Albrecht, Baer to teach Musical Theatre Workshop Maymester class
The Department of Theatre and Dance and the School of Music are teaming up to offer a Musical Theatre Workshop course during this coming Maymester to both USC and non-USC students alike.
The Musical Theatre Workshop will focus on educating students in the areas of dancing, singing and acting in a way directly attuned to the skill set needed to participate at a high level in musical theater. The course will be led by workshop director Gillian Albrecht and musical director John Baer.
Albrecht’s resume boasts performances on Broadway and immense success in Europe performing in productions of “West Side Story,” “Cabaret” and “Jesus Christ Superstar.” Baer worked alongside Albrecht on “Jesus Christ Superstar” and has arranged music and conducted for other major shows across Europe. They both have extensive experience teaching their craft, as the pair founded the still active Stage School of Music, Dance and Drama in Hamburg, Germany, in 1989 to address the growing desire for musical theater education in Europe at the time.
“This course gives [students] a peek into the intense training and interdisciplinary training they will need,” Albrecht said. “It is a continuous evolvement of training.”
Though similar courses have been offered by the Department of Theatre and Dance in the past, Kevin Bush of the school’s marketing and development division said in his press release about the course that the talent leading the course is especially noteworthy, as are the department’s efforts to connect students with the professional world.
“Gillian has done some speaking to students around campus, just letting them know about what’s going on, and has gotten some exciting interest from students,” Bush said. “There seems to be a real desire on the part of many students on campus to participate in musical theater activity.”
The two schools involved in putting on the course have done substantial amounts of advertising and promotion for the workshop by creating flyers and posters, sending out press releases and sending out mailings to other colleges to inform their students that the course is available to them for transfer credit.
Albrecht and Bush say it is unknown whether or not the course will be offered again in future Maymesters or semesters, both of them citing student interest as a major factor for any thoughts of continued musical theater education.
“I say they would take it very seriously if there was demonstrated interest on the part of the student body,” Bush said of the course’s future.
For now, all parties involved in the Musical Theatre Workshop eagerly anticipate how this particular Maymester course will be received.
“It is an exciting first-time experience,” Albrecht said. “I’m excited to be able to see a portion of the wonderful talent we have here in South Carolina.”
Faculty from both the Department of Theatre and Dance and the School of Music will join Albrecht and Baer in instructing the course. The Musical Theatre Workshop begins May 9 and runs through May 27. Registration for the course for current USC students starts April 4. For more information, visit the Department of Theatre and Dance’s website, www.cas.sc.edu/dance, or contact Rona Avery at 803-777-1001.
