CORNISH. THEATER

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EMAIL: admission@cornish.edu

PHONE: 206.726.5016 or 800.726.ARTS

FAX: 206.720.1011

MAIL: 1000 Lenora St., Seattle WA 98121

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EQUAL OPPORTUNITY Cornish College of the Arts does not discriminate in education or employ ment on the basis of: gender, race, national origin, religion, age, marital status, sexual orientation, disability or veteran status. This policy is consistent with relevant federal regulations and statutes, including those pursuant to Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act. Questions regarding the application of this policy and information on services for disabled persons may be referred to the Dean of Student Affairs or the Director of Human Resources.

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Cornish College of the Arts is one of only

three private arts colleges in the United States

that offer degrees in the performing and

visual arts. As a student at Cornish, you will

be exposed to and inspired by a myriad of

other artists—instructors, working profes-

sionals and students alike—representing a

full spectrum of artistic endeavors in dance,

music, theater, design and art. And every

day you’ll be working to develop yourself as

a creative individual and a dynamic

contributing member of your ensemble within

the Cornish mission, growing as an “artist,

citizen and innovator.”

WHY CHOOSE CORNISH?

When you select Cornish, you select its

illustrious history, intimate size, excellent

reputation and long tradition of educating

emerging artists. At Cornish, you will earn a

college education — a Bachelor of Fine Arts,

or BFA — recognized as the best preparation

for a career in the arts. Located in a dynamic,

evolving urban environment in walking

distance of all Seattle’s major theatres and

cultural institutions, Cornish is truly at “the

heart of the arts” in the Pacific Northwest.

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Our mission is to help you develop your own

creative voice within the broad and embracing

art form that is theater and to actively connect

your work with the world around you. You will

gain a solid grounding in essential techniques

of theater performance while developing your

expressive abilities and your capability to

work effectively in a group. These foundational

skills remain with you, applying themselves

in countless ways, for the rest of your profes-

sional life. With a clear understanding of your

own artistic goals and a creative toolbox full

of new and useful skills, you can proudly

share your inspiration with your community.

THEATER AT CORNISH

The department provides a safe learning

environment where you can grow and chal-

lenge yourself, both as a human being and

as a theater artist. You, your peers and your

instructors focus on supporting each other

as individuals and as an ensemble. Our

students “live in the hyphen” actor-director-

writer, actor-singer-dancer, and combinations

we are only beginning to imagine.

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At Cornish you will connect to a community

of students committed to becoming practicing

artists in the theater and a faculty committed

to facilitating your artistic development. The

Cornish Theater Department offers you a

comprehensive curriculum through which

you build the physical, vocal, intellectual and

imaginative skills to make a life for yourself

as a theater artist. You put those skills to the

test in a wide variety of performance

opportunities including productions of

classical and contemporary plays, ensemble-

generated productions, and a large number

of new plays written by student authors.

“I LEARNED WHO I WAS AS AN ARTIST AT CORNISH. SO

MUCH OF ONE’S EDUCATION IS BASED ON FELLOW STU-

DENTS AND I WAS CONSTANTLY IMPRESSED AND IN-

SPIRED BY MY CLASSMATES, BY THEIR AMBITION, SHEER

TALENT AND WILLINGNESS TO FAIL. WE SHARE A COMMON

VOCABULARY THAT HAS ONLY STRENGTHENED OVER TIME.”

— MARGOT BORDELON, TH ’02

THEATER CURRICULUM

Theater students take a two-year sequence

of foundational classes in the fundamentals

of performance technique which also ground

you in an understanding of the historical

roots of the art form and its literature. At the

same time, you investigate methods for

generating both ensemble and solo original

performance. As the program progresses

and you develop a greater sense of your own

mission as an artist, you will take more

specialized courses in your areas of interest.

