HOMECOMING Alumni Workshops and Presentations

October
5-10, 2012

The Department of Theater and Dance is offering
workshops and special classroom presentations by alumni who are returning to
campus for Homecoming 2012.  Kyle and
Jessica Payne (’03), and Phil Chavira (’06) will present on various topics of
preparing for “life after IUP.”  Also,
special guest Phil Keeling (’05) is performing his stand-up comedy act at the
Kovalchik Center on Friday, October 5 at 8:00pm. (See their bios at the end of
this document).  These presenters will
also be available for one-on-one
discussions
or coaching.


Leveraging Your
Unique Abilities
,

Phillip
Chavira (’06)

Saturday, October 6th, 2:00-5:00, Waller Hall, Studio
Theater

·        
What to do in your last year to prepare for the transition.

·        
What to do initially in NYC or any Metro area to get your career
started.

·        
How to network in social settings.

 

Lessons for
Actors and The Rest of Us
,

Kyle
Payne (’03)

Sunday, October 7th, 7:30pm-9:30pm,  Waller Hall, Studio Theater

1.
Resources actors need to succeed:
        the job-job
        moving into a city and setting
up shop/networking
        dos and don’ts about resumes,
headshots and agents
        what you need to find out about
being a business as well as an actor.

2. The New York market (with ancillary tales of secondary cities)
        what to expect and how to
become a beginning actor
        approaching the mass audition
        allied options, touring, youth
theater and being a teaching artist

Personal
Presentation: Using your body and voice on purpose to put your best foot
forward
,

Jessica Payne (Theater ’03, music minor)

Tuesday, October 9th, 7:00-8:30, Great
Hall, Whitmyre (Honors College)

Master
the initial impression that you are making. 
Are your body and voice communicating what you would like them to or are
they belying underlying tension or self-judgment?     Examine and improve the art of personal
presentation.

Body language

·        
Communicates level of confidence, mood,
interest, relationship and status

·        
Control body shape, gestures, movement
speed, fluidity

Voice

·        
Communicates knowledge and education,
confidence, mood, personality

·        
Control volume, pitch, resonance, speed,
articulation

Establishing relationship

·        
Being in the moment-Speaking and Listening

·        
Empathizing (mirror neutrons)

·        
Finding connections, conversation topics

Introducing yourself-the Elevator Pitch

·        
What’s your story?  Who are you, what do you want?

·        
What side of your personality do you want
to get across?

o  
3 adjectives i.e. (kind, funny,
intelligent) or (decisive, professional, creative)

·        
Focus on specialties: what makes you different,
your particular enthusiasm

 

 

Classroom
Presentations for THTR 480 Theater Seminar (drop-ins welcome)

What
I Wish I Knew When I Graduated,
Phil Chavira (’06),
Monday, October 8th, 1:25-2:15, Waller Classroom B-12

The
Path to Becoming a Teaching Artist
, Kyle Payne (’03)
Wednesday, October 10th, 1:25-2:15, Waller Classroom B-12

Presenter Bios

Phillip Chavira

Phillip is
currently the General Management intern at Davenport Theatrical Enterprises (Godspell,
Chinglish, Speed-the-Plow, You’re Welcome America)
. He is an MBA candidate
and the Vice President of Communications for the Black and Hispanic MBA
Association at Fordham University Business School. He is studying management
and finance, concentrating on marketing and public relations. Phillip is currently
the Company Manager for UnsungMusicalsCo’s At Home Abroad, starring
Bruce Vilanch, and worked with UMC on Make Mine Manhattan, Nothing is
Forever,
and Gatsby staring Matt Cavenaugh. Phillip has worked with
Identity Theater Company to produce reading series and children’s theater tours
in NYC. He recently worked with writer June Rachelson-Ospa and composer Daniel
Neiden on Welcome to Tourettaville, originally produced by Rachelson-Ospa
at the Kennedy Center in D.C. Phillip worked with Identity to also produce Cinderella-an
adaptation,
touring the New York City area, and is Identity’s Resident
Company Manager. Other theater credits include Production Assistant and House
Manager with Soho Rep (Elective Affinities with Zoe Caldwell, Born
Bad
), and Resident Stage Manager with Nico’s Spoon Theater for two seasons.
Phillip was Program Director and Musical Director for four seasons at Kamp
Kaleidoscope at LimeLight Productions, Inc in Arizona. Phillip is proudly an
IUP CFA Graduate, ’04.

 

Kyle
Payne

Kyle Payne has been acting in New York,
the San Francisco Bay Area, and on national and international tours for about
six years. He has performed in China, Russia and England.  Recently, he
played in two off-off Broadway shows and originated the role of Arnold in
The Magic School Bus: Climate Challenge for a Bay Area run
and seven month national tour.  In the fall, Kyle will head back on the
road with the Omaha Theatre Company. Kyle has a reputation as a gifted physical
comedian. In roles like Jerry in The Full
Monty
, Kyle in The Complete Works of
William Shakespeare Abridged
, and Pharaoh in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Kyle combines the
precise technical demands of comedy with the infectious joy of performance.
 When not acting, Kyle is usually teaching acting, comedy, stage combat,
singing, or circus skills to students from pre-K through college.  Kyle
received an MFA in Acting in 2006 from the University of North Carolina at
Greensboro, and a BA in Theatre with a minor in Spanish from the Robert E. Cook
Honors College of Indiana University of Pennsylvania. His mother, Nancy, still
lives in Jackson Heights NY, and his younger brother Rory works in education in
New Orleans. Kyle is married to his lovely wife, Jessica Payne.
 www.kylepayne.com

 

Jessica Payne

Jessica is a working actress playing
professionally in musicals in San Francisco, New York and on national and
international tours.   She is currently filming the TV Pilot for Hip
Hop High. 
Most recently, she originated the role of Ms. Frizzle on
the national tour of the Magic School Bus: Climate Challenge.  In
the SF Bay area, she has been seen in The Great American Trailer Park
Musical
at the Willows, 42nd Street Moon’s Girl Crazy and the
SF premieres of Chaos Rules, SF Follies, and Oh My Godmother!.
 Jessica and her handsome actor-husband Kyle toured the West Coast and
China with the California Theatre Center.  As a teacher, Jessica has
taught academic and performance classes at the university level, been a private
voice coach, music director, fight choreographer, and acting instructor to
students of all ages.  Jessica has also worked at a variety of businesses
(Fortune 1000 tech, SF Bay start ups, government, and NGOs) and is regularly
complimented on her ability to use an actor’s skills  to immediately
integrate into a new business culture.  Jessica attended the Robert E.
Cook Honors College at IUP and received her BA in Theater with a minor in
Music, and, and has her MFA in Acting from Western Illinois University.   Check
her out online at
www.iamjessicapayne.com.

 

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