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  10. How And When Did Acting Begin? Who Was Thespis? Why Was He Important?

 

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MISSISSIPPI ACTING CAMPS & CLASSES

Camps and classes for Mississippi kids, teens, and adults that have a special focus on acting in the theatre. Many of these Mississippi acting education programs also focus on singing, dancing and music. Most programs present a performance on the last day of classes. Most of the camps are day camps, but some are residential.

Contact each individual organization via their website for updated program date, place, and registration information.

 

New Stage Theatre
Jackson, MS area

Our arts in education program is designed to introduce young Mississippians to live theatre of substance and imagination. Included are a touring program, workshops for both teachers and students, acting classes, summer camps, and an apprenticeship program. Additionally, New Stage enjoys close relationships with Jackson State University, Belhaven University, and Millsaps College.

Kids Studio
New Stage Theatre’s Kids Studio was formed in 2021. It is opened to youth grades 2nd-6th and no previous acting experience is necessary. The troupe meets for class and rehearsals on Saturdays, 9 a.m. – 11 a.m. The class culminates in a showcase performance for families on the last day of class.

Summer Camp
Camps offered are:
• First Stages Camp - Morning and Afternoon Sessions
• Broadway Jr Summer Camp (FULL)

Depending on the camp chosen, we offer two - four weeks of theatre instruction taught and directed by the Education Director and other seasoned theatre professionals. Camp participants will receive instruction in acting, improvisation, stage movement, musical theatre, dance, voice and diction, and auditioning. Depending upon which camp is attended, students will either perform a showcase for invited friends and family on the final day of camp or will participate be a fully-produced musical presented on New Stage’s main stage. For Broadway Jr Summer Camp, master classes will be taught by theatre professionals.

Website: https://newstagetheatre.com

 

Mississippi School of the Arts
Brookhaven, MS area

The Mississippi School of the Arts will host a summer arts camp for students entering grades 8-10 that will offer one week of intensive arts training in creative writing, dance, theatre, visual, filmmaking, and vocal music with classes by our extraordinary faculty. Students will have the opportunity to study two art forms of choice for the week, culminating with a showcase for families.

Students can get the experience of living in a residential environment or participate as a commuter for the week. Our dynamic educational environment is unlike any other. We offer students the opportunity to focus on creative expression and innovation.

Website: https://msabrookhaven.org/programs/arts-camp

 

Summer Scholars On-Stage - Mississippi State University
Mississippi State, MS area

Our two week camp will consist of 40 campers to create three separate theatric performances. Twelve to fourteen campers will be in each act.

Campers will be able to participate in concentrated classes and work closely with instructors to create their show.

Camp begins with classes in music, dance, and technical theatre; auditions, and blocking. During the second week music, dance, and drama are combined and campers rehearse off-script to prepare for the live performances.

We’re also committed to provide a supportive and caring experience for all of our campers in a socially distanced setting. We are working closely with Mississippi State University to ensure that staff and campers are safe and complying with regulations in regards to COVID-19. Each camper will be able to invite family and friends to their performance.

Production Camp size is limited to 40 participants, including the participants in Writers’ Camp. Priority registration is given to previous campers with acceptance on a rolling basis. Do not delay, camp is filling up fast.

Website: https://summerscholarsonstage.msstate.edu/index.html

 

Jackson School of the Arts
Jackson, MS area

Theater, Drama, and Acting
We offer classes for ages 3-17 to help kids discover that the best place for drama is on stage. Learn how acting brings out the best in your child both on stage and in life. Keep the drama in the theater.

The Jackson School of the Arts offers programs for all ages and levels in the visual and performing arts. We provide weekly classes on-site classes and partner with public schools and organizations to provide enriching out-of-school arts activities throughout the community. Our staff of professional artists, actors, and dancers are as at home in our studios as they are on stage.

Children come to take after-school classes from all surrounding counties. We know that kids need an outlet for their creativity and energy. If this is stifled, they’ll find other ways of engaging in negative behavior. Just over 70% of the youth we serve are on scholarship or are paying at the lowest levels of the income scale.

