Acting the Song |
Ages 18+Led by actor and USC musical theater professor Jenni Barber (Playhouse’s Sunday in the Park with George, Broadway’s Beetlejuice), Acting the Song is a class for experienced beginners ready to take the next step in embodied singing and musical storytelling. Through physical and vocal warm-ups, ensemble-building exercises, and personal song exploration, students will deepen their connection to music and performance in a supportive, community-driven space. We’ll work from the ground up; starting with songs you love, learning a group piece, and eventually building the tools to interpret and perform solo material with authenticity and confidence. This class is a joyful, low-pressure stepping stone toward fully “acting the song”…and loving every step of the journey.
PLEASE NOTE: We have a limited number of partial scholarships available on a rolling basis. If you are interested in a scholarship, please apply using the link below.
Faculty
Jenni Barber (Teaching Artist)
Jenni has starred on Broadway in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, The Performers, The Nance, Annie, Sunday In The Park With George, All My Sons, Beetlejuice, and as Glinda in Wicked.
Her other theatrical credits include the Signature Theatre revival of Lynn Nottage’s By The Way, Meet Vera Stark, As You Like It and The Tempest for The Bridge Project directed by Sam Mendes, From Up Here at Manhattan Theatre Club, Paint Your Wagon, A New Brain, and Urinetown at NY City Center Encores, and Sunday In The Park With George at the Huntington Theatre, winning the 2017 Elliot Norton Theatre Award for portraying Dot/Marie.
Television credits include Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Master of None, Elementary, Smash, Law & Order: SVU, The 68th Annual Tony Awards (‘For Good’ – Glinda, Wicked 10th Anniversary Performance), Live from Lincoln Center (The Nance) and as Lisa Heffenbacher in the Emmy Award-winning The Electric Company.
Jenni has recorded several audiobook titles for Simon & Schuster, including tween favorite The Dork Diaries Series. She can be heard on the 2015 Original Cast Recordings of A New Brain and Paint Your Wagon, as well as the 2017 Broadway Cast Recording of Sunday In The Park With George.
Jenni has been a guest lecturer, director and choreographer for educational institutions including University of Southern California, Ohana Arts in partnership with the University of Hawaii at Manoa Department of Theatre and Dance, NYU Tisch, The University of Michigan, TUTS in Houston, TX, and the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, DC. She has been a solo performance coach for the National High School Music Theatre Awards (aka “The Jimmy’s”) and currently serves as a theatre panelist for the The National Foundation for the Advancement of Artists/Youngarts. Jenni is a proud graduate of the University of Michigan BFA Musical Theatre Department.
Sessions
