Making the Scene

Contributing Writer: Carolyn Popadin, Lead Teacher (Theater Department)

Usdan is thrilled to announce a new Major class addition to our Theater Department: Making the Scene. Young actors are welcome to sign up for the class in our 4-week A session. 

Making the Scene (Major, 4A Session, Grades 6 – 12)

Actors may be the only ones in our society who are encouraged and applauded for making a scene. But how do they make it so good? Through a combination of drama exercises, scene studies, and performances, guided by feedback from teachers and peers, students develop the necessary skills to make a scene—in the best possible way, of course! The class culminates in a performance of the students’ work. Classes take place in open-air studios with at least one side exposed to Usdan’s beautiful wooded campus.

Students will study scenes taken, in part, from the play chosen for the 4-week B Acting Group Major. For this reason, this 4-week A Major is strongly recommended to 8-week students who plan to take the Acting Group in 4-week B. All levels of theatrical experience are welcome.

A Note from the faculty

Carolyn Popadin, the lead teacher leading the course this summer, had the following to share with her prospective students. 

"I'm looking forward to watching this group work together as they develop performance skills and step into their own strengths as actors. As an ensemble, we'll have fun using imaginative theater games to explore and analyze our material. As we create theater, we'll train to focus, remain curious, and incorporate feedback from one another to become our best selves. I hope that with my passion for the craft and gentle guidance, my students will feel confident, energized and empowered to discover their own paths to 'think like artists.' Not only will they take away the tools to strengthen their performances, but they will feel secure to push limits, challenge themselves, and transfer the lessons learned in class into their everyday lives."

"Since Making the Scene is a prequel to our drama Major in the 4-week B session, I'm excited to use this class as a springboard to collaborate with and include the students' creative ideas in my directing path for the chosen play for The Acting Group."

To read more about other classes in our Theater Department, including, The Acting Group referenced above, visit our Classes website page. 

About Carolyn Popadin

Carolyn began in Usdan’s Theater Department in the summer of 1997. She had a few gap years when her children were young and returned in 2013 making Summer 2023 her 17th summer. During the year she is a NY-based teaching artist, director and performer. She brings her love of theater to students throughout Long Island and Brooklyn directing school musicals and incorporating theater arts into class curriculums. Carolyn began her theater education at Brooklyn College and then studied arts administration at NYU. This eventually led her to acceptance in the professional acting program with the British American Drama Academy in Oxford, UK. She has toured the US with the National Theatre for the Performing Arts and has appeared in numerous east coast, regional, and Off-Off Broadway productions. Carolyn is the proud mom of two teenage girls who loved taking classes in Usdan’s Dance Department.