Website: https://jacksonarts.org

 

Kudzu Playhouse
Hernando, MS area

Kudzu Playhouse hosts several production summer camps for kids and teens. Please see their website for current camp information.

Website: https://www.kudzuplayers.com

 

Golden Triangle Theatre
Columbus, MS area

Our company strives to make arts education accessible for all ages within the Golden Triangle. Your experience here will be unique and engaging as you learn and develop your talents with us. Our comprehensive curriculum lays the foundation for any student to cultivate their gifts in a safe and fun environment with their peers.

Ever had an interest in exploring your creative talents in music, theatre and dance? Then join our theatre academy program! We are a training intensive program that meets weekly to work towards a full-staged production both in the fall and the spring. We also offer workshops and classes in music, theatre, dance, writing for actors, and much more.

Website: https://www.goldentriangletheatre.com

 

RESOURCES

Of course a website cannot tell you all the information you need to know about preparing yourself to be an actor: unions, contracts, agents, casting, auditions, and the myriads of other things actors should learn about the acting business.

Below are a number of resources that will help you learn about such things to get you on the right road to becoming a successful actor.

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So You Want to Sing Musical Theatre: A Guide for Performers (Updated and Expanded)
by Amanda Flynn (Revised by)

Broadway vocal coach, voice teacher, and researcher Amanda Flynn provides the skills singers need to successfully sing musical theatre repertoire. The book is updated and expanded for musical theatre performance in the current era, covering a broader array of topics and including more in-depth discussion than the original edition.More

From Craft to Career: A Casting Director's Guide for the Actor
by Merri Sugarman & Tracy Moss

Practical, positive and uplifting, the advice in this book is designed to lead to the best outcomes possible for you, the actor, making the transition from craft to career. The reader is given insight into the various types of casting directors across the industry and how that practical knowledge can benefit you and increase your chance of success. While providing an in-depth insight into the role of the casting director, this book explains the j...More

The Actor's Life: A Survival Guide
by Jenna Fischer

With amusing candor and wit, Fischer spells out the nuts and bolts of getting established in the profession, based on her own memorable and hilarious experiences. She tells you how to get the right headshot, what to look for in representation, and the importance of joining forces with other like-minded artists and creating your own work—invaluable advice personally acquired from her many years of struggle....More

Act ALIVE: The Essential Guide to Igniting and Sustaining Your Working Actor Career
by Andi Matheny

Finally - a modern acting method that cuts to the chase of what actors really need to unleash their acting genius! The groundbreaking Act ALIVE approach, with exercises ranging from pragmatic to deeply personal, will give you the tools to quickly bring your skills to the next level, from audition to set. Actor and acting coach Andi Matheny, who has helped launch hundreds of actors on their journey from pupil to professional, writes in an entertai...More

The Actor's Hustle: A Step by Step Guide to Getting Your Foot in the Door in TV and Film and How to Get Paid from Your Craft
by Shana Solomon & Carlington Neil

The Actor's Hustle is a book designed to help Actors on all levels reach their career goals and start booking quality film & TV roles that will help them quit their day jobs and build powerful relationships in the entertainment industry and grow. This easy read is loaded with Shana Solomon's hilarious, in your face tell it like it is personality as she shares her wild experiences jam-packed with lessons of how she went from a girl in the Bronx wo...More

The Art of Auditioning, Second Edition: Techniques for Television
by Rob Decina

Casting director Rob Decina highlights the difference between the craft of acting and the business of auditioning, and how those two worlds meet in television. Included are proven-effective preparation techniques, such as breaking down a scene, making specific choices, finding the acting moments with thoughts and feelings, and much more. Also included is advice on how to navigate the various steps of auditioning for series regular, guest star, an...More

