National Student Leadership Conference

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During the NSLC high school summer theater program, you will experience the life of a Broadway actor as you rehearse and perform in your very own production. From choosing a script to designing the set to performing on Opening Night you and your peers will be responsible for conceiving all aspects of your production. Throughout the process you’ll receive feedback from professional actors, directors, playwrights and stage managers who have years of experience working on Broadway.

While at the NSLC’s high school summer theater program, you will meet with and learn from professionals in the New York theater community including playwrights, actors, directors, stage managers and producers. In the past, the NSLC has taken trips to Broadway & Off-Broadway shows, and met with:

• Award-winning casts of Phantom of the Opera, Hairspray, In the Heights, South Pacific, American Idiot, Next Fall, and Our Town
• A.R. Gurney, Playwright, Member of Theatre Hall of Fame
• Boyd Gaines, Four-Time Tony Award-Winning Actor
• Craig Wroe, Actor and Author of How to Master the Business of the Business
• Daniel Sullivan, Prolific Tony Award-Winning Director
• Donald Margulies, Pulitzer Prize-Winning Playwright
• Frances Sternhagen, Two-Time Tony Award-Winning Actress
• Jennifer von Mayrhauser, Emmy Award-Winning Costume Designer for “Law & Order”
• John Gromada, Drama Desk Award-Winning Composer and Sound Designer
• John Lee Beatty, Two Time Tony Award-Winning Set Designer
• Lilli Cooper, Actress, Original Cast of Spring Awakening
• Maria Dizzia, Tony Nominated Actress
• Mark Brokaw, Drama Desk Award-Winning Director
• Michael Cerveris, Tony Award-Winning Actor
• Pablo Schreiber, Two-Time Drama Desk Award-Winning Actor
• Peter Kaczorowski, Tony Award-Winning Lighting Designer
• Tom Viola, Executive Director, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS

At the NSLC you will enjoy college-level lectures on theater performance and production. The lecture series will form a foundation of knowledge that will be vital to your success, not only during the conference, but in your future career in the theater.

Topics may include:

• Acting for the Theater
• The Art of Stage Management
• Playwriting: From Idea to Production
• An Introduction to Theatrical Design
• Techniques for Playing Shakespeare
• Audition Tips for Actors
• Mastering the Business of Theater
• Approaching the Monologue
• Basic Movement for Actors

At the heart of the NSLC is a leadership curriculum designed to build concrete leadership skills that will help you succeed. From the beginning of your program you will learn to work as a team during an exciting Ropes Challenge Course. Interactive lectures and small-group workshops will give you an opportunity to build upon your strengths and minimize your weaknesses.

Leadership topics tailored to the Theater program include:

• Personality Styles and Group Dynamics
• Public Speaking and Communication
• Negotiation and Intrapersonal Communication

An important part of the NSLC high school summer theater program is seeing the sites around some of our nation’s greatest cities. These trips are designed as both sightseeing tours and exclusive educational trips specifically tailored to the Theater:

New York City, NY

• Broadway and Off-Broadway Shows
• Lincoln Center Backstage Tour
• Improv Theater, Chicago City Limits
• Times Square
• Fifth Avenue
• Top of the Rock: 30 Rockefeller Plaza
• Central Park
• Broadway Rehearsal Studios