Summer Pre-College Intensive * taught virtually
For rising high school freshmen to seniors
June 26th-30th, 10:00 am - 4:00 pm
Regular Price: $1395
Leap Into Your College Auditions Feeling Fearless
Are you serious about studying acting or musical theatre in college? That’s great -- you’re ahead of the pack. So…
Which school is right for you?
What song should you audition with?
Make sure you choose an appropriate monologue!
For highschool Freshman and Sophomores get a head start!
For highschool Juniors & Seniors start preparing!
And, how exactly are you supposed to stay cool through it all?
Our Summer Pre-College Intensive is offered to high school students who are serious about studying acting or musical theatre in college.
Our five-day intensive will prepare students with monologue and song selection and execution through exercises and technique, dance, and movement, preparing for interviews and pre-screens, college list building, choosing the right school for you in addition to learning about mental wellness, time management, and discipline.
BUT WHAT DO I GET?
5 Days of Virtual Training with separate breakout rooms for acting and musical theatre majors
Instruction by Denise Simon and her staff, plus master teachers from prestigious acting and musical theatre programs across the country, will give students the training and confidence they need to succeed in a rigorous college program while they make friends along the way.
The week will conclude with a mock audition where students will get feedback to help them in the audition process plus a Q & A that includes college faculty
Visiting guest artists in the past have included faculty from the University of Michigan, Texas State, Univ. Southern California, Ithaca, Syracuse, Shenandoah, Western Connecticut, Rutgers, Florida State, and Muhlenberg.
Why Sign up now? Very limited space - Sign up now to be guaranteed a spot
IF YOU SIGN UP by FEBRUARY 24
Early bird price of $1295
30-minute Private Coaching Session with Denise Simon so you can ask her things like “I got into college, now what?!” (valued at $125)
Copy of Denise’s brand-new Audition Journal so you can track all those college auditions (valued at $20)
Grant Kretchik, Pace
Grant Kretchik, Associate Professor created PPA’s BFA Acting program. Kretchik has appeared Off-Broadway as well as in film and television. His projects have premiered in festivals around the world including Cannes, Austin, Mumbai, Santa Fe, Boston LGBTQ, Honolulu, London. His latest project, America, which he executive produced, has been seen at Rosebud, Julien Dubuque and Women’s International Film and Arts Festival, Glendale Film Festival, Awareness Festival, Sapporo Film Festival (Japan) and The Moving Image where it received nominations as Best Narrative Short and Best Editing.
Christa Oliver, Dance Texas State
Christa Oliver is an educator, activist, dancer, choreographer, and an Assistant Professor of Practice in the Department of Theatre and Dance at Texas State University. She received a Professional Diploma in Dance Studies and a Master of the Arts degree in Dance Performance from Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance. She is also a 2019 and 2021 Mellon Fellow in the School of Theater and Performance Research at Harvard University.
Kenneth Noel Mitchell
Kenneth Noel Mitchell is a professor of theatre practice in musical theatre and director of musical theatre at the USC School of Dramatic Arts. Prior to that, he was the founding head of acting for the New Studio on Broadway and the associate chair at New York University. He served as the coordinator of acting at the University of Minnesota/Guthrie Theater BFA Professional Theatre Training Program. As an actor, he has appeared at The New York Shakespeare Festival, The Atlantic Theatre, The Performing Garage, The American Globe Theatre, The Dramatist Guild, Bristol Valley Theatre, American Stage the Greenbrier Valley Theater and Stageworks.
Mark Madama
Mark Madama has been at the University of Michigan since 2000, teaching musical theatre performance classes at levels from freshmen to senior; musical theatre history classes from the 1860s to the present; and directing numerous productions including Assassins, Rent, Big River, Guys and Dolls, Company, City of Angels, The Pajama Game, Nine, Ragtime, Into the Woods, Children of Eden, Good News!, The Full Monty and the Horton Foote play 1918. He has also worked on the yearly “Senior Showcase,” which is presented in Ann Arbor and New York.
