Instructor: Shelly Isaacs, M.A. Biopics have always been a staple of world cinema. How cinema represents history and "real lives" has become more and more an ongoing debate. While some biopics are grounded in historical convention and the genre's defining traits, others represent the potential for innovation in their storytelling. In this session, we will …
Continue reading S144A – Reel Imagined Lives

Instructor: Tom Neile Most people think Improv is either standup comedy or "Whose Line Is It Anyway." True improv is much more than that. True improvisers create great scenes spontaneously. You don't have to be funny, clever, or even outgoing. All you need to be is human. In this series, you'll learn a few simple, basic …
Continue reading SGD263 – Improv Acting: Everyone Can Create a Scene

Instructor: Cora Bresciano, MFA Any enthusiastic reader can affirm that myths created thousands of years ago continue to reappear in literature and film today. Why do we keep writing—and reading—these ancient tales? What can they tell us about ourselves and our place in this awesome, confusing world? This series will explore various stories, novels, and …
Continue reading S343A – Deathless Stories: How Ancient Myths Live On 

Instructor: Mark C. Gridley, Ph.D. The eminent jazz historian Mark Gridley will highlight four different jazz styles that were introduced by trumpeter Miles Davis, the most important bandleader of the past sixty years. The course will be organized according to the composer-arrangers he hired: Gil Evans, Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, and Joe Zawinul. …
Continue reading S443AD – Celebrating the Best Miles Davis Recordings of the 1950s and 1960s

Instructor: Kurt F. Stone, D.D.According to Hollywood myth, a few moments before John Barrymore died, his brother Lionel asked him, "Jack: is dying difficult?" Brother John's response? "Dying is easy, Lionel; it's comedy that's difficult." Although the story is likely apocryphal, it nonetheless is true: making great comedy is terribly difficult. Perhaps that is why …
Continue reading S484 – Great Comedy is Serious Stuff: Eight Truly Fun Films

Instructor: Giuseppe Albanese Franco Zeffirelli not only excelled at the live production of operas, he was also equally adept at the art of motion picture direction. This love of opera and motion pictures resulted in two of opera's most stunning motion picture adaptations in cinematic history. Verdi supplied the inspiration when Zeffirelli turned to movie …
Continue reading S542A – A Tribute to Franco Zeffirelli, Part 2: The Opera Movies

Instructor: Shelly Isaacs, M.A. Biopics have always been a staple of world cinema. How cinema represents history and "real lives" has become more and more an ongoing debate. While some biopics are grounded in historical convention and the genre's defining traits, others represent the potential for innovation in their storytelling. In this session, we will …
Continue reading S144A – Reel Imagined Lives

Instructor: Tom Neile Most people think Improv is either standup comedy or "Whose Line Is It Anyway." True improv is much more than that. True improvisers create great scenes spontaneously. You don't have to be funny, clever, or even outgoing. All you need to be is human. In this series, you'll learn a few simple, basic …
Continue reading SGD263 – Improv Acting: Everyone Can Create a Scene

Instructor: Kurt F. Stone, D.D.According to Hollywood myth, a few moments before John Barrymore died, his brother Lionel asked him, "Jack: is dying difficult?" Brother John's response? "Dying is easy, Lionel; it's comedy that's difficult." Although the story is likely apocryphal, it nonetheless is true: making great comedy is terribly difficult. Perhaps that is why …
Continue reading S484 – Great Comedy is Serious Stuff: Eight Truly Fun Films

Instructor: Shelly Isaacs, M.A. Biopics have always been a staple of world cinema. How cinema represents history and "real lives" has become more and more an ongoing debate. While some biopics are grounded in historical convention and the genre's defining traits, others represent the potential for innovation in their storytelling. In this session, we will …
Continue reading S144A – Reel Imagined Lives

Instructor: Tom Neile Most people think Improv is either standup comedy or "Whose Line Is It Anyway." True improv is much more than that. True improvisers create great scenes spontaneously. You don't have to be funny, clever, or even outgoing. All you need to be is human. In this series, you'll learn a few simple, basic …
Continue reading SGD263 – Improv Acting: Everyone Can Create a Scene

Instructor: Kurt F. Stone, D.D.According to Hollywood myth, a few moments before John Barrymore died, his brother Lionel asked him, "Jack: is dying difficult?" Brother John's response? "Dying is easy, Lionel; it's comedy that's difficult." Although the story is likely apocryphal, it nonetheless is true: making great comedy is terribly difficult. Perhaps that is why …
Continue reading S484 – Great Comedy is Serious Stuff: Eight Truly Fun Films

Instructor: Shelly Isaacs, M.A.Both masters of their craft, Yosujiro Ozu and Satyajit Ray achieved international success with stories that reflected the many facets of each of their cultures and transcended them. In this session, through four films, we'll see how they reveal how their worlds are our worlds. REGISTER

Instructor: Tom Neile Most people think Improv is either standup comedy or "Whose Line Is It Anyway." True improv is much more than that. True improvisers create great scenes spontaneously. You don't have to be funny, clever, or even outgoing. All you need to be is human. In this series, you'll learn a few simple, basic …
Continue reading SGD263 – Improv Acting: Everyone Can Create a Scene

Instructor: Kurt F. Stone, D.D.According to Hollywood myth, a few moments before John Barrymore died, his brother Lionel asked him, "Jack: is dying difficult?" Brother John's response? "Dying is easy, Lionel; it's comedy that's difficult." Although the story is likely apocryphal, it nonetheless is true: making great comedy is terribly difficult. Perhaps that is why …
Continue reading S484 – Great Comedy is Serious Stuff: Eight Truly Fun Films

Instructor: Shelly Isaacs, M.A.Both masters of their craft, Yosujiro Ozu and Satyajit Ray achieved international success with stories that reflected the many facets of each of their cultures and transcended them. In this session, through four films, we'll see how they reveal how their worlds are our worlds. REGISTER

Instructor: Tom Neile Most people think Improv is either standup comedy or "Whose Line Is It Anyway." True improv is much more than that. True improvisers create great scenes spontaneously. You don't have to be funny, clever, or even outgoing. All you need to be is human. In this series, you'll learn a few simple, basic …
Continue reading SGD263 – Improv Acting: Everyone Can Create a Scene

Instructor: Kurt F. Stone, D.D.According to Hollywood myth, a few moments before John Barrymore died, his brother Lionel asked him, "Jack: is dying difficult?" Brother John's response? "Dying is easy, Lionel; it's comedy that's difficult." Although the story is likely apocryphal, it nonetheless is true: making great comedy is terribly difficult. Perhaps that is why …
Continue reading S484 – Great Comedy is Serious Stuff: Eight Truly Fun Films