Creating and Producing Your Own One-Person Show

Artist/Producer Karyn Levitt gives a talk on how to develop a one-person show, from research and song curation to developing a theme, writing the narration, working with musicians, and producing the show. Questions are taken along the way. If students have solo shows in development at any stage, 6-8 minute excerpts may be selected for workshop critique/discussion.

I was very impressed and delighted by the showmanship that [Karyn Levitt] showed. She did a remarkable job communicating this world that I belong to. A sense of what it was. What she was attempting in those little introductions was well achieved. When she was confidential to the audience, I felt included – that she was talking to me and I was glad to be talked to. I don’t think she has any competitors in the thing she is doing. She is offering something unique.  Nobody else has done this field. No other singer has done what she did. She has a good combination of real scholarship with a personal involvement. – Eric Bentley about Karyn Levitt’s show, Will There Still Be Singing? A Hanns Eisler Cabaret, at Metropolitan Room

Master Classes in Performing Eric Bentley's Brecht-Eisler Song Book

Karyn Levitt is the champion of a neglected but extraordinary German repertoire: the songs of Brecht and Eisler (one of the twentieth century’s great song-writing teams) in English translation by legendary drama critic, playwright, cabaret singer, and world authority on Bertolt Brecht, Eric Bentley. Singers and their collaborative pianists will receive expert coaching by Karyn Levitt and pianist in pre-selected songs from The Brecht-Eisler Song Book for singers to prepare in advance.

Note: A copy of The Brecht-Eisler Song Book  must be purchased for each singer participating (it is widely available and can be found on Amazon). Copies of her bibliography for the Brecht-Eisler Song Book project will also be available.

Getting the Meaning of a Song Across — Live Performance Coaching for Small Groups

Classical voice students and their collaborative pianists will receive expert coaching in how to put the message of a song across. Topics include: storytelling through song, embodying words and music, making a personal connection to the text, saying the song and singing with the resonance of speech, phrasing, legato singing, breathing, acting, gesture, and trusting the voice as an instrument for the transmission of your meaning. Come prepared to work on one piece that you know well (ideally in English), e.g., a lyrical art song, a small-scale aria, a folk song, or a show tune. To concentrate on the topics outlined, it is preferable to work on songs in English, although songs in German could also be addressed; in any case, the principles apply to singing in any language.

Visit our Live Performance Coaching page for more details.