Join Corya Kennedy Channing and John Lisbon Wood, seasoned actors and theatre professionals, for this class specifically aimed at preparing the participants to maximize their skills and talents to first “win the part,” then give disciplined, strong and effective performances in whatever production they are cast. The course will be taught by highly experienced, award-winning professionals who have had many successes at all levels of the educational and entertainment industry, including Broadway productions, Hollywood films and TV shows, and collegiate theatricals. The course has been specifically designed to benefit performers who really want to work:  Who are In It to Win It!!”

Classes will consist of theatre training exercises; audition technique; improvisation work; solo, scene and ensemble practice; scene preparation, character analysis, stage technique; film and television experience; voice and diction preparation. There will be training in Stanizlafski and Grotowski methods, improv, audition coaching, and basic to intermediate acting classes for people of all ages.

Class format: Sessions will begin with a series of warm ups and theatre games, progress to specific skill-building exercises and scene work, including Grotawski and Stanislavski methods for character development. Emphasis will be on the basics of stage work and classic play analysis, plus segments designed to enhance television and film acting experience. Students will create a sample headshot and perform in a monologue and scene work with other actors.

Call Corya Channing at 219-938-8532 or email: artisticpartners@att.net or info@southshorecentre.org to reserve a space in the class!

About the Instructors:

Artistic Partners John Lisbon Wood Corya Kennedy Channing have had a busy summer and continue to stay busy into the fall.

Wood's feature film, By Love and Art Scarred, has won several awards: Los Angeles Film Festival Merit Award; Heart of England Film Festival Best First North American Film; Irish International Film Festival--nominated for Best First Film. The 93 minute movie was adapted from Mr. Wood's stage play by the same title and was directed by James Cassano. Mr. Wood's play The Rarest of Birds, a one man show starring Omar Prince, which tells the tragic life story of Montgomery Clift, noted film and stage actor from Hollywood's golden era (A Place in the Sun; Raintree County; From Here to Eternity) was staged as part of the Fresh Fruit Festival in New York City.  Mr. Wood has also finished the writing of a new musical, Dreamland Burning.  Mr. Wood is working with Academy Award nominated songwriter Tevin Thomas (August Rush) to bring this true story about a little-known yet horrific race riot which took place in 1921 in Tulsa, Oklahoma to the stage.  Mrs. Channing is directing the stage version of To Kill a Mockingbird for the Purdue Theatre Co. on the Purdue Calumet campus. She is teaching her usual array of classes there this fall:  Voice and Diction; Theatre Appreciation; and Acting I and II.  She also is the coordinator for YJean Chambers Hall, an intimate 75 seat performance space on the Calumet campus.  In that space on September 22 at 7pm a DVD screening of the partners' musical, Children of the Earth, will take place as part of the Sustainability Series sponsored by Sandra Rodriguez of Miller, Gary IN.

Corya Kennedy Channing Mrs. Channing, M.S., M.A., is a Continuing Lecturer in the Communication and Creative Arts department since 1993 and is also the director for the Purdue Theatre Co. on the campus of Purdue University Calumet.  She is currently teaching Voice and Diction, Debate, Acting, Theatre Production and Theatre Appreciation courses at PUC.  Her Master’s degree performance art piece, Homeless Women’s Hall of Fame, was featured at the National Communication Association convention in Seattle and in Milwaukee at the Central States Communication conference. With over 20 plays and other performance pieces in her repertoire, Mrs. Channing recently directed the musical Snoopy!!! and directed the world premier of  Children of the Earth, a musical written by John Lisbon Wood.

John Lisbon Wood Mr. Wood, B.S., is a member of Actors’ Equity.  He has been featured in films, TV and stage productions, including Second City, ER, Magnum, P.I. and others, and has written plays and musicals for the stage.  A member of St. Louis Rep, he was featured in premier productions and was in the cast of When You Comin’ Back, Red Ryder?, which won five Obie Awards, including Best Production.  Mr. Wood has appeared in over forty television and movies roles, including many guest-starring parts.  His first play, A Feast of Illusions, premiered in Los Angeles, earning him a Drama-logue award. He has written a book on playwriting, Write Better Plays:  Twenty Structural Rules.  Mr. Wood was an artist-in-residence at Love Creek in New York City and was a guest artist at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). His play, By Love and Art Scarred, was recently made into a feature film.