The Northeast Theatre presents The 2007 Conservatory Company. Professional Level Actor Training in the Heart of Scranton.

Do you have a vocation as an actor? Perhaps you want to advance your training, or you’re looking for an affordable alternative to college. Or maybe its just time to go back for the training you never got twenty years ago, so you can enjoy your art at a deeper level. For any of the above, check out The Northeast Theatre’s Conservatory Company, a regular program of professional level actor training suitable for both early career and mid-career actors: student, amateur, and professional. Training includes daily classes in voice and speech, Meisner-based acting, Feldenkreis-based movement, show business, and a wide variety of workshops in specialized aspects of the craft for a total of more than 330 hours of instruction in 13 weeks. All ages are welcome. Those who complete the first term are eligible to be considered for professional apprenticeships and more.

Faculty Includes:

Mary Ethel Schmidt (acting): has been an Associate Faculty member of the American Academy for ten years and has been a Visiting Assistant Professor at Lycoming College and Marywood University. She has studied at the National Theatre in London and Classic Stage Company in New York and is a member of both Actors Equity and the Society for Stage Directors and Choreographers.

Page Clements (voice and speech): is an actress and private coach in New York. She is a graduate of Wesleyan College in Macon, GA and The American Academy of Dramatic Arts/New York, receiving degrees in acting from both institutions. She was the first recipient of the Neil Simon Foundation Scholarship. Currently, she teaches dialects, voice/speech, and Shakespeare at the T. Schreiber Studio in NYC. She is a member of Actors Equity Association.

Connie Rotunda (movement) - is a Guild-Certified Feldenkraisr Practitioner, trained with David Zemach-Bersin and continues to deepen her understanding of the Method in her work as the training program practitioner and organizer of the NYC Feldenkraisr Professional Training Program. She holds an MFA from the FSU/Asolo Conservatory. A professional actor and director, she has worked regionally and off-Broadway. She has taught actor movement at the FSU Asolo Conservatory, the Metro Playhouse, and the American Academy.

David Zarko (show biz) - a professional director for thirty years and a theatre administrator for fifteen, he has been a member of the associate faculty at Long Island University (C.W. Post Campus), SUNY Old Westbury, The American Academy of Dramatic Arts (New York Campus), and has taught workshops in colleges and universities across in this country, in Italy, and Lithuania. He is active with Kennedy Center/American College Theatre Festival as a respondent and workshop leader. He is the founding artistic director of The Metropolitan Playhouse of New York, and is currently producing artistic director of The Northeast Theatre. He has well over 100 professional directing credits, and as a playwright has had scripts produced around the country.

Workshop leaders may include: Barbara Blackledge (Theatre Department Chair, Indiana University of Pennsylvania), Mark Medoff (Tony Awarding winning playwright, Emeritus Chair at New Mexico State University, screen writer, director, and actor), Don Wildman (Los Angeles based actor, writer and director, radio producer, commercial actor, movie actor), John Cariani (Tony nominated actor, award winning playwright), Zuppa del Giorno (commedia troupe that performs internationally), and many others.

Program Dates: February 11 - May 24, 2007 (with a break the week of April 2)

Culminating Production Series: May 23 - June 17, 2007

All classes, workshops, and performances take place in the Performance Space at the Jermyn, downtown Scranton, PA

Full Course Fee: $3,295; Tuition assistance may be available

Auditions will be held in September, October, November, and December 2006–various dates in Scranton, New York, and Philadelphia. Deadline to sign up for an audition is on the 25th of each month prior, with audition appointments being announced the last five days of each month for the following month. Prospective students will be auditioned at the location closest to their residence

For appointments and further information: www.thenortheasttheatre.us or call 570-558-1520 (if answered by voice mail, leave a message in box 2)

The Northeast Theatre is an Equity theatre company its fourteenth season of production. Plays in the past year have included: Over the River and Through the Woods, Lackawanna Rails: 100 Years of Life in the Anthracite Valley, Operation Opera and La Postina (in Orvieto, Italy). The Theatre received Best Play of 2004 for Legal Snarls and Best Theatre of 2005 from the Electric City Readers’ Poll.