Musical Improv Level One

Musical Improv Level One with Michael Lutton and Frank Spitznagel and Billy Soco

Full...

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: Michael Lutton

Michael has been a Magnet instructor since 2011. He has travelled the country performing in festivals and has taught workshops in Boston and Washington, DC. He has also taught several corporate and team-building workshops.

He began improvising in 2006, and was lucky to train with teachers such as Armando Diaz, Rachel Hamilton, James Eason, and Tara Copeland.

Michael currently teaches Level 1, Level 4: Monoscene, Musical Improv Level 1 and Musical Improv Level 3.

In addition to his teaching duties, Michael is the Director of the Musical Improv Program at the Magnet.

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: Billy Soco

Billy Soco is a first-generation performer of Filipino and Chilean descent based in NYC. He has performed on house teams at Magnet and UCB and currently performs with Baby Wants Candy, Shamilton, North Coast, ComedySportz NYC, and Story Pirates. He teaches at Magnet, Second City, North Coast as well as festivals and theaters around the world.

Follow him on IG @bsoco and learn more at www.billysoco.com

Full Session Schedule


Session Schedule*

  1. Oct 9, 2023, 6:00pm - 8:00pm
    at Ripley Grier (520 8th Ave, 16th fl)
    (btw 36th & 37th Sts)
  2. Oct 16, 2023, 6:00pm - 8:00pm
    at Ripley Grier (520 8th Ave, 16th fl)
    (btw 36th & 37th Sts)
  3. Oct 23, 2023, 6:00pm - 8:00pm
    at Michael Howard Studios - Studio 2
    (152 W. 25th Street, 10th fl)
  4. Oct 30, 2023, 6:00pm - 8:00pm
    at Michael Howard Studios - Studio 2
    (152 W. 25th Street, 10th fl)
  5. Nov 6, 2023, 6:00pm - 8:00pm
    at Michael Howard Studios - Studio 2
    (152 W. 25th Street, 10th fl)
  6. Nov 13, 2023, 6:00pm - 8:00pm
    at Michael Howard Studios - Studio 2
    (152 W. 25th Street, 10th fl)
  7. Nov 20, 2023, 6:00pm - 8:00pm
    at Michael Howard Studios - Studio 2
    (152 W. 25th Street, 10th fl)
  8. Nov 27, 2023, 6:00pm - 8:00pm
    at Michael Howard Studios - Studio 2
    (152 W. 25th Street, 10th fl)

Show Schedule*

  1. Dec 2, 2023, 6:15 PM
    at Magnet Theater
    (254 W. 29th Street)
  2. *scheduling subject to change