Acting Conservatory
Acting Conservatory (Grades 9 to 12)
The Acting Conservatory is a multi-year program for high school students who have a serious desire to pursue in-depth training in acting. The goal of the program is to provide students with the professional acting training, resume experience, and audition preparation needed to pursue a life in the theatre.
Auditions
Auditions will be at our North Campus on Saturday, July 27 from 2-6 pm. If you can’t be at live auditions, you can make a video submission.
Any Questions? Please email ssmith@zachtheatre.org
Year 1
- Fundamentals of Acting Technique: Character Development, Relationship, Objectives, Tactics, Movement, Voice and Diction
- 2nd semester students utilize the techniques developed in the 1st semester in a performance opportunity that is based in ensemble work
Year 2 & 3
- Continued training in Acting Technique: Advanced Level Character Development, Listening/Response, Utilization of Objectives in Scene Work and Application of Tactics
- In addition to the above, students will also train in Classical Theatre Techniques through the study of Shakespeare.
- 2nd semester students utilize the techniques developed in the 1st semester in a classic theatre performance opportunity one year, then the alternating year students will create a devised theatre performance.
Year 4
- College Coaching: Including Application, Resume, and Headshot Guidance and Support
- Prescreen Filming
- Audition Technique Training: Monologues, Cold Reading, and Ensemble
- Mock Auditions
- Prep and travel to Unified Auditions in Houston and Chicago
Have questions about the Acting Conservatory? You’ve come to the right place. Click on the questions below for the answers you seek.
The annual cost of tuition is $1,600. We have monthly payment plans available with no interest or extra fees included. The monthly payment plan comes out to $178 per month.
Yes! The Performing Arts School and the Acting Conservatory made a promise to the Austin and Central Texas community that we would not turn any student or family away on the basis of their ability to pay for the program. You do not have to apply for a scholarship before you audition.
Included in your tuition is 24 weeks of a 3 hour advanced level acting class, 2 to 3 Master Classes taught by industry professionals, one performance opportunity, and one-on-one college and career counseling.
Yes! The location of the ZACH North Campus is 14010 US-183 Suite 540, Cedar Park, TX 78613.
Times are subject to change but all classes currently take place on Sunday from 4-8 p.m. so as to not conflict with school plays or rehearsals.
We take anywhere from 8 to 12 students in each section (Year 1, Year 2, etc.)
Yes, if space is available, we take students each year.
Master Classes are 3 to 4 hour long classes in a particular area of study related to the work we are doing in class taught by a special guest artist. In the past we have had Master Classes in stage combat, puppetry, the business of acting, talk backs with ZACH mainstage actors and directors, auditioning, gesture work, clowning, Laban technique, and many, many more. Guest artists have included, Nick Stephenson (Orange is the New Black), Holland Taylor (Legally Blonde, Two and a Half Men), Colum Morgan (London International School of Performing Arts), and Karen Kohlhaas (Broadway Director and NYU professor).
-The Curriculum: There has been a great deal of attention and detail given to the curriculum in the Acting Conservatory. Each class is designed to build on the last, this direct feed into the next class leads to more direct and intentional growth as an actor.
-Levels: The Conservatory carefully places its students into classes where all students are at the same age, knowledge, and skill level.
-College/Professional Audition Preparation: We begin this work in your freshman year of the Conservatory in order to give our students the competitive edge in the audition room. The college/professional audition process can be confusing, crippling and riddled with self doubt. We believe that training steadily throughout a student’s four years of high school will prepare them to handle the audition process with greater success.
Devised Theatre is a method of theatre-making where an ensemble of actors create a new work of theatre through writing and improvisation. In the Acting Conservatory, we believe that the future of live theatre lives in the performers ability to write and perform their own art. Just look at the examples of Lin Manuel Miranda, Rachel Bloom, Issa Rae, Tina Fey, and Tyler Perry. All artists who became famous in part because of their ability to write their own work. In order to prepare our students for the ever growing and changing theatre world, all Year 2 students will create a brand new piece of theatre through writing, digital media, and performance–otherwise known as devised theatre. The show is done in partnership with SAFE Alliance and will be professionally designed and directed, but written and performed by the students.