Jean McDaniel Lickson
Jean McDaniel Lickson has performed with American Stage, the Asolo State Theatre, the New York Theatre Ensemble, Pennsylvania Centre Stage, the Illinois Shakespeare Festival, Showboat Theatre, Oklahoma Theatre Center, the Southern Shakespeare Festival, and Theatre Southeast. Jean‘s credits include The Seagull (Arcadina), Six Degrees of Separation (Ouisa), Desire Under the Elms (Abby), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Maggie), Proof (Claire), Steel Magnolias (M’lynn), A Coupla White Chicks Sittin’ Around Talkin’ (Hannah Mae), Little Foxes (Regina), Love Letters (Melissa), Crimes of the Heart (Meg), The Cherry Orchard (Madame Ranevskya), The Merry Wives of Windsor (Mistress Page), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Titania), A Streetcar Named Desire (Blanche), Macbeth (Lady Macbeth), Richard III (Anne), Candida (Candida), Loves and Hours (Sarah), Romeo and Juliet (Lady Capulet), Les Liasons Dangereuses (Merteuil), and Veronica Warner on NBC’s Law and Order.
Katilin Hopkins, Texas State
opkins is an entrepreneur, award-winning actress, director, producer, and educator. After 30 years performing in theatre, film, and television, in 2009 Hopkins created the BFA in Musical Theatre at Texas State University. In addition to heading the program at Texas State she is also the proud creator and CEO of Fontus Dry Mouth Lozenges, and the Co-Founder of Living Mental Wellness a holistic evidence-based company that offers online curriculum to enhance mental wellness through an integrated scientific life skills model. Her TEDx Talk on the importance of mental wellness education for performing artists has garnered international attention. She currently serves as an External Examiner for the Sharjah Performing Arts Academy in Dubai, on the Artistic Advisory Board for North Texas Performing Arts, and as Co-Artistic Director and founder of Nexus Musical Theatre Summer Intensive at Texas State. www.kaitlinhopkins.net
Krista Scott , TCU
Krista Scott is a certified Fitzmaurice Voicework instructor and an associate professor of voice, speech and acting. She served as the voice/text director for the Illinois Shakespeare Festival’s 2008, 2009 and 2013 seasons as well as Trinity Shakespeare Festival’s 2010 and 2011 seasons, and has also coached voices/dialects for the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, D.C., Shakespeare Dallas (where she has also conducted weekend intensive workshops, Dallas Theatre Center, Casa Mañana, Circle Theatre, Connecticut Repertory Theatre, Hangar Theatre, Kitchen Theatre, Merry-Go-Round Playhouse, and various universities in NY and PA. She is an associate editor for the International Dialects of English Archive (IDEA) website, and is a former a board member and treasurer of the Voice and Speech Trainers Association.
See what students are saying…
I didn’t realize I could learn so much in just five days. I learned many new techniques of acting and performing I am sure to use for endless opportunities in my future. It was an honor and an incredible experience to work with so many amazing professionals.
-Sydney Leary
I learned a lot from the pre-college program last summer! I felt nervous going into the program but by the end of the first day, the professors made me feel confident and made everyone more comfortable with the college audition process. By the end of the week, I learned a lot of valuable lessons, gained new audition materials, and developed a different mindset when it comes to the auditioning process. I would highly recommend this program for anyone planning to major in acting or musical theatre!
-Sofia Slaman
Denise’s Summer College Program taught me more in 4 days than I could have learned anywhere else in two weeks! The esteemed guest teachers are incredibly thoughtful and well-versed in the college audition process. I was also able to make lasting friendships over Zoom with the students there, all of whom I am still in contact with!
-Shivani Sahu
I loved the pre-college program because of the
opportunity to work closely with experienced college professionals,
and it gave me the confidence to nail my college auditions!
– AJ West Conn
Denise’s summer intensive offered an unparalleled experience to any other. The masterclass series consisted of diverse topics and pinpointed various elements of acting and college audition preparation. The opportunity to work with college professors also provided a glimpse of the college experience while preparing me with the perfect mindset to audition for college!
-Scott Weinstein USC
So grateful to have had Denise Simon’s coaching, guidance, and wisdom during my college audition process. She takes time to know her clients, and aids in finding the most fitting and unique material to them. She helped me enter the audition room with full confidence in my ability to produce a mastered monologue. I am honored to say that, with Denise’s help, I will be attending one of the top music theatre programs in the country at Texas State University.
-Brooke Cox
