This acting class is for anyone wanting to dive into classic theater literature
and expand their vocal and physical expression through a psychological
approach to texts. EgoPo Artistic Director, Lane Savadove, leads a
three-week MasterClass on Acting, with weekly one-on-one coaching
sessions with an EgoPo Associate Teacher of your choosing. Students
provide their own monologue or choose from a suggested list (classical
or modernist through 1950). A bonus fourth week will offer the students
the opportunity to present their work to their peers. Currently,
MasterCLASS Plus takes place virtually.
Registration Fee: $180
Includes three Master classes plus three 45-minute private coaching
sessions, and one final performance. Space is limited to 15 people.
Private sessions will be scheduled based on yours and your
Associate Teacher's schedule.
Upcoming MasterClass Dates:
Sunday, January 9th, 9am-11:30am
Saturday, January 15th, 10am-12:30pm
Saturday, January 22nd, 10am-12:30pm
Saturday, January 29th, 10am-12:30pm
"Death of a Salesman" by Arthur Miller
Director: Lane Savadove
Photo: David Cimetta
Pictured: Mary Lee Bednarek, Ed Swidey, Sean Lally, and Kevin Chick
Associate Teachers
Walter DeShields (he/him) is co-founder and Co-artistic director for Theater in the X. Performances include Sweat, Swallowing Dark, Hairy Ape; Othello; The Meeting; Milk Like Sugar, The Bends, Our Lady of 121st Street, Titus Andronicus, A Lesson Before Dying; Two Noble Kinsmen, To Be Young Gifted & Black; Blues for an Alabama Sky, A Soldier’s Play, Night Watch, A Raisin in the Sun, and Wonder of the World. In addition, Walter works as a facilitator for a theater based sexual health intervention called BrotherSpeak with young black men in Philadelphia. Previous work with EgoPo includes the tour of The Hairy Ape to the Provincetown Theater Festival, Egoli, and Buried Child. Walter holds a BA in English and Theatre from Penn State.
Dane Eissler (he/they) is a maker of theatre and visual art, as well as a freelance teaching artist. Serving as Associate Producer at EgoPo Classic Theater, he has directed (Alice: not your child's wonderland,
UND3RGR0UND, Buried Child, The Nose), performed (Medvedenko in the Barrymore-winning production of The Seagull and Jude in Lydie Breeze Part III: Madaket Road), and production designed (And Tell Sad Stories of the Deaths of Queens... and Rockaby). Dane co-created EgoPo's theater education program at Nebinger Elementary in 2016, and has worked as a guest artist at multiple theater programs (Triple Threat Workshop in South Jersey, Windy City Performs in Chicago) and academic institutions (including high schools throughout South Jersey, and his alma mater Rowan University). In Chicago, Dane co-founded the multidisciplinary pop-up theatre collective, A Dead Whale Productions. www.daneeissler.com
Melanie Julian (she/her) is an Associate Professor of Theater at Temple University in Philadelphia where she teaches in the undergraduate and graduate Acting programs. Prior to her arrival at Temple in 2008, she taught Voice, Speech, and Acting at the University of California at Davis. She is a professional actress who is a member of Actors’ Equity Association, and she is a voice and dialect coach in the Philadelphia area, having coached at the Philadelphia Theater Company, Peoples’ Light and Theater Company, Arden Theatre Company, Theatre Exile, EgoPo Classic Theater, and many others. She is an Associate Teacher of Fitzmaurice Voicework.
Karen Vicks (she/her) is an Adjunct Professor at Arcadia University, where she teaches Acting in TV and Film. She was also the Artistic Director of the Philadelphia Acting Studio and is now the Executive Director of Ascension Galleries, where she provides private coaching to professional actors. Karen has appeared on television in Comedy Central’s “Broad City,” the HBO series “Veep,” and had a recurring role in HBO’s “The Wire.” Other film credits include Bill Duke’s “Cover,” “In Her Shoes,” “Ladder 49,” “Beloved,” and “Loving”. Karen recently appeared in AMC’s “Dispatches From Elsewhere” and in EgoPo’s Rockaby, and is slated to appear in the upcoming film “American Zealot.” She is a member of the Screen Actors Guild, Aftra, and Actors Equity.
Master Teacher
Lane Savadove (he/him) is the Founding Artistic Director of EgoPo Classic Theater, now in its 27th season. He has directed over 40 productions locally, regionally, Off-Broadway, and on NPR. He is a TCG Leadership recipient, Independence Fellow, Drama League Directing Fellow, and Henry Luce Fellow, for which he served as the Resident Director of the National Cultural Center of Indonesia in Surakarta, Java, where he forged a company with Javanese artists. Notable productions: World premiere of John Guare’s Lydie Breeze Trilogy; Beckett’s Company (NPR, Phila Fringe); world premiere of Tennessee Williams’ House Not Meant to Stand (Southern Repertory); dual version of Genet’s The Maids (Jean Cocteau Rep.); Wedekind’s Spring Awakening (Annenberg); Maeterlinck’s Bluebird (Mandell Theater). His EgoPo production of Chekhov’s The Seagull won Philadelphia’s Barrymore Awards for Best Production and Set, among six nominations. He is a Professor and Head of Acting and Directing at Rowan University.