Tim performs two distinct school shows:
A) one for kids aged 10 to 14
(roughly 5th grade to 9th) and,
B) one for Senior High School students
Material for these shows is selected from all the McManus Comedies to fit the age range of the audience. Performances last from 40 to 55 minutes. Tim likes to answer questions and talk with the kids after school shows for 15 or 20 minutes, if possible.
These are hilarious, G-rated shows and kids laugh their socks off.
School shows are often part of the artistic performance fee, when in the same city or for the same presenter. If not, there is a small fee, usually from $200 to $350.
Tim conducts a 2 to 3 hour acting workshop for students aged 11 to 99. He also conducts advanced workshops that can be piggy-backed onto the initial one, so as to fill a complete day of residency.
He particularly likes working with college students.
Here’s what Tim says about the classes:
“I prefer to work with 15 to 25 students who have a genuine interest in acting or performing. To me, the most can be achieved in sessions lasting between 2 and 3 hours. It is even more enjoyable and educational when adults and kids participate together.
The workshop usually begins with an eye opening participate/observe experience I call "Truth on the Stage: How to Create Belief in a World of Lies!"
Then, some physical warm-ups and basic self-expression exercises from the fundamental texts of acting: Viola Spolin, Nellie McCaslin, Keith Johnstone. Often, we concentrate on the breath and voice, since these are frequently overlooked or under-emphasized.
Reacting and awareness of others are fundamentals of the acting craft, and I use numerous exercises and theatre games (from "mirror" work to story building to body surfing) that can help each student become less self conscious, and more at ease with other individual and group goals.
The following are explored: looking, searching, discovering, listening, negotiating, taking a stand. These ACTIONS help the student Work With Others to build a character, and accomplish tasks on stage that lead to an experience with theatrical reality.
With more accomplished students, class members will use improvisation in short scenes built on specific situations to test and refine this new awareness. My objective is to familiarize class participants with some of the tools of the acting profession, to give each opportunities to use some of these tools, and then to allow them to build on that base. (All this with as much joy and humor as possible!!) If the workshop can incrementally broaden the imagination or the skill base of one or a dozen students, I will consider the time a success.”
Acting classes range from $100 to $300, depending on whether Tim is performing in the same city, what day, how long, etc.
|