Musical & Theater Foundations
About the Course
Musical and Theatre Foundations is an immersive learning experience where we develop the actors' toolbox, discover your unique artistic voice, and learn to trust one’s instinct. In this four-week intensive, teens will dive deep into character development, learn to work as an ensemble, and walk away with an efficient and effective warm up to use in all their future auditions and productions. With a solid acting foundation and in conjunction with scene development, we will use dance and music to deepen our storytelling. At the end of four weeks, and with mentorship of their teachers, students will create a showcase of skills to perform for friends and family on a Cornish stage.
While this intensive may be taken independently, it is the foundational program that is designed to work in conjunction with the Summer@Cornish electives in the afternoon. Please select two afternoon electives to go along with this intensive. Please see those descriptions or email plus@cornish.edu if you have any questions.
Related Theater Classes
Technical Theater
Learn about bringing theatre to life through aspects of technical theater. Each day, teens will explore through professional back-stage environments to give them an understanding of what it takes to run a performance from the back end. This elective is perfect for the teen who loves theatre, ballet, music - any aspect of live performance -
Costume Design
Costume Design is focused on exploring the job of a costume designer and understanding their role as part of a collaborative design team working on a production. Teens will explore the role and processes of designing costumes from the initial reading of a script, to conceptual work and research, design techniques and principles, and
Stage & Screen Combat
Both an acting and a physical technique course, this class explores character movement in the context of a specific physical form: stage combat (armed and unarmed), including rapier, dagger, and broadsword. Performers develop greater specificity of movement, clarity of physical choices, and balance of one’s own energy with that of a partner. 
Acting for Stage and Screen
This intensive exposes teens to the actor’s “instrument” - their body and voice - and the habits of healthy performance; establishing skills, concepts, terminology, and goals from which subsequent training can spring. Teens will learn about their instrument as a complex and unified system, the mechanics of the body, and the steps
Voice for Musical Theater
In this class, students will strengthen skills for confident singing, focusing on character-driven vocals, ensemble singing, and general singing technique. Each student will have the opportunity to sing solo material, as well as group singing. If this is your first time dipping a toe in the world of musical theatre, or if you're looking to brush up
Dance for Musical Theater
In the last 10 years dance and how it relates to the world has evolved so much. Whether it be the prevalent use of hip hop and street dance in contemporary Musical Theater or the infectious fun moves of Tik Tok. In this elective, students will learn about the shift in culture with movement and understanding the styles that got us here! 
