EVDIV 68 - Scene Study I

Brian McManamon, Mark Olsen
This class is ideal for those who have had some performance experience—amateur or professional—and are eager to get back to the basics and reignite their passion, curiosity, and love of acting. We will be exploring the fundamentals by beginning with group exercises to expand our expressive tools, help us stay present and responsive, and gain the confidence to make compelling and inspired choices. Classes will then progress to text analysis and two- to three-person scene work. By the end of the semester, students will have a deeper understanding of how to get from page to stage and a reawakened love for the craft of acting. An informal, optional “open rehearsal” at the end of the semester will highlight students’ work. Prerequisites: Placement application is required unless pre-approved to enroll.

Biography: Brian McManamon is an actor, teacher, and acting coach based in New York City. He currently teaches Advanced Acting at Syracuse University’s Tepper Semester Program. In addition to running a private acting studio in New York City, McManamon has taught and/or directed at Juilliard School, the National Theater Institute (NTI) at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, Powerhouse Theater Training Program at Vassar College, Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, Columbia University’s MFA Acting program and the Public Theater. From 2015 to 2018, McManamons served as artistic director of the Shakespeare Academy at Stratford. As an actor, McManamon has trained with some of the most respected acting teachers in America and abroad, including Ron Van Lieu, Evan Yionoulis, Mark Wing-Davey, Austin Pendleton, Peter Francis James, and the late John Barton. He received a BFA in Acting from Boston University, an MFA in Acting from the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale, and a full scholarship to attend the Midsummer in Oxford program of the British American Drama Academy (BADA) at Oxford University. McManamon is a proud member of the Actors Center Workshop Company and the National Alliance of Acting Teachers.

Biography: Mark Olsen was born in Denver. In addition to his undergraduate degree in Theatre from Trinity University, Olsen trained with many of the great master teachers in the mime and movement disciplines, attending studios in Paris, Los Angeles, São Paulo, and New York. Olsen completed additional specialty training in clowning with Cheryl McFadden, the Feldenkrais Method with Moshe Feldenkrais, the Alexander Technique with Troupe and Anne Matthews, and Yang Family Tai Chi with Don Ahn and Jeff Bolt.

Olsen is formerly the head of Graduate Acting at Penn State University, teacher emeritus and former secretary of the Society of American Fight Directors, and vice president of the Association for Theater Movement Educators. Olsen taught scene study and directed the industry showcase for the Columbia University Graduate Acting Program, stage movement at Carnegie Mellon University, mask performance at Sarah Lawrence College, and stage movement for New York Public Theater’s Shakespeare Lab. Olsen has appeared on Broadway and toured internationally with mime/mask ensemble Mummenschanz. Olsen has directed many professional and university productions and as a movement coordinator/fight director, his work has been seen on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and in productions at the Signature Theater, the Roundabout, American Repertory Theatre, Hartford Stage Company, Long Wharf, Alley Theatre, Houston Grand Opera, New York Shakespeare Festival, and others. In 2010, he was part of the artistic team winning the Drama Desk award for his work on The Orphan’s Home Cycle. Olsen is currently the chair of the Musical Theatre Department for the New York Film Academy and is the author of three texts: The Actor With a Thousand Faces, The Golden Buddha Changing Masks, and Acting: Scene One.

11 weeks

In Person Sections

Mondays 6–8pm ET

February 5–April 29

Wednesdays 6–8pm ET

February 7–April 24

Online Section

Sundays 7–9pm ET

February 4–April 28

$935

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