Updated 07/10/2010 10:45 AM
Young actors find voices in Vassar program
The Powerhouse Theater season is in full swing and so is its apprentice program. As our Curtis Schick shows us, you'll see the stars of tomorrow right here in the Hudson Valley.
To view our videos, you need to
enable JavaScript. Learn how.
install Adobe Flash 9 or above. Install now.
Then come back here and refresh the page.
POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. -- They shake, pound their chests and it's okay if you don't understand what this guy is saying. But this is serious because class is session.
"I came because this program sounded very, very professional," said Powerhouse apprentice Diane Machin.
Machin and more than 40 others are apprentices in the Powerhouse Theater program. It's a partnership between Vassar College and New York Stage and Film, which also runs the professional summer theater.
And whether it's in an outside amphitheater or here in a classroom, students are spending the summer learning the business and in this case, these are actors finding their voices.
"I love the craft of acting and I love teaching and I love working with young people because they keep me inspired," said voice instructor Michael Early.
Early teaches here and you'd be amazed what it takes to master getting your mouth moving. There's stretching, a little massaging and lots of noise. But Early says this it all has a point. Students are learning how to say it, but also why how and where they say it makes a difference.
"To see young people starting out learning, reminds us all of how we started," said Mark Linn-Baker, Powerhouse Theater Producing Director. "The questions we asked then, it's the same questions we have to ask now."
It is far from the bright lights of Broadway, but apprentices say it's the chance to do good work, like this play by Emily Mendelsohn, and the chance to work with pros like Linn-Baker, who you might remember from Perfect Strangers, that makes the program a hit.
Machin said, "To be so close to professional actors, directors and writers in their field who are so willing to come and talk to us."
Apprentices take the Outdoor Amphitheater stage Friday, Saturday and Sunday for a performance of Machinal and next weekend for Romeo and Juliet.