ROLE: Acting In Opera: Searching for Clues
DATE: TBA
TIME: TBA
Piano Piano Studios
37 West 65th Street 4th Floor NYC
CLASS COST: $35
Does operatic acting mean standing in one place while singing? Could it also involve overacting because someone is singing in a foreign language? Does it suggest an acting technique that is somehow different from acting in the spoken theater?
The iconic Constantin Stanislavsky believed Opera singers should "combine the art of living a role with its musical form and the technique of singing."
The purpose of this class is to present the foundation of the singing actor's craft.
Learn to answer the Who, What, Where, When, and Why of your character, your understanding of the text, and how these answers propel your character's actions and reactions.
This three hour session is a specialized workshop discussing an approach to the musical and dramatic structure of arias and how you will be able begin to dissect your character and his/her relationship in the piece.
A Collaborative Pianist will be on hand to assist participants in their work.
Stephen Scovasso is a musicologist, conductor, director and author. His more than 60 operatic productions have included Carmen, Tosca, La Bohème, Don Giovanni, Gianni Schicchi, Cosi fan Tutte as well as operettas such as The Merry Widow and Die Fledermaus.
In American Musical Theater productions have included Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd, Into the Woods and Bernstein’s Candide. In the dramatic theater, Stephen has directed Garcia Lorca’s La Casa de Bernarda Alba, and Oscar Wilde’s Salome.
He founded the SAS Performing Arts Company and studios and, in the time of COVID-19,has become a leader in virtual theater presentations he has produced and directed with a total of 5 full length virtual streams including Dracula: The Radio Play, Dickens's A Christmas Carol, Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest, Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland, and Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night's Dream as well as many virtual individual and holiday concerts. Many of these can be seen on the SAS Performing Arts Youtube channel.
During his years at Arizona State University, he taught classes on Opera, American Musical Theater, and created a course on Stephen Sondheim.