Auditioning for Musical Theatre
by Denny Berry

Auditioning for Musical Theatre demystifies the process of giving the best possible professional audition for a role in a musical. It is the result of Denny Berry's own experience, sitting "behind the audition desk" for 30 years of professional Broadway auditions, as well as teaching newcomers and coaching established actors. The book coaches performers on how to be their best selves - and avoid the pitfalls of n...More

Acting in Musical Theatre: A Comprehensive Course
by Joe Deer & Rocco Dal Vera

Acting in Musical Theatre remains the only complete course in approaching a role in a musical. It covers fundamental skills for novice actors, practical insights for professionals, and even tips to help veteran musical performers refine their craft.Acting in Musical Theatre's chapters divide into easy-to-reference units, each containing group and solo exercises, making it the definitive textbook for students and practitioners alike...More

Acting the Song: Performance Skills for the Musical Theatre
by Tracey Moore & Allison Bergman

Acting the Song offers a contemporary, integrated approach to singing in musicals that results in better-trained, smarter performers everyone wants to work with. In this new, thoroughly updated edition of the paperback, directors and teachers of musical theater will find guidance in developing and leading musical theater elements, classroom workshops, and the world of professional auditions and performances. Subjects for both versions cover: Sing...More

Drama for Teen Actors
by Christine McClure

Christine McClure has more than thirty years of experience coaching actors one-on-one, on set, and in group classes. Her students have appeared in major features and television series and have worked with Oscar-winning directors Steven Soderbergh, Stanley Kubrick, Sofia Coppola, the Coen brothers, and more. Now Christine puts that experience to work for you by sharing her techniques and giving you a literal front-row seat in her dramatic acting c...More

Respect for Acting: Expanded Version
by Uta Hagen with Haskel Frankel

Since its original publication in 1973, Uta Hagen's Respect for Acting has remained a durable classic and a must-read for all students of acting. As an acting instructor at the Herbert Berghof Studio, Hagen helped to develop the talents of world-class actors like Robert DeNiro, Matthew Broderick, Gene Wilder, Amanda Peet, Austin Pendleton, Whoopi Goldberg, and more. In this book, Hagen offers an indispensable acc...More

The Complete Stanislavsky Toolkit: Revised Edition
by Bella Merlin

A revised and updated edition of Bella Merlin's essential guide to Stanislavsky. The Complete Stanislavsky Toolkit collects together for the first time the terms and ideas developed by Stanislavsky throughout his career. It is organised into three sections: Actor-Training, Rehearsal Processes and Performance Practices. Key terms are explained and defined as they naturally occur in this process. They are illustrat...More

Breaking Down Your Script: A Step-By-Step Guide for the Actor
by Laura Wayth

This clear, concise and practical guide provides actors with a structured and effective method for breaking down and understanding a performance script. It offers a flexible approach that works with plays from any period or genre, with television and film scripts, and even when preparing for your audition. Inside, you'll find the tools you need for every step of the process, from making sense of the whole script, to breaking it down scene by scen...More

Back to the Body: Infusing Physical Life into Characters in Theatre and Film
By Jean-Louis Rodrigue & Scott Weintraub

Back to the Body: Infusing Physical Life into Characters in Theatre and Film guides you to experience and use your body and its energy as a basic point of departure for performance and expression. You will learn to apply your entire self in acting, with your voice, body, mind, and emotion. This integrated training is designed to combine all these elements of yourself with your material, the environment, and other...More

Activated Script Analysis: An Integrative Approach to Play Analysis Through Creative Expression and Devised Theatre
by Elizabeth Brendel Horn

Activated Script Analysis engages theatre students in traditional formative script analysis through a fusion of devised theatre and various modes of creative expression, dispelling the notion of script analysis as an isolated pen-to-paper task and reimagining it as a captivating and collaborative process. This book uses diverse, contemporary plays to model the script analysis process for each of four Theatrical Elements: Given Circumstances; Character; Setting; and Structure...More

