"In my classes I emphasize that performing is an offering of the heart. Most importantly, how do we touch people? How do we move them? How do we remind the community of our humanity through the interplay of music, lyrics, and ideas? And, since it is such a physical effort, how do we keep our health and well being as part of our practice? I aim at creating conditions in class for self-discovery."
"I teach in both the Liberal Arts Department and Voice Department. My classes include Advanced Production, Theater Workshop, Scene Study, and Effective Communications. I've also initiated an auditioning course for the professional vocalist. Today, the professional vocalist needs a digital calling card as well as a hard copy photo and resumé, 16-bar audition materials, and recordings. A lot of singers are discovered through demo recordings for songwriters."
"There's a real interest in musical theater at Berklee. I don't think there's any other college that has nearly 1,000 vocal majors. Under the initiative of Camille Colatosti, support to provide students with more opportunities to perform in a theatrical setting became a priority. We have established a musical theater minor in the Liberal Arts Department. The student-run Musical Theater Club boasts more than 400 members, and the Liberal Arts Department supports more than six productions a year."
"Theater is about ideas as well as entertainment, and it is a highly collaborative art form. Terri Lyne Carrington from the Ensemble Department and Amy Merrill and I from Liberal Arts collaborate on an original musical theater piece once a year. Students write and perform a show based on a musical icon. In the past few years we've mounted shows based on the life and music of Billie Holiday, Michael Jackson, and B.B. King. This year we've chosen prolific singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell. In the Voice Department, Sharon Brown is leading the musical theater initiative, and she directs two shows a year with Peter Cokkinias of the Ensemble Department. One is a revue, and one is a full-fledged Broadway play. This year's selections include a Tony Award-winning song revue and the musical Chicago. Michael Wartofsky, who teaches musical theater composition, also mounts two original musical theater student productions, titled Curtain Up.
