A 10-week winter term musical revue and training course dedicated to providing high school performers with intensive skill building in the fundamental areas of acting, voice, and dance towards the pursuit of their craft.
The Shedd Institute’s Musical Theatre Training Academy was established to provide a regional training opportunity for young performers, grades 9-12, to further develop and hone existing skills in the core musical theatre disciplines of acting, voice, and dance. Students will work under the guidance of professional coaches and production staff/guest artists, to prepare The Revue, a a ticketed concert featuring ensemble, duet, and solo repertoire associated with the course's featured artists (composers, lyricists, or performers from the classic age of musical theatre and musical comedy).
This winter's Revue features the songs of the lyricist B. G. "Buddy" De Sylva with songs like “Button Up Your Overcoat”, “April Showers”, “Look For The Silver Lining”, “The Varsity Drag”, and “Avalon” plus many more!
Enhancing the core training, workshops in dialect study, elocution, audition preparation, and technical production skills will be sprinkled throughout the schedule, creating a rich & multi-faceted sampling of the kind of professional training required to succeed in a college program and beyond.
A limited number of merit-based Ed Ragozzino Scholarships are available upon application. Financial aid is available upon application.
The Revue: Avalon
The Songs of Buddy De Sylva
The Winter 2024 E. Y. Harburg Academy culminates with its classic Revue, a ticketed concert
featuring ensemble, duet, and solo repertoire associated with this term's theme,lyricist B.
G. “Buddy” De Sylva (1895-1950). Working in the 1920s and ‘30s with composers including Al Jolson, George Gershwin, Jerome Kern, Louis Silvers, Joseph Meyer, and lyricists Ira Gershwin and Lew Brown, De Sylva wrote a host of Songbook classics including “Avalon”,
“April Showers”, “Button Up Your Overcoat”, “You’re The Cream In My Coffee”, “Look For The Silver Lining”, “I’ll Build A Stairway To Paradise”, “Somebody Loves Me”, “If You Knew Susie”, and more! As always, there will be 2 performances in the Jaqua Concert Hall Sunday March 16th, at 3 pm and 5:30 pm.
Theatre professionals recognize the attributes of serious performers--those who have mastered the basics of their craft, and gone on to hone their acting, voice, and dance skills in equal measure. Academy participants receive intensive professional instruction in the 3 essential aspects of musical theatre performance through daily core sessions and specialized workshops. Students will polish essential performance and presentational skills through the preparation of a staged, costumed revue-style show.
Musical Theatre Dance
In musical theatre, a dance can connect scenes to characters, and is often one of the most important means of advancing the show and entertaining its audience. In addition to learning choreography, solo, and ensemble work, a musical theatre actor must learn how to perform the dance. In this session, students will receive training in musical theatre dance choreography and technique, and learn the isolated movements that professional dancers use to heighten a stage performance. By focusing on character-driven dances and choreography that establish a relationship and storyline, students will emerge from this session with a set of dance skills that make them a true “triple threat”.
Musical Theatre Voice
One of the most important skills that musical theatre performers must develop is their voice. Beyond simply being able to sing in tune or keep a rhythm, singers must convince an audience that their songs are not just “performance” but rather, extensions of story, tone, and character. In this session, students will be coached in the art of refining their voices for musical theatre. Over the course of the 3 weeks, they will participate in Group Voice sessions as well as receive individual coaching on Revue repertoire, to develop their singing skills and perfect their technique on the chosen piece. All students will have the opportunity to be a featured soloist in the Revue.
Musical Theatre Acting
Designed as an “actor bag of tricks” for the developing performer, this daily session will cover fundamental acting techniques utilized in the professional world of theatre from stage presence and actor engagement to physicality and character development. Whether shining in the spotlight or filling in the chorus, acting requires a specific level of consciousness and a certain degree of engagement (both contextually and physically) that each call for a precise spectrum of skills. This class will provide aspiring actors with the tools they need to excel in musical theatre and the confidence to perform in front of any audience.
Lyricist and poet E. Y. “Yip” Harburg gave us some of the most memorable lyrics of the 20th century. With songs including "It’s Only a Paper Moon", "Brother, Can You Spare A Dime",
"Lydia the Tattooed Lady", "How Are Things in Glocca Morra?", and, of course, "Over the Rainbow", the lyrics of Yip Harburg continue to be loved by performers and audiences alike.
Harburg’s career spanned over 5 decades, and included the lyrics for over 600 songs. He won several awards, including an Oscar for The Wizard of Oz and several Oscar nominations for Cabin in the Sky and Can’t Help Singing. In 1972, Harburg was inducted into the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame and two of his songs were included in The American Film Institute’s 100 years…100 songs: “Ding-Dong! The Witch is Dead” at #82 and “Over the Rainbow” at #1.
The E.Y. Harburg Academy for Musical Theatre is supported by an ongoing gift from Tom Harburg in honor of E. Y. “Yip” Harburg.
A limited number of merit-based Ed Ragozzino Scholarships are available to applicants through the generosity of Shedd Institute donors in honor of Eugene musical theatre legend Ed Ragozzino (1931-2010).
To apply for a Ragozzino Scholarship, request an application form and submit along with your Academy registration form.