With all that’s going on in the world, lots of organizations and businesses in Shreveport-Bossier—and everywhere else, for that matter—have been forced to get creative and re-imagine the way that they do things. For Shreveport Little Theatre, one of America’s longest-running community theatres, the ongoing COVID-19 restrictions on in-person events like live theatrical performances have pushed them to try something they’ve always wanted to try: virtual acting classes for adults.
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The classes will be taught via Zoom by Dr. Ray Scott Crawford, dean of communications and performing arts at Bossier Parish Community College. Typically, Dr. Crawford spends summers as artistic director of the Canterbury Summer Theatre in Michigan City, IN, where he has produced more than 175 musicals and comedies in 35 years. However, due to the cancellation of summer events, Dr. Crawford found himself with unexpected availability this summer.
The classes will be held on Saturdays, 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m., July 11 through Aug. 15. There will be a final performance on Aug. 22. Cost for the entire series of classes is $125, and anyone interested may register here.
“So many community actors have expressed an interest in working with Ray Scott, so I asked if he’d be interested in offering an adult acting class via Zoom, and he was,” said Laura Beeman Nugent, artistic director of Shreveport Little Theatre Academy. “He’s got his whole class mapped out with exercises, monologues, musical theatre pieces, and on-camera work.”
The cost to attend averages out to something like $15 per class, which is incredible.
“We’re not trying to make a ton of money, we want to offer quality training that anyone can afford,” Beeman Nugent said.
Beeman Nugent stressed that these classes are for any adult who is interested in acting. Attendees do not have to be established members of Shreveport-Bossier’s community theatre scene. She imagines that, for lots of folks, taking the first step and learning to perform in the presence of strangers is challenging.
“Some people are intimidated by being raw and vulnerable with other people in the room, so this could be a great opportunity for people like that to dip their toes in the water of acting,” she said.
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