• Program Description
    Starting in 2016-2017, our performance and directing students fall under the Theater Performance major. This exciting new approach to training will provide a fuller, richer experience, providing the necessary training for artists in the 21st century.

    Part of our mission is to prepare artists for the demands of an ever-expanding definition of theater. While we would like to see everyone become a triple threat, we realize that not everyone is a singer or dancer or either. In order to be competitive, however, actors need to at least be comfortable with acting, using their voice, and using their bodies to tell stories. The old boundaries between “musical theater” and “acting” did more harm than good. Students were limited by being placed in a category where they felt they should stay. Plays were the domain of the “actors” and musicals were the domain of the “singers” – and rarely was the line crossed.

    By housing all performance students under the common banner of Theater Performance, we will be stretching our artists beyond pre-defined boundaries and opening up artistic doors for exploration in all areas of theater.

    For more information about our Theater Program, please visit our Blake Theater website.

    Faculty

    Sean Paris, Artistic Director of Blake Theater, Theater Performance Teacher

    SRP

    Contact: sean.paris@hcps.net

    Sean Paris is a proud member of Actor's Equity and has been working in the Theater and Education fields since 1988. He has worked as an actor, director, acting coach and casting director throughout the United States, Canada, on National Tours, and in New York. Originally developing the Musical Theater program at H.W. Blake High school for the Arts in 1997, Mr. Paris returned to NY in 2001 to continue his professional career. He was thrilled to work with some of Broadway's best actors and directors, and to witness the success of former students as they moved on to their own careers in media, movies, television, music, national tours, and Broadway. Happy to return home in 2012, Mr. Paris took the helm as the Artistic Director of the Department of Theater at Howard W. Blake School of the Arts and led the program to be one of the top theater programs in the region.

    Audition Requirements
    Spring Auditions will be done virtually. Use the link at the bottom of the page to access audition information. Once you have applied, you will receive an email with step-by-step instructions for your audition!

    Audition/Portfolio Requirements
    Theater Performance Audition Requirements