Applications are being accepted through Sept. 23 for Queens Theatre’s sixth annual Theatre For All (TFA) Professional Actor Training Program for deaf or disabled performers.
This year, the training program consists of two parts – Part I will run virtually over Zoom for two-weeks from Monday, Nov. 6, through Friday, Nov. 17. Students who complete Part I will have the opportunity to audition for Part II, an in-person training and performance intensive to be held at Queens Theatre in Spring 2024.
“By hosting the intensive virtually in November we can reach a much broader community of artists. Often artists with disabilities, particularly those who don’t reside in a major city such as Los Angeles or New York City, struggle to find accessible, high quality training,” said TFA Program Manager Mary Theresa Archbold. “In TFA, we provide all forms of accommodation support allowing all artists to get what they need — an accessible space to focus on their craft.”
The program is open to deaf and/or disabled performers, ages 18 and over. Students accepted into the program will receive inclusive professional instruction free of charge.
The tuition cost of $2,000 per student is waived, making the program free of cost to all students who are accepted, due to the generous support of Vincent D’Onofrio, who donates proceeds from his children’s book Pigs Can’t Look Up to support the program.
D’Onofrio, best known for his roles in the drama “Full Metal Jacket,” the hit television series “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” and Netflix series “Daredevil,” has been an early and ongoing champion of Theatre for All (TFA), even serving as an instructor himself.
Workshops will be taught by disabled and non-disabled industry professionals. Additional instructors will be announced in advance of the program.
Through inclusive intensive workshops, students will participate in university level training to prepare them for acting on the stage and screen. The intensive will focus on auditioning, acting, improvisation, musical theater, voice, and movement.
The program will have two tracks, designed for actors of varying levels of experience: early career and working actor. The application review committee will place accepted students into the tracks.
In addition to the group workshops, all students will receive a 30-minute one-on-one mentoring session with disabled professional actors who are gracing Broadway and screen, including Gregg Mozgala (Broadway – Cost of Living), Katy Sullivan (Tony nominee for Cost of Living, “Dexter”) and others.
For more information about the program and to apply, visit queenstheatre.org/tfa-2023.
