stage character development through harmonic analysis and musical theatre history. An experiential study of the art form called Cabaret. Students create their own acts, first finding a core that the act will rest on and then discovering material that brings that core to life. Some of the topics covered in class are song selection and placement, working with an arranger, the intimacy of the performer-audience relationship, writing patter, the connective tissue between songs and numbers and microphone technique.
Students hone their acts by working in front of each other and finally, with a director.
Student acts are performed for the camp as a final project. Students learn and perform songs in the context of the shows for which they were written. Scenes are studied so that the student grasps the song s dramatic function. There is an emphasis on character work and the art of crafting the performance of a song. Students work individually and in ensembles, and the scenes selected cover a broad cross-section of the repertoire.