New York Academy of Theatrical Art

N Y A A
111 Franklin Street
New York, NY 10013
212.966.0300

info@nyaa.edu

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New York Academy of Art School of Continuing Education Presents:

NEW YORK ACADEMY OF THEATRICAL ART

Mission: To provide professional training, scholarship, and performance experience to actors, focusing on classical theatre; exploring methods, voice, movement, and performance in a stimulating, creative interdisciplinary arts environment utilizing the exceptional human resources of the New York City professional theatrical community. Under the artistic direction of Broadway veteran Terrence Mann, the focus of the program is to nurture and expand individual creativity as well as offer proven techniques that prepare the actor for experimentation and mastery in artistic performance. With collaborators and instructors that exemplify the best of Broadway, off-Broadway and distinguished regional theatre, students study with the contemporary masters of theatre arts.

What is the New York
Academy of Art?

Central to the curriculum of the New York Academy of Art is the study of classic disciplines in art and the reinterpretation of traditional methods of instruction for the contemporary student. It is a specialist institution where faculty, administration and students collaborate to construct a teaching and learning environment that is supportive of creativity, experimentation and research, and committed to the development and delivery of a curriculum that embraces the great traditions of the past while pursuing a genuine currency for today. The environment of the Academy nurtures scholarship, research, discourse, and practiced discipline to foster the talents of contemporary artists, a place where students prepare to move on to what education is all about: preparing oneself to meet the challenges of building a career in the arts.

With a strong and proven tradition in figurative art, the Academy has a foundation for expanding its unique mission to embrace other art forms and disciplines, based upon the same commitment to skill and excellence, drawing upon classic traditions and aiming for contemporary interpretation.

Terrence Mann, Artistic Director

In a career spanning twenty-three years on Broadway, Terrence Mann has originated more leading roles on Broadway than any other actor of his generation. Mr. Mann is a graduate of North Carolina School of the Arts with a degree in Classical Theatre.

Broadway leading roles: Les Miserables (Tony nomination), The Rocky Horror Show, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Getting Away with Murder, A Christmas Carol, Beauty and the Beast (Tony nomination, Drama Desk, Outer Critic Circle nominations), Jerome Robbins’ Broadway, Cats, Rags, Barnum; Jekyll & Hyde (pre-Broadway)
Off-Broadway: The Guys, Promises, Promises (Encores!), Assassins
Film/TV: Critters, A Chorus Line, Law & Order, Mrs. Santa Claus, American Revolution, True Women, One Life To Live, As the World Turns
Artistic Director: North Carolina Theatre, The Lost Colony and The Carolina Arts Festival.
Original work: Romeo and Juliet, The Musical (Composer and Director)

The Actor as Artist

The actor, as artist, is unique. All true artists call upon the vast internal resources of their creativity; their mind, ideas, and opinions; their emotions; their physical skills, natural talent, and technical training; life experiences, both personal and observed, whether blissful, painful or ordinary, to create art-an offspring of themselves that resides outside themselves, a gift of inspiration and insight to their world. But while other artists labor to communicate through mediums that are outside themselves-on canvas, with clay, with words on paper or musical composition, the actor stands alone. The medium is nothing but himself. His own body, his voice, his movement is the art. He reaches into all of the internal resources described above and holds them within, molding and perfecting them into an internal image, a manuscript, a message. And when the art is communicated, it is the actor that the audience observes rather than a medium distinct from him. In that way, acting is an artistic possession, the actor possessed by the art and offering himself as a medium for expression.

As in visual rendition, where one may settle for copying skills rather than enter the labyrinth of creativity, actors may settle for less. They may settle for pretending or oratory. They may settle for simply mouthing another’s words just as a writer may settle for transcription and quotations. True actors feels the difference-a vast, disturbing difference-and cannot settle. They labor internally until the words of the script, the melody of the song, or the movements of the dance become their own; then, and only then, do they become art.

Classic Disciplines for Contemporary Actors embraces this aesthetic, difficult, and sometimes terrifying goal. The focus is on the actor as a whole person rather than a spokesperson. The internal process of creativity, critical thinking, and inspiration are equally important as the skills of performance. By honoring both the development of creative process and the development of interpretative skills, the New York Academy of Theatrical Art promises to lead the aspiring actor to greater depths of understanding and greater heights of ability.

Nancy Zahzam, Director
New York Academy of Theatrical Art