ABOUT WAY OFF BROADWAY

Our Story

Maintaining an atmosphere of disciplined fun, Way Off Broadway offers a variety of programs including acting, singing, vocal production, movement, improvisation, audition/monologue, on-camera, sound studio and scene study. The Way Off Broadway approach combines classical theatrical skill-building, creative thinking and group participation. Ongoing classes culminate in a Spring performance which the students create with the faculty.

Collaborative Teaching Approach

The Way Off Broadway staff is comprised of working New York City theatre professionals who have extensive teaching experience. Classes are designed so that students work with more than one instructor, including distinguished directors, choreographers, and music directors. This carefully structured, team-teaching approach enables the students to benefit from the expertise of a highly-skilled and enthusiastic group of teaching artists. The faculty collaborates constantly as they create and re-invent material which best serves the individual and the team.

Professional New York City Theatrical Agents

Way Off Broadway maintains collaborations with the best New York City managers and agents, who regularly attend our special events, family days and performances. Many of our students work professionally on Broadway, on screen and on TV. The Way Off Broadway All-Star-No-Star approach insures that all students, whether they are working Broadway professionals or kids who love theatre, participate equally. Our courses are designed to nurture talent, expand self confidence and engage the imagination.

Staff

WENDY TAUCHER

Wendy Taucher's work as a director and choreographer has been favorably reviewed in publications around the world, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, The Times of London, La Republica, Opera News, and Dance Magazine. She has comprehensive experience as a teaching artist, including extensive work with Lincoln Center Institute and TADA!; Wendy is the author of the recently published textbook Making Music for Movement and Dance for Silver Burdett. She has received grants from the NEA, Harkness, Jacob's Pillow, and the State Arts Councils of Illinois, New Jersey and North Carolina. Wendy is the artistic director of The Yard, the summer performing arts colony on Martha's Vineyard.

FRANK SCHIRO

Frank Schiro has over twenty years of teaching experience in the New York area. He has worked extensively at TADA!, Westchester Performing Arts Center and many other educational entities. Currently, Frank is an adjunct professor at the Steinhardt School of Performing Arts Professions at New York University. He is a recipient of a Meet the Composer Grant and the American Liberty Grant. Frank has also composed music for many productions in New York, as well as in regional theatre around the country. Frank's musical adaptation of Oscar Wilde's The Happy Prince was chosen for a full production on Theatre Row in NYC as part of the New York Musical Theatre Festival, 2004. He is a member of the advanced BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop.

Way Off Broadway staff is comprised of working New York City theater professionals experienced in teaching children. The staff is committed to providing a constructive, friendly environment, where skill building, team work and risk are equally valued. Our unique approach, where students invent the work to be performed in collaboration with the teachers, helps students learn to mine their own creativity while building the skills and experience.

Testimonials & Press

Testimonials

"Way Off Broadway is a unique drama program, unlike any other on Long Island. Two of my children have attended WOB for many years...one since the program began on Long Island seven years ago. Each teacher brings to the program their individual talents for choreography, music, and staging, and they teach the children, through a myriad of fun activiites, about drama and acting. Their philosophy is teaching the 'process' of drama and acting, and not just preparing for some 'glitsy, thrown- together show.' After all these years, Way Off Broadway is still my girls' favorite class. I wish I could be in it!"

- L.C. in Manhasset

"Our son is enjoying his second school year of Way Off Broadway. He is a student who is working well above grade level, and Way Off Broadway provides opportunities to stretch his mind in ways that the average school day just cannot offer. He comes home singing the music and trying to play the songs by ear, and his dramatic creativity has blossomed."

- M.P. in Garden City

"My son's experience with Way Off Broadway was terrific. The on camera workshop was invaluable, and the instructors top notch - my son has done commercials and a movie already."

- L.R. in Garden City