Musical Improv Level One

Musical Improv Level One with Frank Spitznagel and Cheryl Horne

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Check below to see the full schedule for each session, see if your class skips a week for a holiday, and check out the date and time of your class show(s).

Class Description


Learn how to put your thoughts and emotions into song and take your improv scenes to the next level! In this 8-week course you will learn the song structures you need to make up musicals on the spot. No need to be an experienced singer! Through exercises in group dynamic, support, and movement, you will learn how to turn every song you improvise into a full-blown musical number. 8 weeks of classes followed by a class performance.

Instructor: Frank Spitznagel

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.

Instructor: Cheryl Horne

Cheryl Horne is a singer and actress from Long Island, NY. She studied Musical Theater in High School and college and graduated from SUNY Old Westbury, with a degree in Multicultural English Literature. She is currently an English teacher and mentor for grades 6-12.

Cheryl is also very involved in her community. She is the Drama Ministry Director at Bread of Life World Outreach Center; and she is also co-founder of Happy Harmonies, a charity organization that raises money for homeless communities, hurricane relief victims and other disenfranchised groups, with her best friend Vanita Kumar. She loves improv, singing, reading, book club, spending time with family, and dancing (even though she isn’t exactly a “dancer”).

Cheryl had the pleasure of studying “regular” improv under Rick Andrews, Megan Gray and Louis Kornfeld, and musical improv under Nikita Burdein, Miles Lindahl, Micheal Lutton, Annie Moor, Dan Reitz, and Frank Spitznagel. She loves being a part of the Magnet Theater community and is grateful for the talented people she is privileged to perform with.

Full Session Schedule


Session Schedule*

  1. Jun 27, 2023, 3:30pm - 5:30pm
    at Michael Howard Studios - Studio 2
    (152 W. 25th Street, 10th fl)
  2. Jul 11, 2023, 3:30pm - 5:30pm
    at Michael Howard Studios - Studio 2
    (152 W. 25th Street, 10th fl)
  3. Jul 18, 2023, 3:30pm - 5:30pm
    at Michael Howard Studios - Studio 2
    (152 W. 25th Street, 10th fl)
  4. Jul 25, 2023, 3:30pm - 5:30pm
    at Michael Howard Studios - Studio 2
    (152 W. 25th Street, 10th fl)
  5. Aug 1, 2023, 3:30pm - 5:30pm
    at Michael Howard Studios - Studio 2
    (152 W. 25th Street, 10th fl)
  6. Aug 8, 2023, 3:30pm - 5:30pm
    at Michael Howard Studios - Studio 2
    (152 W. 25th Street, 10th fl)
  7. Aug 15, 2023, 3:30pm - 5:30pm
    at Michael Howard Studios - Studio 1
    (152 W. 25th Street, 10th fl)
  8. Aug 22, 2023, 3:30pm - 5:30pm
    at Michael Howard Studios - Studio 2
    (152 W. 25th Street, 10th fl)

Show Schedule*

  1. Aug 26, 2023, 6:00 PM
    at Magnet Theater
    (254 W. 29th Street)
  2. *scheduling subject to change