Category Archives: Workshops

After sitting at home staring at your screen for a year, you are ready to get Back to the Stage.

In person. At the TCS home at the American Legion Post 210 at 44 Taylor Street in Saugus, Massachusetts. See our Directions page.

But your in-person skills are rusty. So we have a series of workshops to help you get back in top form. Click on the links below for more information about each.

• Adult Dance Classes, with Samantha Brior-Jones
• Singing for the Musical Theatre Stage, with Lori L’Italien
• How to Read Music, with Benjamin Tan
• Headshot Photo Gala, with Sabrina Ornae
• Playwriting, with Matthew Garlin
• Improvisation, with Britt Mitchell

For all in-person indoor events, participants are required to follow the current CDC guidelines. You must wear a mask if you are not vaccinated.

Fees for all the workshop sessions can be paid in advance with a credit card. See our Tickets page. Some of the workshops also require you to sign up for specific time slots or sessions. (For the Dance classes, payment is directly to SBJ rather than TCS.)

Summer Adult Dance Classes

with

on the North Shore

Tuesdays – July 6 thru August 24, 2021

at the American Legion / 44 Taylor Street / Saugus, Mass.

• 5:30 PM – Beginner Tap
• 6:30 PM – Jazz for Musical Theatre A
• 7:30 PM – Intermediate Tap
• 8:30 PM – Jazz for Musical Theatre B

Click on this link to sign up: www.signupgenius.com. Then use the Search feature to find: sbj.briorbello@gmail.com. Or, click on one of the four class links above.

$120 per 8-week class. 15 dancers per class. (50% deposit required to hold seat.)

To pay, click on one of these three Payment Options:

• Zelle: 774-776-5747
• Venmo: Samantha-Brior-Jones
• PayPal: PoisonAppleShopCo

And send money to the indicated recipient for each. Identify yourself and which class you are taking.

Contact with any questions or concerns: sbj.briorbello@gmail.com

Samantha Brior-Jones was the principal choreographer for the TCS production of The Producers in 2012. She is a dance teacher, choreographer, and director, who works mostly on the South Shore with groups like Massasoit Theatre Company, Norton Singers, and HIngham Civic.  She has won several EMACT DASH awards for directing and choreography.

These dance classes will be the first in our series of Summer 2021 Workshops. Other events include headshot photo sessiona, a series of masterclasses for musical theatre singers, how to read music class, playwriting, and improvisation classes. See other posts on this TCS website for more information.

TCS is offering a workshop called “C The Notes” – A Crash Course in Reading Music for Singers. Experienced music director Benjamin Tan will teach an introduction to reading music for singers. Students will go over the basics of visualizing rhythm and melody on sheet music, and apply music theory fundamentals to musical theatre repertoire.

Benjamin Tan was the music director for our Youth Theatre Workshop 2020, and for our production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.

The workshop date is Thursday 8 July 2021, starting at 7:00 PM. The workshop will be held in-person at our headquarters at the American Legion Post 220 / 44 Taylor Street / Saugus, Massachusetts.

The cost of the workshop will be $10. See our Tickets page for the link to pay with a credit card and register in advance. You can also pay at the door with cash, check, PayPal, or Venmo.

Singing for the Musical Theatre Stage

Summer Workshop Series / Theatre Company of Saugus

With: Lori L’Italien  (she/her/hers) / Assistant Professor of Voice – The Boston Conservatory

We’ve had over a year off the stage, and fall auditions are on the horizon!  It’s time to do something with our voices other than scream or sob in despair into a pillow. This series is geared towards the musical theatre singer who is READY to get back on stage. Throughout the series we will work towards regaining a sense of your singing voice, expanding your range, improving versatility, flexibility, power and ease. 

A successful singer of musical theatre and pop must have easy and flexible access to belt, mix, and legit-style singing…Musical theatre performers can have anywhere from 3 – 12 shows a week. Oftentimes, two shows within one day! Healthy vocal technique is the foundation careers are built upon. 

In this series, Lori L’Italien, Assistant Professor of Voice for Musical Theatre at The Boston Conservatory and TCS Alumna (Children of Eden – Eve/Mama Noah, Cabaret – Sally Bowles) will guide you through a variety of exercises that can help you gain access to, and build confidence in your healthy belt, mix, and head voice.

Class 1 – Stretching, Alignment, and Breathing for Singers / (Sunday, August 1st – 7pm -8:30pm)

• Musical theatre and pop performers alike are expected to entertain and dazzle! Performance work in these genres is usually quite physical and often involves dancing while singing. Taking this into consideration, we will begin with some body mapping and an easy stretch and release routine that will help the body prepare to sing.
• The voice BEGINS with the breath. BUT, Not all styles will require the same type of breath and you can’t always take a low, grounded breath when you’re in the middle of a 16 bar kick-line. We’ll follow our body work with physical and vocal exercises that will cultivate flexibility of the breath, allowing for an easy connection to a tone that sounds free rather than forced, or pressed. 

