Friday 3pm-4pm - Session 1
Session 1F: Into the Words (Sessions 1 & 2 combined)
Facilitator: Jane Keller Sponsored by Fabulosity Productions
What is this song about? Read the text. Where do I breathe? Read the text. What am I feeling? Read the text.
In this workshop singers will present a musical theatre song. They will spend some time speaking the text as a monologue as a way into the song. We are looking for a truthful, authentic performance. How do we achieve this with our acting? It’s all there in the text.
Session 2F: Stage Managers Giving Meaningful Notes (Sessions 1 & 2 combined)
Facilitator: Kathryn Osborne
A practical, interactive session for Stage Managers to practice and be reviewed giving performers notes. This involves a refresher in what good note giving is followed by role playing scenarios with two actors in various situations where notes are required.
Session 3F: Wigs - Work With Wigs - how to care for, block and dress wigs (Sessions 1 & 2 combined)
Presenter: Sarah Buchanan
Demonstration (some hands on) on learning the process of wig blocking and care as well as period styling, building wigs when specific extreme styling is required. How to put on a wig (including hair prep), how to change a wig and also fast change wigs and the techniques behind this. What and where to order for your show, and the difference between working with synthetic and human hair wigs.
Session 4F: Props - Props Problem Solving (Sessions 1 & 2 combined)
Presenter: Fifi Colston
‘How do I make a….?’
It’s the production conundrum. You need twenty swords, fake fruit or a way to transform a cake on stage into a carnivorous plant without an explosion of icing every night.
Bring your questions to a brainstorming session on crafty ways to achieve clever props on a limited budget. Send any in advance so Fifi can do a bit of forward thinking and answer your questions first up.
This will be a fun group session that will have you go away brimming with ideas.
Session 5F: Dance Masterclass - Commercial Jazz (Sessions 1 & 2 combined)
Presenter: Darcy Goodall
The commercial Jazz genre is becoming very prominent in the Musical Theatre industry overseas; attend this masterclass to strengthen your skills in this field.
Session 6F: Conflict Resolution (Session 1 only, please also select from Session 2 workshops)
Facilitator: David Adkins - Sponsored by AON Insurance
Too often we hear horror stories about conflict occurring within theatre groups. Often this is between the creatives as visions clash and tempers fly, or committee members as personal agendas get in the way of good governance. Cast and crew are not immune either and what started out as a tight knit team can quickly unravel into a nightmare!
This conflict resolution discussion has a heavy focus on prevention and focuses on understanding the core reasons that conflict appears, what causes it, who is responsible for fixing it, and above all, how do we prevent it from happening. It discusses the responsibilities of creatives and committees, and touches lightly on dealing with bullying and harassment.
Session 7F: The New Incorporated Societies Act: what it means for our Societies & constitutions
Facilitator: Jeremy Sparrow
With the new incorporated societies legislation amendments passed in parliament it is not too long until changes will be finalised. What are the changes? What do they mean and why are they necessary? How can MTNZ support you as we are all required to review our constitutions?
Friday 4pm-5pm - Session 2
Session 8F: Funding
Facilitator: Renee Casserly and Panel, Creative NZ
Deepen your understanding of Creative New Zealand funding. In this session you will have an opportunity to ask questions directly to CNZ on positioning yourself to be eligible for funding.
Session 9F: Demystifying Accessible Performances
Facilitator: Steve Lloyd NPOS and Stace Robertson - Arts Access Aotearoa (sponsored by New Plymouth Operatic Society)
Making your show accessible to the hearing impaired and blind communities.
The accessibility process
Walk through how to engage with the professionals you need to bring your accessible performance alive.
Leveraging existing collateral
Planning your accessible performance
Things New Plymoth Operatic Society learnt implementing accessible sessions
Saturday Morning 8.30am-9.15am
Session 10S: Kōrero Café
Facilitators: Kate Ghent and MTNZ Life Members
This fun and engaging space facilitates networking and collaboration as we mull over some of the tricky topics facing theatres today speed dating style!
Saturday Morning 9.15am-10.30am
Session 11S: Zone Time / NextGen Meeting
Facilitators: Zone Reps and NextGen Rep
Ever been to an MTNZ conference but never found enough time to catch up with your Zone Rep?? Would you love the opportunity to network with others involved in theatre near you? For the first time, we are dedicating time for each Zone to network with each other and meet their Zone Reps. We all know how hard it has been to host zone meetings in the past 2 years so we have made this a priority for our members. Come and chat, hear what has been happening in your zone and share how our zone reps can continue to help you!! This is also the opportunity for the NextGenners to meet and network. See you there!
Saturday 1pm-2pm - Session 3
Session 12S: Technical Talk Forum
Facilitator: Stephen Compton & others
A fantastic opportunity for a technical, informal, “chewing the fat” session with these industry professionals. You can discuss with the panel any specific technical issues you might be having or just a general Q&A session.
Session 13S: Social Media Marketing Strategies to Make Your Message Sing
Facilitator: Rachel Klaver
Like all performances, the best outcomes come from a mix of planning, scripting, practice and confidence when it all goes live. Learn how to make the most of the resources at your fingertips, what helps increase your views and engagement, and what tools you can use to make your social media marketing stand out. We'll cover content plans, designing posts, short-form video, and more. This fast-paced, valued-packed workshop run by marketing strategist Rachel Klaver will help you build out a plan to get your social media under control, without boring you and your readers to death. (no one likes a snoring viewer!)
