Workshops
Hone your skills or learn something new!
We offer workshops in acting, directing, improv and other stagecraft throughout the year.
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Note: If registering through PayPal isn't your thing, you can always pay at the first class. However, you do need to contact us to sign up in advance, so we can manage the numbers. Thanks!
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Discovering Yourself and Your Character with Breathwork
with Brian Frishman
Saturdays, March 15, 22, 29 & April 5, 12, 19, 2025
10 am to 1 pm (final session: 10 am to 2 pm)
In this workshop, actors will deepen their understanding of themselves, increase vulnerability, build inner strength, and improve their ability for more mindful and powerful emotional expression in both life and character development.
All students for this workshop must have some classroom or acting experience, and be considered an intermediate actor or more with experience in character development. You do not need to have been in a play but must have done scene work and character development. All actors must be over 18 years old.
The course is based on the acting, directing, teaching, and breathwork the instructor has done for 47 years. There will be a non-mandatory 45 minute Zoom Course Information Session for prospective students 2-3 weeks before the workshop begins. There may be a recording that people who can’t attend can watch. Visit Brian's website nurturingbreathwork.com to read more about breathwork.
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Maximum of 10 participants.
Cost: $250
Two half-scholarships are available. Contact Brian if cost is an issue for you.
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For more information,contact: nurturingbreathwork@gmail.com
Brian Frishman, MFA, has 47 years experience in acting as a stage actor and for film and television, and as a director, teacher, and acting coach. He’s been the founding artistic director for both a for-profit theater and a youth conservatory.
He has taught privately and in community colleges and independent schools. He earned his MFA in theatre directing from the UCLA Theatre Film and Television department. In the 1980s, he began using breathwork as an actor, acting coach, and director for developing characters. Over the last several decades, he has taught these techniques to professional actors, college and high school acting students, and theatre companies.
"The visual vocabulary Mr. Frishman developed with his actors was in itself beautiful to watch and fit perfectly every moment of the action of the play. What he did with movement, he did with voice as well."
—Leon Katz
Professor Emeritus Yale University
Pre-pay to ensure your spot!
The Voice of Your Life: Wellness, Ease, Strength, and Integrity
with Joanna Cazden
Mondays, April 28 & May 5, 12 & 19, 2025
6:30 pm to 8:30 pm
Renew your expressive voice through solo and group exercises, health tips, and explorations of your vocal biography. Through these four evening sessions you’ll expand your repertoire of warmups and understand why they work; rediscover the fundamentals of technique and vocal wellness; and appreciate your personal voice as a multi-dimensional channel for art and life.
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Cost: $75
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Sign up HERE.
For more information, visit: www.joannacazden.com.
"Having enrolled in the class I'm more enlightened about the anatomy and function of the human voice. I am also equipped with many exercises to maintain my vocal character."
—Vincent Meade
Voice of Your Life workshop
"Through a blend of engaging conversations, clinical and scientific information, group and individual activities, I learned more about making friends with my voice—caring, exercising and trusting its natural state. I gained practical and practicable skills. I recommend this class highly."
—Carol Geortner
Voice of Your Life workshop
Joanna Cazden, MFA, MS-CCC, is a voice specialist who has taught at CalArts, American Academy
of Dramatic Art, several CSU campuses, and teacher-training programs across the US and UK.
She is certified in Fitzmaurice Voicework and Performing Arts Medicine; and has trained with Catherine Fitzmaurice, Fran Bennett, Paul Blake, and the RSC’s Robert Lloyd. From 2001-2020, she was senior voice therapist at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center’s Voice Clinic, Los Angeles, treating injured actors and singers. Her book “Everyday Voice Care: The Lifestyle Guide” (Hal Leonard) is in wide use in arts conservatories; other publication topics include the vocal risks faced by actors in videogames and the neuroscience of vocal emotion. Also a singer-songwriter with six solo albums to her credit, Joanna is known for voice work that is holistic, practical, cross-disciplinary, and well-informed. She has resided in Santa Cruz since 2022 and has offered workshops for the Santa Cruz Jazz Society and several choral groups.
Also Coming in Spring 2025...
Workshop for Directors
​with Bill Peters
Bill Peters is a professor emeritus at San Francisco State University where he taught playwriting, acting, directing and Shakespeare performance for many years.
​His directing credits include projects at the Manhattan Theatre Club, The Denver Center, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Jewel Theater in Santa Cruz, and the Magic Theatre in San Francisco. He has directed many times for Actors' Theatre's 8 Tens @ 8 Festival.