by Jennifer Adams

Hot off the heels of another successful performance at the Make Believe Ball, I picked the brain of Patrick Schmitz, creator and teacher of First Stage’s year-round improvisation team, Organ-ized Chaos, also known as OC. Organ-ized Chaos began six seasons ago with 12 students and has grown to nearly 100 members who come back year after year. JA: How did you get started in improvisation?PS: When I was in high school, I saw a performance by Comedy Sportz and went, “I want to do that!” So I got involved with classes at Comedy Sportz after high school and started doing improv professionally and then went to Second City for training.

JA: What was the inspiration to start OC?PS: I looked up to my teachers and wanted to know more about how improv works

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NEWS FROM THE ACADEMY • Volume 2 Issue 8 • Winter Academy 2013 Updates

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IN FOCUSis the newsletter of the

First Stage Theater Academy,published each session to

highlight the work of our staff and students.

Jennifer AdamsEditor

Patrick G.H. SchleyGraphic Design

Want to get moreinvolved at First Stage?Join the Green Room Society, our Parent & Volunteer Group! Con-tact Heather at (812) 201-4285 or parents@firststage.org for info!

The students have been hard at work and can’t wait to show you what they’ve been doing! Our presentations are fun glimpses into the classroom including warm ups, exercises, vocabulary, objectives, and performance pieces we have been working on. Presentations will happen on the last class day of the session, and each student will be sent home with a presentation reminder for their class. We look forward to seeing you there!

Top photo by Jennifer Adams

InFOCUS

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Ride with us on the UPAF Ride for the Arts! Visit UPAFride.org and sign up using password “FirstStage.”Bringing Organized Chaos into Focus

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Photo by Erica Davis

FIRST STAGETHEATER ACADEMYLife Skills Through Stage Skills

but what the actor is able to tap into will be different. The students start to get smarter with their choices. Their sense of humor becomes more sophisticated. Just a few weeks ago we talked in class about how our senses of humor have changed since we were younger and how to think about who the audience is and what they will think is funny as well.

JA: Do you have any great stories about how OC has changed the life of a student? PS: Of course, I am a fan of when individual students tell me what improv has done for them, as far as being shy and helping them find their voice in the world.

I also love to see them go to other events with non-OC students and see them become leaders. Recently some of the Organized Chaos students performed at the Milwaukee Comedy Festival. They were the only group that got a standing ovation at the entire festival. They did long form work and took the audience on a rollercoaster of emotions. They got to a point where the improv didn’t have to be funny, they moved the au-dience to tears with a really honest and sincere perfor-mance. I was glowing with pride, they deserved it.

JA: What kinds of students excel in OC?PS: Team players, students who know how to turn it on and turn it off. You have to be patient and willing to learn and willing to fail. That’s how we know we are learning. Its like a musician, you have to be willing to practice and play the scales and go off pitch and eventually you’ll start playing the music.

JA: What is unique about the OC program?PS: When I started OC, I knew that going the long form route was a risk. Short form improv is fun be-cause of all the games, but with long form there is a great deal of theater involved and I think that is re-ally cool. The OC students are different from a lot of improvisation students because they want to put on improvised one act plays rather than playing a game. This brings a stronger theater foundation to our work and what makes OC different than a regular improv class.

JA: What are the challenges of running a program like OC?Comedy is subjective. I always have to consider that comedy is subjective. Who am I to say if what this

student has done is funny or not? Which leads to another thing I constantly have to think about: when students come to a comedy improv class they think its all about the funny and don’t realize it’s work. They expect instant gratification through audience laughter, and if it doesn’t happen they get discouraged. I have to let them know its OK and relieve the pressure to “be funny” so they can really focus on the process.

JA: How does a student get involved in OC?PS: Students must audition to be in Organized Chaos. Auditions happen throughout the summer during lunchtime or at a separate audition in September. When the students audition, I am not looking for the funniest performer or the greatest actor, I am looking for someone who is able to take direction. The most important thing to the audition is, “Can I hear you, un-derstand you, and can you work with other people?”

