CLASSES & DESCRIPTIONS
Winter 2025 | January 13 - May 1
Classes Run: January 13 - May 1
Registration Opens: December 27
ACTING & THEATRE CLASSES
introduction to Acting and the theatre with Michael French
February 4 - March 25, 2025 (8-weeks) |
tuesdays, 10am - 12pm
Live Theater is glorious, moving, and magical! If you love theatre, here’s a unique opportunity to see behind the curtain and learn what it takes to create a stage production. Even if you’ve never been on stage before, you will experience the excitement of the actor’s process, understand why the director’s vision is the engine to everything that happens, and why theater is the beating heart to a healthy society. Included in this class is a group field trip to a Bay Area theatre to see all that you’ll learn in the classroom on the stage. The class will culminate with students performing a script-in-hand showcase for family, friends, and our Stagebridge community. Join us, and feel the fun, the excitement, and the power of working together to bring stories of the human experience to light.
Price: $280
Playwriting for Everyone with Susan Jackson
February 5 - March 26, 2025 (8-weeks) |
wednesdays, 10am - 12pm on Zoom
Easy, intimate access on ZOOM! Whether you are new to playwriting or would like to develop your work-in-progress, this is the class for you! Explore the different aspects of writing a play, using exercises from the curriculum of renowned playwright, Jeffrey Sweet. Students will be inspired using stimulating prompts to write scenes and solo pieces. Choose from ten minute, one minute, or full-length play formats. We will study plot, characterization, dialogue, stage directions, and the arc and climax of a play/scene. Finally, learn how to choose a great title and where you might submit your work.
Price: $280
Scene Study: An Invitation to Intermediate and advanced acting students with Radhika Rao
February 27 - May 1 (10-weeks) |
Thursdays, 1 - 3pm
Rehearse scenes from your favorite plays, engage in scene readings and analysis, and receive one-to-one acting coaching. Working in pairs, we will study plot, characterization, dialogue, stage directions, and the arc and climax of a play and scene. Bring in you favorite scenes or work on new scenes supplied by Radhika. Your work will culminate in a showcase performance to your friends, family, and the Stagebridge community.
Price: $350
Let’s Laugh! Improv enthusiasts wanted with Radhika rao
February 27 - May 1, 2025 (10-weeks) |
thursdays, 10am - 12pm
Immerse yourself in the all-American art of improv! Play improv games, make up stuff on the fly, challenge your imagination, and experience the joy of spontaneity. New worlds and characters will emerge from this kind of creative play. You can be who you want to be! No improv experience needed, but a willingness to play is appreciated.
Price: $350
STORYTELLING CLASSES
Story Lab for intermediate and advanced storytellers with joel ben izzy
February 4 - April 15, 2025 (8-weeks)* |
Tuesdays, 1 - 3pm
*no classes held on February 25, March 4, and April 1
This Lab offers experienced tellers a safe, fun, and supportive place to hone your stories and your storytelling techniques. You can prepare for a one person show, a group showcase, a school setting, a library, a pub, or around the kitchen table. Under the guidance of an international storyteller, and in the midst of a group of experienced fellow storytellers, you can shoot for the moon, preparing for gigs you have already booked, or you’re hoping to book.
Price: $280
personal storytelling: moments in our lives with wayne harris
february 5 - march 26 (8-weeks) |
wednesdays, 1 - 3pm
There are moments in our lives that define us, that speak to who we are as an individual. Though story prompts, improvisation, and class participation, you will tell your story. In this class, you will work in a collaborative, supportive, environment that encourages you to try new ways of thinking of your life stories and unleash your creative juices. No experience with storytelling necessary — welcome all! The end result will be stories that can be shared with family, friends, and in performance!
Price: $280
IMAGIne! An exciting new imagination curriculum for adults with willy claflin and guest speaker lindsay stewart
February 22, March 1, March 8, 2025 (3-Saturdays) |
10am - 3pm
Explore the creative process of storytellers, poets, writers, and performers. Learn about the brain science behind imagination and the new research on human creativity. Experience the magic and power of our imaginations at work, collaboration with others, and experiments in play:
Engage in creative games, exercises, and techniques of improvisation to gain easier and deeper access to your imagination.
Conjure new original stories, songs, or poems from an idea, a word, or even an everyday object.
Create alternate personae: become an alien, a talking fork, a Hamster Guru — producing stories with a new point of view that can lead you to new stories and adventures.
Plus, some counter-intuitive fun: the serious importance of wasting time, daydreaming, and boredom.
All participants are guaranteed to come away with a new story or two, turning inspiration into reality.
Price: $280
MUSIC & SINGING CLASSES
Singing with Scrumbly with Scrumbly Koldewyn
Week of January 13 - Week of March 17, 2025 (10-weeks) |
Mondays, Tuesdays &/Or Thursdays, 10am - 12pm
Mondays & Thursdays, In-person | First Congregational Church of Oakland | Angel Room
Tuesdays, In-person @ Downtown Oakland Senior Center*
*Enrollment for Tuesday Singing is completed through the Downtown Oakland Senior Center (the Tuesday course is offered at a subsidized rate, with limited enrollment available)
Are you ready to unlock your passion for singing? No matter your skill or experience, our resident maestro Scrumbly Koldewyn will build up your confidence by providing one-on-one singing coaching in a supportive class environment. Through performing any songs of your choosing and watching others work with Scrumbly himself, you will transform into a true vocalist while building up to an incredible final performance.
Price: $350 for Mondays and Thursday classes | The Tuesday class at Downtown Oakland Senior Center is offered at a subsidized rate via the City of Oakland
let me entertain you! Scene and song study with joanne grimm & Scrumbly koldewyn
January 15 - march 19, 2025 (10-weeks) |
Wednesdays, 1 - 3pm
What does it take to put together a show-stopping performance? Here’s your chance to find out, as you create and perform your own. Students may develop an original solo scene and song or collaborate with other class members. During the Winter quarter, the instruction will focus on songwriting and comedic performance techniques. Rehearsals for a June musical revue are the focus of the Spring quarter. Students should register for both sessions. This is the fourth production of GrimmWyn Productions. All the world’s a stage—this could be your time to enter.
Price: $350
choral singing: expressions in Song with terrance kelly & Paul daniels
february 6 - april 10, 2025 (10-weeks) |
ThurSdays, 1 - 3pm
This class will delve into the roots of spiritual gospel music. Spiritual music can be expressed in different ways. Some of the spirituals will be familiar and some may not. However, just a love for singing and love for music is required. Terrance Kelly and Paul Daniels, award-winning choral directors, will teach musical arrangements. They will bring people in the community together, enjoying each other, choir-style, in song.
Price: $350