FOUNDATIONS

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THEATER CONCENTRATIONS

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In the third year, Acting students engage in

intensive study of classical theater styles,

from the Greeks to Shakespeare and other

Elizabethan and Jacobean playwrights. You

learn the technical skills necessary to bring

heightened and poetic language to life on

stage, while imbuing your character portrayals

with a sense of dramatic authenticity. In the

spring semester you advance your study of

heightened text, physical/verbal specificity,

and historical circumstances with work on

Restoration playwrights, and plays by

Chekhov and Ibsen to explore creating a

greater sense of internal truth. Acting majors

also do on-camera projects each semester.

In the senior year, acting students delve

deeper into subtext, ambiguity, and mystery

through the work of Beckett, Pinter, and a

range of contemporary playwrights. You will

also explore how to launch your career, while

developing useful skills such as stage

combat, audition techniques for stage and

camera, dialects, voiceover, and developing

your business plan.

This is designed for artists whose goals

include performing in musical theater, to

facilitate your development as a performer

with range. You supplement your core acting

skills courses with classes in singing, dance,

and musical theater. You also study music

theory, including the basics of ear training,

sight reading and singing, rhythm and harmony.

This culminates in a musical capstone as

part of the sophomore ensemble project.

Juniors and seniors participate in classes in

musical theater performance and audition

techniques, dance styles, and perform in

productions of both original and established

musical theater works, including a cabaret.

You also continue with private voice lessons.

MUSICAL THEATER ORIGINAL WORKS

Original Works is designed for artists whose

goals might include directing, playwriting,

solo performance, ensemble devising or

working on the artistic staff of a theater. After

successful completion of an audition at the

start of the junior year, you explore a wide

variety of generative methods, including

playwriting, directing, personal clown, solo

performance, burlesque and other physical/

improvisational approaches, as well as

self-producing and dramaturgy. OW students

produce an annual ten-minute play festival

and participate in the Winter New Works

Festival, as well writing and directing their

senior thesis projects.

“CORNISH BREEDS FEARLESS STUDENTS.”

— RICHARD GRAY, DIRECTOR

THEATER FACULTY

Both in the classroom and onstage, you

will work with and learn from a faculty of

accomplished artists, including:

MARYA SEA KAMINSKI

(Acting/Improvisation) A performer, director,

and writer, Marya’s recent credits include

leading roles in Clybourne Park at Seattle

Repertory Theatre and Other Desert Cities

at ACT Theatre. She received the 2010

Theater Genius Award from Seattle’s weekly

The Stranger.

KATE MYRE

(Voice and Speech, Voiceover) works regularly

as a voiceover artist in local and national

commercials and as a dialect coach, most

recently on the Village Theatre productions

of Fiddler on the Roof and Chicago.

TIMOTHY MCCUEN PIGGEE

(Text Analysis/Music Theater) has performed

major roles at all Seattle Equity theatres as

well as the Denver Center, Milwaukee Rep,

and Arizona Theatre Company. In 2011 he

appeared in the Broadway production of

Catch Me If You Can.

ROBIN LYNN SMITH

(Acting) has worked for more than 20 years

as an actor, director and teacher in Chicago,

Boston, New York and Seattle. She co-founded

Freehold Theatre and directs the Engaged

Theatre Project, which tours to prisons and

other underserved populations.

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THEATER VISITING ARTISTS

Your classes are enhanced by lectures

and workshops with exciting visiting artists

such as:

Tony Award-winning actor, MacArthur Fellow,

and star of stage and screen, BILL IRWIN.

Emmy Award-winning performer and

recording artist LIZ CALLAWAY

Tony Award-winning performer

CHUCK COOPER

Tony Award-winning performer

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Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winner writer

BRIAN YORKEY

Playwright OCTAVIO SOLIS

Stars of the touring production of The

Addams Family, Tony nominee DOUGLAS

SILLS and SARA GETTELFINGER.

LAUNCHING YOUR CAREER

In your senior year, following intensive pre-

paration, you audition for local and national

theater internships. Internships allow you to

experience all facets of the theater, not just

performance. Recent Cornish seniors and

graduates have earned internships at ACT

Theatre, Seattle Children’s Theatre,

Milwaukee Rep, and Shakespeare Santa Cruz.

Cornish connects you not just to the art form

but with the practice of it in one of the

country’s most vibrant artistic communities.

