Sign up for TPP’s FREE Workshop on February 25th!
We at The Premiere Playhouse are thrilled to continue offering our community FREE workshops to help actors hone their technique in auditions for musical productions! Next up is a vocal and audition workshop geared toward Grease auditions. Check out the details on the workshop and instructors below, then register for the event here by Friday, February 17th at 12:00pm!
Vocal & Audition Workshop
- When: Saturday, Feb. 25th from 1:00pm to 5:00pm
- Where: TPP Rehearsal Warehouse | 812 N. Helen Ave.
- Who: Any person who would like to strengthen their vocal & auditioning skills and learn tips, tricks and methods from industry professionals.
- What: To provide individuals with tools and techniques to succeed in a musical theatre audition setting, with a specific focus on auditions for pop/rock musicals, such as Grease.
- Why: To help prepare the community for the initial audition process of musical theatre auditions!
- Cost: FREE
- How to Register: Registration opened Thursday, February 9th. Register [here] by Friday, February 17th at 12:00pm!
- Instructors: Matt Nesmith (TPP Board Member & Coordinator of BFA Musical Theatre at University of South Dakota), Matthew Walicke (TPP Music Director), Oliver Mayes (TPP Managing Artistic Director)
About the Instructors
Matt Nesmith
Matt Nesmith is an associate professor of theatre and Coordinator of the B.F.A. Musical Theatre program at the University of South Dakota, where he teaches singing in traditional musical theatre and pop/rock styles. Matt has performed in and directed traditional and pop/rock musicals at theatres across the country. Pop/rock stage & musical directing credits include Rock of Ages, All Shook Up, Spring Awakening, Jesus Christ Superstar, Next to Normal, and tick…tick…Boom!. Pop/Rock musical performance credits include Norbert in The Great American Trailer Park Musical, Adam/Noah in Children of Eden, Skip in Life Could Be a Dream, Man #2 in Smokey Joe’s Café, Frankie in Forever Plaid, and Caiaphas in Jesus Christ Superstar.
Matthew Walicke
Matthew Walicke has served as Music Director for 12 productions with The Premiere Playhouse. His recent theatrical credits include Young Frankenstein, Cabaret, Annie Jr., and A Christmas Carol, for which he also composed and produced the music. He has worked with Opera South Dakota, the SDSO, The Olde Towne Dinner Theatre, and has directed, composed, and produced music for Holiday Movies from Twas the Night Before with The Mighty Corson Art Players this past December. An active conductor, performer, and published composer, Matthew is in his 13th year as Director of Music at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church.
Oliver Mayes
Oliver is a theatre & media artist whose work has been showcased in several states throughout the U.S. With a background in acting, directing, producing, movement choreography, writing, and teaching, his credits span various mediums and genres. His acting roles have been primarily in pop/rock musicals, including Rent, American Idiot, Hair, Dogfight, and none other than Grease right in Times Square! Favorite pop/rock creative team credits include Mamma Mia! (director), Spring Awakening (choreographer), Zanna, Don’t! (director/choreographer), and The Sounds of the 60’s (creator/director/choreographer). He is co-founder of Coast to Coast Music Theatre Intensive where he taught various styles of musical theatre to high school students for three summers in Oregon. Oliver is the recipient of several honors, including the Kennedy Center’s 2020 Stage Directors & Choreographers Society Fellowship. He is a scholarship alumnus of the Kennedy Center Directing Intensive and an associate member of the Stage Directors & Choreographers Society, the national union for professional stage directors and choreographers. He holds an MFA in Theatre Directing from University of South Dakota and a BFA in Music Theatre from AMDA College of the Performing Arts.