JA: What’s your favorite thing about OC?PS: The best part about working with OC is that I’m nowhere close to burnt out with this program. I work a full week and then come on Saturday and I love it. I always look forward to it. It’s hard to get sick of some-thing that is always new. Even with the same games the students are always bringing something new to the table. The best part of my job is sitting back and watching them be brilliant because they have come so far!

rather than just performing without thinking of the hows and whys. I started teaching and the more I learned about how it worked, the more I taught until the teaching took over. Starting OC was a part of that transition for me. I love explaining it and watching students have those same discoveries I had. It’s fun to see that happen over and over in my teaching years.

JA: What are the benefits of a year round class in improvisation?PS: The growth is clear. Chemistry is really impor-tant to good improvisation. With a yearlong program, they get to know each other and how they work. We do a lot of reflection in OC, and they begin to notice not only how other students work, but also how they themselves work. From the first day in fall to the final show in spring, it’s a fun arc to see where they are as individuals and as a group. The respect and trust it takes to do good improvisation doesn’t happen over-night. When you meet once a week that is hard to build, so it’s stronger to grasp over an entire year as opposed to one session.

JA: OC sometimes performs in the community. Can you tell me about any of those experiences and what do the students gain from these perfor-mances?PS: We’ve learned that when going out on road shows, short form works better. Short form is so uni-versal. An audience can sit down for two minutes and then move on and still get something out of it. I think its fun for the OC players to go out and do the shows and perform for people who are not friends and family. They have to up their game since it’s a totally differ-ent environment. These audiences aren’t going to be unconditionally supportive, so the students experience how difficult it can be. I am really proud of these performances, like this past weekend at the Make Believe Ball. Some audi-ence members came and went, but there was a large majority that stayed for the entire two hours. People wanted to see more, and that is a real accomplish-ment.

JA: What are the most important life skills gained through improv?PS: Self awareness. They have to truly listen to some-one and support their ideas. They find out quickly

that it is more difficult to do things by yourself. We are usually more successful when we have people up there helping us figure things out. This says something really powerful about building community and that we all need to help each other, on stage and in life.

The “Yes and…” theory is also really important. It’s about trying things and going in for a taste of what you think you don’t like, so you have real reasons to deny things. That’s a huge life lesson. I think trying new things is definitely a good thing, We build each other up through keeping things positive instead of looking for the negative.

JA: What is the foundation of good improv train-ing?PS: Exploration. Being able to let the students explore ideas, their own limits. You want to push them a bit, but encourage them too. I put it like this, throw them in the deep end and see what happens. Students defi-nitely appreciate the challenge. There is a lot of self-analysis going on when they learn by doing. They can feel that it didn’t work and say to themselves, “I don’t want to ever feel that way again”. So they are motivated to learn in a really personal way.

I like to let them play, discover and explore. I see my job as coach as the training wheels. We are not show-ing how brilliant we are; rather we are helping them go in the right direction when they start to fall.

JA: As students continue taking OC year after year, how does the training progress?PS: There is a saying in improv, “It’s always differ-ent, it’s always the same.” The exercises can be the same in 3rd grade, then 8th grade, then 12th grade

In Focus

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Bringing Organized Chaos Into Focus (continued)

Photo by Patrick G.H. Schley

Photo by Erica Davis

In Focus

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Volume 2 Issue 8

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One on One with OC Member Kyle Madigan The Young COmpany Presents “CYMBELINE”By Jennifer Adams

JA: Why do you like being in OC?KM: I enjoy being in OC because it’s a fantastic improv class. I don’t know anywhere else that teaches long form improv, and even if I did, it wouldn’t have the same amazing atmosphere that OC has.

JA: Name some things you’ve learned from being in OC.KM: Oh boy, I’ve learned so much. It’s taught me a lot about spontaneity, but I think the most important thing it teaches is being able to build a relationship with some-one. Whether it’s striking up a friendship with someone I’ve just met or making deeper relationships with peo-ple I already know, OC has been an invaluable teacher.

JA: Why should a student join OC?So many reasons. Because it’ll help them with every-day life. Because it can only help them be better actors. Because it’s a darn good time!