Class 2 – Developing Ease and Flexibility Between Registers / (Monday, August 2 – 7pm – 8:30pm)

• To train our voices to sing musical theatre is to train our voices to sing a wide variety of styles and genres. In order to do this, we must cultivate an incredibly flexible and versatile vocal technique. One that is freely and easily produced and can be consistently reproduced 8-shows a week, for weeks on end.
• This class focuses on finding a healthy and free production in both the falsetto/head voice as well as the speech/chest register. Through fun exercises and vocalise we’ll work towards finding a balance between the registers. Participants will get individualized instruction on how to work through the “break” in their voice. 

Class 3 – Mix and Belt Voice / (Sunday, August 8th – 7pm – 8:30pm)

• The belt begins with speech. In this class we will begin by cultivating a light, speech-dominant mix, exploring vocal tract variations, and tracking our resonance, eventually leading into exploration of both the open and closed belt. Come to class ready to make some noise!

Class 4 – Voice Training for the Dropped Voice / (Monday, August 9th – 7pm – 8:30pm) 

• This class focuses on exercises for any singer that has gone through a testosterone-based vocal change. Exercises drawn from Lessac voice work, speech therapy, classical and pop voice training can help dropped voices find ease in transitioning from falsetto to chest and also help in lessening voice cracks when singing and speaking. 

Class 5 – MasterClass Performance – “Putting it Together: Act the song, book the job” / (Sunday, August 15th – 7pm – 9pm)

• Workshop participants will have the opportunity to perform and workshop a 32-bar cut of their choice. Work will focus on vocal technique, acting, presentation, and how to enter the room.

There is a $15 fee per person for attending each session. Or you can sign up for the entire series for only $50, which is a savings of $10 if you attend four sessions, or a savings of $25 if you attend all five sessions.

See our Tickets page for the link to pay with a credit card and register in advance. You can also pay at the door with cash, check, PayPal, or Venmo.

If you ever wanted to get the basics on how to write a play, or you are curious on how people come up with ideas for plays, or want to try your hand with playwriting, come check out this workshop. We will break down play structure, character, and plot, and the best way to get started. 

The workshop is led by Matthew Garlin, a playwright and a member of the TCS board of directors. Matthew wrote The Men Who Would Be Mice, about what went on behind the scenes in the executive offices of the Disney Company, which we enjoyed reading during one of our recent sessions of Evenings of Play Readings with the Authors. His other full length play credits include Curtain Call for North Shore Players, Woods for Sherwood Entertainment Inc, and Just Get Over It for Quarantine Players. 

The Playwriting 101 workshop will be held on Tuesday 17 August 2021, starting at 7:00 PM. At the TCS home at the American Legion Post 220 / 44 Taylor Street / Saugus, Massachusetts.

The fee to attend the workshop is $10. See our Tickets page for the link to pay with a credit card and register in advance. You can also pay at the door with cash, check, PayPal, or Venmo.

Now that you are auditioning for real in-person shows, and you look different after a year in hiding, you are going to need new headshot photos. We have an excellent money-saving deal for you, and an excellent photographer.

Sabrina Ornae has been photographically documenting the Theatre Company of Saugus shows for the last several years. See recent photos of our production of Much Ado About Nothing.

At our Headshot Photo Gala sessions in August, you will have a 20-minute session with Sabrina Ornae Photography. The resulting photographs will be provided to you in digital format, suitable for posting online, or printing in color or black and white.

Please arrive 15 minutes before your appointment. You can bring one clothing outfit to wear. To make the best use of your time, be dressed in advance, and have already done your makeup.

If you come early to your appointment, you can get help freshening up your hair by our resident hair stylist Maggie (Stokes) Evans, who will be on hand for just a $10 fee so that you’re picture perfect.

There will be two sessions:

1. Thursday 5 August 2021 starting at 7:00 PM
2. Saturday 7 August 2021 starting at 10:00 AM

The location is the TCS home at the American Legion Post 220 / 44 Taylor Street / Saugus, Massachusetts.

You have the option of being photographed either inside or outside, which you choose when you sign up.

The fee is $125 for non-members of TCS, or only $100 for those with paid TCS memberships for 2021. A portion of the fee goes to support TCS.

See our Tickets page for the link to pay with a credit card and register in advance. You can also pay at the door with cash, check, PayPal, or Venmo.

You must also click here to sign up for a time slot for your personal photo session.

If you’ve seen hit shows such as “Whose Line Is It Anyway?”, you have probably thought to yourself: “wow this looks REALLY difficult!” In fact, everybody can improvise! Join improv expert(ish) Britt Mitchell as we tap into our improv skills, which will not only guarantee your success onstage, but will be a whole lot of fun!

There are two sessions:

1. Wednesday 11 August at 7:00 PM – Anyone Can Improvise: comedy tools that will help you on and off the stage
2. Wednesday 18 August at 7:00 PM – Improv and Scenework: tips and tricks

The location is the TCS home at the American Legion Post 220 / 44 Taylor Street / Saugus, Massachusetts.

The fee is $10 for each session. See our Tickets page for the link to pay with a credit card and register in advance. You can also pay at the door with cash, check, PayPal, or Venmo.