Masterclasses return to Flashback Theater Co. (FbTC) for the 2024-25 Season! Under the coordination of Flashback’s new Education Coordinator Bailey Patterson, Flashback Theater Co. is thrilled to offer an exciting lineup of Masterclasses led by teaching artists with regional and national expertise. Starting in November with The Actor’s Toolkit, a workshop focused on learning specific strategies for bringing a character to life from page to stage. Then, in March, delve into the realm of heightened moments on stage with The Building Blocks of Stage Intimacy and Intro to Stage Combat: Unarmed. More masterclasses focused on subjects like Stage Design, Vocal Technique, and Auditioning will be announced later in the season.
What is a Masterclass?
A part of FbTC’s Professional Training Ground, a masterclass is an intensive workshop, usually held over one or two days, that offers artists the chance to learn a specific skill from an experienced, or master, artist. By attending masterclasses at FbTC, artists can develop a toolbox of skills that widen their horizons and improve their performances.
“My first experience with masterclasses was when I was working as a Graduate Assistant for the Opera Department at the College-Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati,” recounts Sommer Schoch, the founder of FbTC. Working professional artists from all over the country were brought in and spent a few hours with the students, enriching their understanding of the craft through immediate hands-on immersion in one or two specific techniques. “It was obvious to me that our local performers are hungry to learn and one focused day of learning is easier to schedule than an ongoing class,” Schoch continues. “Plus a one or two day workshop has the added benefit of being able to ask guest artists from further away to share their expertise.” This year, guest artists are coming from Austin, Texas and Chicago, Illinois and have working experience in Milwaukee, New York, and Chicago.
What is the Professional Training Ground?
The Professional Training Ground is an arm of Flashback Theater’s educational programming, designed to strengthen the work of local performing artists. At Flashback Theater Co, we believe that theater education is a lifelong pursuit, and our artists thrive when given the opportunity to continually develop their skills and technique. When our artists get better, our productions get better, and those who started as beginners are able to take on new roles as teachers and leaders, creating a thriving artistic community that can be sustained for years to come.
No one understands this better than Bailey Patterson, the coordinator of the reenvisioned Professional Training Ground. “I owe everything I know about professionalism, inside the theater and out, to Flashback.” says Patterson, “Over the years I have learned how to be an actor from the bottom up, how to coordinate events, and how to succeed in professional environments. My first masterclass with Flashback was the Business of Auditioning back in 2017. I still use the skills I learned at that masterclass in every audition room I walk into. I am so excited to be able to bring the education I received to a new generation of theater artists in our community and beyond.”
2024-25 Season of Masterclasses
The Actor’s Toolkit
Saturday, November 9, 2024
Led by Steve Cleberg & Julia Chereson
As soon as you are cast in a role, your work begins. In order to give a stellar performance, you (the actor) must lay a strong foundation. This foundation includes line memorization, characterization, and scene work. At this masterclass, Steve Cleberg will present his trusted line memorization technique and Julia Chereson will take you through the steps of building a workable character from a script and understanding scenes beat by beat.
Space is limited to 15 seats.
Price: $85
The Building Blocks of Stage Intimacy
March 2025
Led by Alex George
Learn the tools and ideas that make up the foundation of the fastest growing discipline in the American Theater: Intimacy Direction and Coordination. Developing out of the work of fight choreographers, Intimacy Directors work to not only stage intimate moments, but to create a safer working environment for theater artists on and off stage. In this workshop, led by Alex George, you will learn the history and development of Intimacy Direction and Coordination, the core pillars of Intimacy, and work to develop your own practices.
Intro to Stage Combat: Unarmed
March 2025
Led by Alex George and Josh Graff
In this exciting workshop, actors will be introduced to techniques for performing unarmed, hand-to-hand combat on stage. Following an introduction to a basic movement vocabulary, actors will be paired up and taught choreography to perform their own unarmed combat scenes. Led by two Society of American Fight Directors certified actor-combatants, Alex George and Josh Graff, this workshop will give you the skills to safely and effectively pull off punches, slaps, falls, and more on stage.
About the Artists
Julia Chereson (she/her) possesses an M.F.A. in Acting from Pennsylvania State University and a B.A. in Theatre from the University of Mount Union. With a diverse background in performance, she refined her skills in Chicago at the Black Box Acting Studio, Victory Gardens Theatre, and the Second City Conservatory. Following her graduate studies, she moved to New York City, where she concentrated on on-camera performance. Chereson later became the Theatre Director and Fine Arts Coordinator at Somerset Community College. Recently, she has relocated to Austin, TX, where she has performed with Jarrott Productions and is currently directing Hand to God at Southwestern University. Additionally, she teaches TV/Film Acting at Texas State University and is preparing for her upcoming role in Unity Theatre’s production of The Trip to Bountiful. Recent credits include Home I’m Darling (Fran), Every Brilliant Thing (narrator), Waiting for the Host (Sara), Clybourne Park (Bev/Kathy), and Constellations (Marianne).
Steve Cleberg (he/him) After thirty-four years in the position, Steve Cleberg retired as the Director of Theatre Arts at Somerset Community College in 2020. He has directed and acted in over one hundred plays. At SCC, his directing credits include Fiddler on the Roof, The Glass Menagerie, Children of a Lesser God, The Tempest, The Fantasticks, Crimes of the Heart, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. For Flashback Theater, Cleberg appeared in Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead, The Lady’s Not for Burning and The Book of Will. Cleberg is also the proprietor of Small World Plays and Musicals, a platform through which he promotes his work as a playwright, including titles like his Radio Suspense Theatre series, All The Boys Love Mary, and The American Parade. His book, An Actor’s Path, is published through Seashell Books and available for purchase on amazon.com.
Alex George (they/them) is a Chicago actor who grew up on the Flashback stage. Following a high school internship at FbTC that included eight performances, their passionate pursuit of theater that speaks to the soul led them on a fantastic journey throughout the midwest. In 2023, they graduated with their BFA in Acting from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where they received the Samuel L. Stickler Faculty Players Award. Though based in Chicago, they work with their LA-based manager to pursue TV, film, and theatre projects nationwide, as well as continuing to serve as the marketing coordinator for Flashback Theater Co. Most recently, they appeared as Rook in A Shadow Bright and Burning with Black Button Eyes Productions, and as Jo (u/s) in Little Women at Milwaukee Repertory Theatre. | mxalexgeorge.com
Josh Graff (he/him) is a Chicago based actor, artist, perpetual learner, and lover of life, whose passion for collaborative storytelling began in his rural hometown of Manito, Illinois. His recent production credits include Aslasken in An Enemy of the People (Sub Rosa Theatre Collective), Jim in The Lifespan of a Fact (Riverfront Playhouse), and McQueen/Fight Captain in Urinetown: The Musical (Krannert Center for the Performing Arts). Josh received his BFA in Acting from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He has a particular passion for stage combat, and received a recommended certification in unarmed combat from the Society of American Fight Directors. In all his work, he hopes to make people feel a richer connection to the wider world.