Session 14S: Choreography - level up (this session spans session 3 and 4)
Facilitator: Darcy Goodall
Fill your tool belt with techniques to make your choreography pop. In this movement-based workshop, you'll learn a basic choreography and then Darcy will take you through different techniques to add layers and create contrast. Choreography isn't just about dance technique; the use of dynamics can help tell story, emphasis emotion and make simple movements look showstopping. Accessible for all levels of ability.
Session 15S: Becoming a Versatile Musical Theatre Singer (this session spans session 3 and 4)
Facilitator: Jane Keller
As we all know, musical theatre has many different singing styles. Legit ( Lyric ), Belt , Contemporary Music Theatre and Pop/ Rock are the main four. When we throw in Twang, Speech Quality and Mix, things can get very confusing.
In this workshop, we will look at all of these singing styles but will concentrate mainly on Twang and Speech Quality. This will be an interactive workshop with everyone participating .
We will close with a group discussion on vocal health, stamina, sharing vocal warm-ups and audition advice.
Session 16S: Costuming Workshop (This workshop spans session 3 and 4)
Facilitator: Fifi Colston
In this fun, hands on intensive, you will create your own concepts using scale models, learn essential construction techniques for keeping your garment together and experiment with recyclable materials to create theatre worthy costumes and accessories.
Session 17S: Adding Interns, Mentorship
Facilitator: Emma Bishop
Internships provide a form of experiential learning that integrates knowledge and theory with practical application in an actual real setting. Interns programmes give the opportunity to not only gain valuable applied experience but also make connections within the theatrical field as well as providing an opportunity to guide and evaluate talent and future artistics. Interns programmes are a great way for groups to build capacity to ensure the development of future team members. Emma created and implemented a highly successful model for Auckland Music Theatre in 2014 called "Interns Wanted". This programme ran for three years and then was further developed and run by the AMT Next Gen Committee. Find out how you can help develop your society.
Saturday 2.15pm-3.15pm Session 4
Session 18S: Demystifying Accessible Performances
Facilitator: Steve Lloyd NPOS and Stace Robertson - Arts Access Aotearoa (Sponsored by New Plymouth Operatic Society)
Making your show accessible to the hearing impaired and blind communities.
The accessibility process
Walk through how to engage with the professionals you need to bring your accessible performance alive.
Leveraging existing collateral
Planning your accessible performance
Things New Plymoth Operatic Society learnt implementing accessible sessions
Session 19S: Marketing to Attract Sponsorship
Facilitator: Rachel Klaver
Make your productions well funded, and create community support with effective sponsorship. Join this workshop with marketer Rachel Klaver, to work out what you need to consider when asking for sponsorship, how to create long-term strategic alliances, and why it's not really ever about you at all.
Session 20S: The new Incorporated Societies Act: What it means for our Societies & Constitutions
Facilitator: Jeremy Sparrow
With the new incorporated societies legislation amendments having been adopted there are implications for all incorporated societies. What are the changes? What do they mean and why are they necessary? How can MTNZ work alongside you as you update your constitutions and process to comply?
Session 21S: It’s a Digital Console, Don’t You Just Press GO?
Facilitator: Stephen Compton
The session would be on practical sound mixing for musical theatre audio engineers. (Managing multiple radio microphones, scenes, sound-checks, setting levels, dynamics and more) Including demonstrations of how to set up a script, the mixing desk, scenes etc to manage the demands of theatre audio.
Saturday 3.30pm - 4.30pm Session 5
Session 22S: Copyright Holders Forum
Facilitators: Copyright Holders - MTI, ORiGiN Theatrical, Playmarket, PlayBureau, OneMusic
An opportunity to hear what is new and happening from our copyright holders. This forum is also a great opportunity to pose your questions or concerns to the copyright holders directly.
Session 23S: Conflict Resolution
Facilitator: David Adkins
Too often we hear horror stories about conflict occurring within theatre groups. Often this is between the creatives as visions clash and tempers fly, or committee members as personal agendas get in the way of good governance. Cast and crew are not immune either and what started out as a tight knit team can quickly unravel into a nightmare!
This conflict resolution discussion has a heavy focus on prevention and focuses on understanding the core reasons that conflict appears, what causes it, who is responsible for fixing it, and above all, how do we prevent it from happening. It discusses the responsibilities of creatives and committees, and touches lightly on dealing with bullying and harassment.
Session 24S: Performing in the Intimate Zone. An Introduction to Best Practice for Intimate Scenes
Facilitator: Carrie Thiel
Scenes that involve intimacy can be challenging for both directors and actors. Given that this is a sensitive area of performance, the vulnerability of the actor must be acknowledged and addressed using best practice. Consent, communication and transparency are the central tenets for this work.
Session 25S: Pepeha in your pocket
Facilitator: Sonya Aifai
Pepeha is a way of introducing yourself in Māori. It tells a story of the places and people that are important to you. It allows the listener to know more about you and make connections. In this workshop we will explore pepeha and how it relates to you. You will walk away with a pepeha in your pocket that you can use at many functions and events that are relevant to you.
This workshop is designed for those who are new to pepeha and would like to know more. “Inā kei te mohio koe ko wai koe, I anga mai koe i hea, kei te mohio koe. Kei te anga atu ki hea”. If you know who you are and where you are from, then you will know where you are going.