Running a Successful Voiceover Business
by Joshua Alexander

In this "beginner-friendly guide to a voiceover business", notable voice talent, author and blogger Joshua Alexander provides comprehensive and personally-based guidance on the proper formation and operation of a successful business in voiceovers. Leaning heavily into his own operations that have led him to become one of the most frequently-booked voice talent in the industry today, this book is sure to provide you the inspiration and knowledge y...More

The Voice Over Startup Guide: How to Land Your First VO Job
by Chris Agos

Voice over actor Chris Agos walks you through the most effective ways to earn money in today's professional voice over industry, and more importantly, how to keep your career rolling. You'll gain a clearly-defined map of the industry that will open up opportunities you'd never have thought possible. What's more, we've included sample scripts and audio tracks of every important voice over style, so you can hear how the professionals do it...More

The Monster in Theatre History: This Thing of Darkness
by Michael Chemers

Monsters are fragmentary, uncertain, frightening creatures. What happens when they enter the realm of the theatre? The Monster in Theatre History explores the cultural genealogies of monsters as they appear in the recorded history of Western theatre. From the Ancient Greeks to the most cutting-edge new media, Michael Chemers focuses on a series of 'key' monsters, including Frankenstein's creature, werewolves, ghosts, and vampires, to reconsider what monsters in performance might mean to those who witness them....More

Theater Management Handbook: From Box Office to Payroll, Proven Plans and Strategies for Running a Successful Production
by Richard E. Schneider

Before the curtain rises, careful planning, budgeting and scheduling must be overseen, making even small productions potentially complicated. This book guide to theatre management includes templates, charts and contracts.....More

Tips From A Talent Agent
by Rebecca Fichter Hale

Tips from a Talent Agent is an incredibly informative and entertaining step-by-step guide that walks you through all the aspects of show business. It takes you through the collective knowledge necessary to ensure that, if applied correctly, your career as an actor is armed with solid, insider advice, and professionalism...More

Acting: The First Six Lessons
by Richard Boleslavsky

Get the book that has taught generations of some of the best stage and screen actors and actresses. In his beloved classic, "Acting: The First Six Lessons", master acting teacher Richard Boleslavsky presents his acting theory and technique in a lively and accessible narrative form. Widely considered a must-have for...More

Sampling and Remixing Blackness in Hip-Hop Theater and Performance
by Nicole Hodges Persley

Sampling and Remixing Blackness is a timely and accessible book that examines the social ramifications of cultural borrowing and personal adaptation of Hip-hop culture by non-Black and non-African American Black artists in theater and performance. In a cultural moment where Hip-hop theater hits such as Hamilton offer glimpses of Black popular culture to non-Black people...More

An Actor's Guide--Making It in New York City, Third Edition: Everything a Working Actor Needs to Survive and Succeed in the Big Apple
by Glenn Alterman

A Step-by-Step Guide for the Actor Pursuing a Career in New York. A great deal has changed in the industry in the last decade. In this new, third edition of An Actor's Guide--Making It in New York City, Glenn Alterman provides everything actors need to know. You'll discover the ten things that it takes to make it as a successful actor in the city, how to support yourself, where and how to start your life as a New York actor, understanding and marketing "your brand," the best acting schools and conservatories, effective ways to contact agents and casting directors, and more. The author, a successful working actor, also shares many insider tips...More

Surviving Hollywood: How To Ensure The Acting Industry Doesn't Chew You Up And Spit You Out
by Julia Farino

The book covers day to day survival as an actor, marketing materials and how to stand out, training and auditioning, the difference between agents and managers, the business part of show business, how to stand up for your rights and how to stay sane! Plus information about the practicalities of moving to, and living in, Los Angeles....More

Acting for Beginners: A Heart-centered Approach to Acting (The Beginner's Guide to Becoming an Actor and Getting That First Role)
by Marcie Griffin

Knowing just what to expect will save you a lot of disillusionment and misery in the long run. At the same time, this book will arm you with the knowledge and skills that you will need to break into the acting world and land your first film role....More

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