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Musical Improv Level Two

Musical Improv Level Two with Frank Spitznagel and Jacob Horn

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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

Taking the fundamentals you learned in level one, Musical Improv Level 2 shows you how to make your improvised scenes and songs look and feel more like a Broadway musical! Exercises in listening and emotional commitment will give you the solid scene-work you need to launch into songs. Also, you will explore different song styles, learning about want songs, philosophy songs, charm songs, and metaphor songs. 8 weeks of classes followed by a class performance. Prerequisite: Musical Improv Level One

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: Jacob Horn

Jacob started improvising in high school, switched to a cappella while studying Comparative Literature and Latin at Haverford College, and then moved to New York, where improv came back with a vengeance. His tendency to harmonize, syllabize, or beatbox to any music whatsoever—a residual effect of a cappella that musical improv has done nothing to help—continues to make him an unpopular guest at parties.

Since 2014, Jacob has studied and performed all over the city, including Magnet classes with Jon Bander, Armando Diaz, Elana Fishbein, Megan Gray, Louis Kornfield, Michael Lutton, and Peter McNerney. He performs regularly as part of Musical Megawatt and is half of the indie musical improv duo 4D Thieves (with Jennette Cronk), whose appearances include Pittsburgh's Steel City Improv Festival and the Tampa Bay Improv Festival. (Photo: Tim Tiebout Photography)

Full Session Schedule

Session Schedule*

  1. Sep 3, 2024, 8:00pm - 10:00pm
    at Michael Howard Studios - Studio 2
    (152 W. 25th Street, 10th fl)
  2. Sep 10, 2024, 8:00pm - 10:00pm
    at Michael Howard Studios - Studio 2
    (152 W. 25th Street, 10th fl)
  3. Sep 17, 2024, 8:00pm - 10:00pm
    at Michael Howard Studios - Studio 2
    (152 W. 25th Street, 10th fl)
  4. Sep 24, 2024, 8:00pm - 10:00pm
    at Michael Howard Studios - Studio 2
    (152 W. 25th Street, 10th fl)
  5. Oct 1, 2024, 8:00pm - 10:00pm
    at Michael Howard Studios - Studio 2
    (152 W. 25th Street, 10th fl)
  6. Oct 8, 2024, 8:00pm - 10:00pm
    at Michael Howard Studios - Studio 2
    (152 W. 25th Street, 10th fl)
  7. Oct 15, 2024, 8:00pm - 10:00pm
    at Michael Howard Studios - Studio 2
    (152 W. 25th Street, 10th fl)
  8. Oct 22, 2024, 8:00pm - 10:00pm
    at Michael Howard Studios - Studio 2
    (152 W. 25th Street, 10th fl)

Show Schedule*

  1. Oct 27, 2024, 3:00 PM
    at Magnet Theater
    (254 W. 29th Street)
    2. *scheduling subject to change