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Musical Improv Power Up! with Jon Bander and Frank Spitznagel
Class Description
This workshop is the musical improv equivalent of a Super Mario mushroom. We'll focus on improved scene-song connection, techniques for creating powerful characters, and character wants that will make your songs write themselves. By the end of the workshop, you will take your skills to the next level and blow your own mind! But you will still be the same size as you were.
Jon Bander performs every Friday night with Premiere: The Improvised Musical. He also teaches Character 101 at the UCB Theatre and is a former member of UCB team Characters Welcome. Otherwise, he does character bits and standup at various NYC theaters, bars and basements.
Jon was selected to perform in the New Faces: Characters showcase at the Just For Laughs festival in Montreal. He has also worked for The Second City Theatricals aboard the Norwegian Dawn cruise ship. Jon has also performed and taught workshops in festivals and cities internationally. He's been fortunate to study with improv luminaries like TJ Jagodowski, David Pasquesi, Armando Diaz, Mick Napier and Susan Messing to name a few.
Outside of improv, Jon has appeared in bit parts in the Netflix shows Master Of None, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and The Characters. He has performed off-off Broadway in PharmaBro: An American Douchical, 8 Million Protagonists, POPE! An Epic Musical and NY Fringe Festival hit musical Nightfall On Miranga Island.
Most people just call him Bander. Feel free to do the same.
Frank Spitznagel is the Musical Director at Magnet Theater and a piano accompanist who frequently plays for such improv groups as I Eat Pandas, Veal, The Made-Up Musical, Gusto, and many others. He is a graduate of the Boston Conservatory of Music, where he studied piano performance. His work can be heard on several studio recordings. Frank has composed for Comedy Central and the Aspen Comedy Festival. He accompanied Itzhak Perlman in an original jazz composition by Benny Golson at Lincoln Center. He also played the American premiere of The Hired Man Off-Broadway. He has been musical director for productions such as Nunsense (all incarnations), A Chorus Line, Chicago City Limits, and several original musicals.
Full Session Schedule
Session Schedule*
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May 11, 2024, 3:00pm - 5:00pm
at TBA
(at a studio space TBA in the vicinity of Chelsea, Manhattan)