Photo courtesy Anna Wolfe

First Stage’s Young Company, the Academy’s ad-vanced, pre-professional training program for high school students presents CYMBELINE, March 8-9, 2013 at the Milwaukee Youth Arts Center, Goodman Main Stage Hall.

CYMBELINE, one of the greatest comedies by William Shakespeare, tells the story of Cymbeline, the king of England, and the trials and tribulations of the King and his royal family. One of Shakespeare’s last plays, CYM-BELINE is a fairytale come to life.

“The play has an epic fairy tale feel, spanning half of Europe and delving into our deepest subconscious dreams and fears,” said Matt Daniels, director of the play. “Equal parts comedy and tragedy, with elements of music and farce, CYMBELINE explores issues of family, fidelity, and forgiveness,” he continued.

All photos by Jennifer Adams

Wednesday Academy’s Cast of Characters...

Photo by Rubi Gonzalez

Photo by Rubi Gonzalez Photo by Alexandra Sobczak

Photo by Alexandra Sobczak

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Volume 2 Issue 8

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What is a Performance Workshop?Performance Workshop is one of our newest classes in the Academy. Students work for eight weeks to pro-duce a one act play! Due to overwhelming demand we added another section and divided the actors by ages, a 5th-6th grade group and a 7th-8th grade group. These students have been hard at work this session putting together their performances.

One of the goals of performance workshop is to teach young actors what it takes to be part of a production. This includes everything from audition etiquette, how to understand your role as a part of the larger themes of the play, how to memorize lines, how to give and take focus during long rehearsals, and so much more! In keeping with the Academy’s goal of teaching life skills through stage skills, focus has been put on the actor’s personal development as well as the growth of the entire cast. You won’t see any costumes or scenery in these workshops, but you will see students who are taking strides in confidence, creativity, and a myriad of stage skills. How long are the classes?Classes meet on Saturday afternoons for three hours. This longer class period provides us with an opportu-nity to have much more impact on our students. We have more time to delve deeper in to character crea-tion, text analysis, and performance skills.

When is the next performance workshop?The Academy will offer a Musical Performance Work-shop in the spring session! If you want to experience what it is like to put on a musical production with sing-ing, dancing, acting, rehearsal, and presentation, then this is the class for you!

Why should you take a performance workshop? Hear it straight from the students themselves!

“Performance Workshop gives you a taste of what an actual production is like. It is great experience and a lot of fun!” — Natalie DeRoche

“I want to be an actress when I grow up so the perfor-mance workshop was a great experience for me, form activities to rehearsals and the best thing yet, I met my best friend here.” — Camarii Tellis

“I thought acting was just about being someone else, and that is true, but in the performance workshop I learned it’s so much more.” — Eladia Ilk

“I didn’t know there were so many ways to express a scene!” — Bryn Hartnett

“I learned in order to get into your character you need to figure out the ‘ROOT’ of your character and the

Performance Workshops are a hit!Unbelievable

fun!— Hannah Lipscomb

This class isThe Bomb!

— Amber Allanscene you’re in. We talk about our relationships, objec-tives, obstacles, and tactics.” — Marco Humphrey

“We get to collaborate with artists just like us and put together a show.” — Katie Eder

“This class really makes me think outside the box.” — Willow Pae

“This is a place where our actions mean more than our words, where we give life to situations that haven’t happened, where we are ourselves and something more.” — Riya Mehta

“Performance Workshop is the perfect mix of regular First Stage classes and producing a play, the environ-ment and the people are also fantastic.” — Lawson Mitchell

Photo by Jennifer Adams

Photo by Jennifer Adams Photo by Jennifer Adams

Photo by Jennifer Adams

T E A C H I N G L I F E S K I L L S T H R O U G H S T A G E S K I L L S

S U M M E R TH EATER ACADEMYThe nat i o n ’s l a rgest h i g h i mpact t heate r t ra i n i n g p rog ram

fo r yo u ng peop l e e nte r i n g g rades K5-1 2 next fa l l !

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C L A S S E S B e g i n J u n e 1 7 !