This two-week workshop offers aspiring young performers ages 9-13 the chance to expand their skills by exposing them to the fundamentals of acting, singing, and dancing. Perfect for students new to the stage or those looking for a challenge, this training program encourages risk-taking and growth with nurturing guidance from theater professionals. Individual attention, ensemble building, character development, and improvisation exercises are used to enhance creative expression, positive self-image, and confidence. The camp runs Mondays through Fridays and culminates with a Saturday afternoon showcase for family and friends.
Dates: June 26 – July 8, 2023 (No Class on July 4th)
Times: Monday through Saturday 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Final Presentation: Saturday, July 8th at 2:00 p.m.
Ages: 9-13
Experience: Some exposure to performing is helpful but not required.
Level: Beginner – Intermediate
Tuition: $750
Includes all materials, Young Actors Conservatory T-shirt, student headshot, and video of final presentation.
Families seeking assistance in covering tuition costs are invited to apply for a scholarship.
Camp Broadway is a challenging yet playful program designed to offer participants the experience of learning in a professional setting and under the direction of professional theater artists. Students receive an comprehensive arts education structured with a curriculum that balances performance and technique. Students learn professional theater etiquette, time management skills, communication skills, how to work cooperatively in a group setting, and how to produce quality work in a fast-paced environment. Areas of artistic study include exploring the elements of story, scene structure and analysis, character development through thought and action, engaging gesture and movement, and relationship communication culminating in a final public performance. This is a program tailored to meet the needs of kids with stage experience as well as those new to the performing arts. Although, all students are exposed to the above curriculum they are also given an opportunity to select an area of special interest in either musical theatre or dramatic performance.
BRIAN McDONALD (ETC Director of Education and Outreach) is an award-winning actor, director, and educator. He appeared in the national tours of Miss Saigon and Forever Plaid. Regionally, he appeared on the stages of Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Theatre Virginia, The Lyric Stage, La Miranda Performing Arts Center, Ensemble Theatre Company, Pasadena Playhouse, Thousand Oaks Performing Arts Center, Rubicon Theatre Company and the Ahmanson. Brian has been honored with many awards, including the Ventura Mayors’ Award for Emerging Artist, LA Weekly’s Best Supporting Actor Award and an Independent Award for his most recent performance in the one-man-show, Buyer and Cellar. Most recently, he directed It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play at ETC. Other directing credits include the critically acclaimed world premiere of A Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, Other Desert Cities, A Tuna Christmas, The Sunset Limited (with Joe Spano and Tucker Smallwood), Bus Stop (5 Ovation nominations including Best Play), MASTER HAROLD… and the boys (nominated for 3 Ovation awards Including Best Play) and the World Premiere musical, Hello! My Baby, written and conceived by Cheri Steinkellner. He also conceived and directed the critically acclaimed holiday musical review, A Rubicon Family Christmas. Brian’s work as a director has earned him an Independent Award and StageScene LA Award for Best Director. He is a graduate of Boston Conservatory and a member of Actors Equity Association, The Screen Actors Guild and The Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers.
BEVERLY “Bev” WARD (Musical Director/ Vocal Coach) attended San Diego Junior Theatre as a child, where she fell in love with the performing arts. By the time she was eighteen she was working with Anne Miller and Mickey Rooney in the National Tour of Sugar Babies. Over the last three decades, Bev has appeared on and Off-Broadway (Epic Proportions, Anastasia, A Child’s Christmas in Wales), in numerous National Tours (Sugar Babies, Crazy for You – Helen Hayes Nomination for Best Actress, Showboat, Billy Elliot), and has sung with renowned musicians and orchestras all across America. She has collaborated with husband Kirby Ward on multiple directorial projects and together they have written three musicals. By special request from the Gershwin Estate, she and husband Kirby were invited to guest star with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra in Gershwin: The Political Operettas where their rendition of “I’ve Got a Crush On You” stopped the show. She has performed for British Royalty, as well as First Ladies Hilary Clinton and Laura Bush. You’ll find Bev’s first EP of folk/pop music, Bev’s Noble House Of Pancake, on iTunes and Spotify. Bev is also a visual artist and has had several showings of her work in and around New England. www.beverlyward.com