Some Cornish alumni choose to continue

their studies in graduate programs, such as

Yale, Harvard/American Repertory Theatre,

and Northwestern University.

INTERNSHIPS GRADUATE SCHOOLS

“CORNISH TAUGHT ME HOW TO BE MYSELF, ONSTAGE AND

IN LIFE, BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY, HOW TO PRESENT

MYSELF — HOW I WANT TO SEE MYSELF AND BE SEEN BY

OTHERS — AND BEFORE EVERY AUDITION, EVERY REHEARSAL,

EVERY PERFORMANCE”

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Cornish provides you with a strong and

transferrable skill set based in the ability to

express yourself and work with people to

achieve extraordinary goals. You become part

of an exciting network of practicing artists

through the professionally active faculty and

the guest artists brought in to teach and direct.

Casting directors for theater and film/TV

know they will be working with accomplished

performers with an amazing work ethic when

they hire Cornish graduates. In the past year,

Cornish alumni have appeared at every major

theater in Seattle, as well as creating their

own productions, and touring and performing

as far as Brazil, Australia and Germany.

Cornish alumni also work in the theater in

Chicago, New York and Los Angeles, as well

as on film and television, both in front of and

behind the camera.

A Cornish Theater education has also proved

to be a valuable jumping-off point for alumni

with fulfilling careers as lawyers, urban

planners, counselors, therapists and teachers,

among many other fields.

EMPLOYERS

PEOPLE | RAMIZ MONSEF

“Cornish has some of the best teachers I have

ever or will ever have in my life. I continue to

learn from them, and I feel so lucky that I got

to learn from them, and only wish I could do

it all again so I can soak up more. Cornish

makes fearless, individual artists. That’s no

small feat in this world. I didn’t come out of

there feeling like I fit some kind of mold. I came

out feeling like I knew myself, and what I was

meant to become. I came out there knowing

I was good at what I did, and I was ready to

take on the professional world. And I did.”

— RAMIZ MONSEF, TH ’02

Ramiz Monsef is a Grammy-nominated actor

in the acting company at The Oregon

Shakespeare Festival. The Unfortunates, a

blues musical, written and performed by

Ramiz and his hip-hop group, 3BlindMice,

received rave reviews in OSF’s 2013 season.

In addition to his five seasons with OSF, he

has performed at Second Stage Theatre,

New York Theatre Workshop and the Culture

Project in New York and regionally at Actors

Theatre of Louisville, Berkeley Repertory

Theatre, The Humana Festival of New American

Plays, Steppenwolf Theatre, Seattle Repertory

Theatre, The Studio Theatre and Yale Repertory

Theatre. His film and TV credits include Law

& Order and The Watchlist (Comedy Central).

HUMANITIES & SCIENCES LIBERAL STUDIES LEARNING AND THE BFA DEGREE

An essential component of your BFA degree

includes the courses you will take outside of

your major in the Humanities and Sciences

Department. As the general education division

of the College, we provide a liberal studies

curriculum that engages Cornish students in

an exploration of the social, environmental

and cultural contexts in which artistic

production takes place, while developing

critical thinking, problem-solving and com-

munication skills. The curriculum helps you

consider multiple perspectives when looking

at complex problems and issues, drawing

on a variety of ways to understand the world

and our human experience.

Our curriculum is constantly changing and

inquiry based. It is intended to engage you in

active analysis and problem-solving in relation

to thematic issues that may have a long-

standing history, but that continue to challenge

contemporary societies and individuals, both

locally and globally. Classes are limited in size

and conducted “seminar style.” Students at

Cornish are not passive learners; they

contribute to and help shape the experience

in their classes. Many classes go into the

community, exploring the urban and natural

environment, doing field observations and

visiting local organizations and the people

involved in them.

Both in and out of the classroom, instructors

in Humanities and Sciences help you acquire

the kind of confidence and competence that

will serve you well both during and after college,

in your personal and professional lives. In the

end, our aim in Humanities and Sciences is

to inspire the curiosity and habits necessary

for life-long learning and development.