Conducted by Gateway Acting School Division
 
(Bellport, NY) The Acting School Division of The Performing Arts Center of Suffolk County will host an “Audition Workshop and Talent Competition” for children and young adults, ages 6-20, at Bellport’s Gateway Playhouse.
 
The audition workshop will be held on July 9 and 21 beginning at 11am. Professional actors, agents and casting directors, as well as Acting School Division staff, will individually coach and advise participants on their audition monologues and songs.
 
Previous workshop coaches include casting director and Gateway Acting School Division alum Jessica Kelly (TV: “Mercy,” “Pan Am;”  Film: “Pineapple Express,” “Precious,” “The Wrestler”) from Chrystie Street Casting, as well as agents Jaime Misher from Innovative Artists Talent & Literary Agency and Laurie Smith from Smith Talent Group. These organizations have also confirmed their attendance for 2012’s workshop and competition.
 
The top 40-50 workshop participants will be invited to enter the talent competition, July 22 at 6pm. Competitors will be evaluated in five age categories. Prizes include Acting School Division classes, private auditioning and vocal coaching, meetings with a Manhattan talent agent and manager, as well as a guaranteed audition for an ongoing television or feature film project.
 
All workshop participants are eligible to attend the talent competition and interview with all agents, casting directors and managers in attendance. Although the Acting School Division has hosted audition workshops since 2010, this year marks the debut of the talent competition.
 
The PACSC’s Acting School Division, now in its 19th year, will also begin summer classes on July 2. Adults and children age five and up are eligible. Age appropriate courses will be held in beginning and advanced acting, improvisation, introduction to theatre, musical theatre and Shakespeare.

Although lifelong communication and creative tools are an intended outcome of class study, the Acting School Division also provides a place where new and upcoming talent can be discovered.
 
Robin Joy Allan, head of the Acting School Division and a professional casting director (Film: “Ghost,” “Lord of the Flies,” “Parenthood,” “When Harry Met Sally”), notes that the PACSC’s Acting School Division provides “a visible place for finding new talent to connect us directly to the industry. We train them for success in a long-lasting professional career.”
 
Past Acting School Division students and audition workshop participants include Brendan Dooling and Miles Whittaker. Dooling played Nathan in Gateway’s 2005 production of “The Full Monty” as well as Peter Pan in that year’s acting school production of “Peter Pan.” He had a starring role as Carrie Bradshaw’s friend Walt Reynolds in the CW pilot episode of  “The Carrie Diaries,” a 1980’s prequel to HBO’s “Sex and the City.” Dooling is scheduled to continue in the role when “The Carrie Diaries” premieres in Jan. 2013. Whittaker has signed with Innovative Artists and has auditioned for many feature films, culminating in a final call back for a Stephen Spielberg film.
 
A third such student is Alison Cordaro, who has starred in the film “Brooklyn’s Finest” as the daughter of Ethan Hawke’s character, Salvatore Procidia. Cordaro has also appeared in a national commercial for Chuck E. Cheese and provides the voice of Geraldine in the children’s series “The Very Fairy Princesses,” co-authored by Stony Brook Southampton Professor Emma Walton Hamilton and her Oscar-winning mother Julie Andrews.
 
“The Acting School Division has been a very positive influence in Alison’s life,” according to Debra Cordaro, Alison’s mother. “It’s opened many doors for her. She’s also been influenced by the professional performers at Gateway. Their experience has shed light on the challenges that the profession can present.”
 
The Performing Arts Center of Suffolk County is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. It seeks to provide theatre of the highest caliber to the Long Island region and beyond, continuing the 63-year tradition established by the Gateway Playhouse. It remains Long Island’s oldest professional theatre.

For tickets, performance times or other inquiries call (631) 286-1133 or 1-888-4TIXNOW, or visit www.gatewayplayhouse.org.