The freshman year is devoted to fundamentals of acting. Basic character work and text analysis are explored. Freshmen following the acting track begin their mornings, three days a week, in 8 a.m. warm-ups, strengthening and stretching their physical, vocal, and creative powers. The sophomore year finds students delving more deeply into several theories of acting. They begin to study various approaches to acting and learn to experience and select those methods most productive in analyzing character and building roles.
Students learn to apply theories through frequent scene study.
Movement courses define the individual actor's physical and mental mannerisms and broaden their range of non-verbal communication and creativity. Voice and speech training formally begins at the sophomore level with emphasis on relaxation, voice and breath awareness, phonetics, and diction. The junior level introduces classical stage speech with all its aspects of phrasing, intonation, and inflection. Accents and dialects are taught and used with a variety of texts. Seniors continue vocal training with an emphasis on advanced work.