High schoolers learn from the pros at Rider’s Music Theater Workshop

Fifty-five students attended Rider University’s High School Music Theatre Workshop this summer, receiving the opportunity to train with theater professionals, including Adam Jacobs, who is currently starring in the title role of the Broadway production of Aladdin. 

The two-week residential program exposed the students to acting and audition techniques, dance classes, and performing in a revue and concert version of a Broadway musical. 

“My goals were to impart to the students my love and passion for the theater and to give them a taste of what a professional experience is like,” says workshop director Luis Villabon, who has more than 20 years of regional and national credits under his belt. “The students saw how important it was to us for them to succeed.” 

The workshop comes at an important time in the participants’ lives, Villabon says. “They’re starting to think about their futures and what to do with their lives. I wanted to present a very real picture of how hard it is.” 

Because he believes the popularity of singing and performance competitions likeAmerican Idol and The Voice give young people a false sense that becoming famous is easy, Villabon aims to expose the students to a very real audition process. He emphasizes that a love of craft is more important than a love of fame. 

The workshop’s rigor imparts the fact that every production casts only a few leads, and competition for them is fierce. But alternative paths exist, such as ensemble work and stagecraft and management, to make a viable career in theater. “I want them to know there are other facets of the experience that they can fall in love with,” Villabon says. 

He believes the quality of the workshop’s faculty and instructors sets this camp apart from its peers. “There is something to be said about working with current New York Broadway professionals,” Villabon says. “It just raises the bar.” He called the teaching ensemble, which included a mix of Rider faculty and Broadway professionals, a “dream team.” In addition to himself and Jacobs, students received instruction from Westminster College of the Arts faculty members Marianne Cook, Ivan Fuller, Robin Lewis and Louis Goldberg, as well as choreographer Michelle Bruckner. 

As part of the workshop, students also traveled to New York City to see a performance of Aladdin. “Knowing they were going to be instructed by who they were seeing on stage was totally titillating for all of them,” Villabon says. “You can imagine how that would be extremely exciting for a teenager.” 

Last year, Rider tapped Villabon to choreograph its production of A Chorus Line. “They hired me to re-stage Michael Bennett’s original vision and original choreography,” he says, referencing the show’s original director. “I’ve been sent all over the world to do this, but never at a university.” 

He says that he’s performed the show about 2,000 times. While that number may seem daunting to some, “The truth is that because the show is based on real people, it’s not only an honor but a responsibility to tell their story,” he says, adding that several of the people who inspired the characters have since died. 

“It’s our job as theater actors to make it fresh every single performance,” he continues. “The audience deserves the same kind of experience that you had when seeing a show you loved for the first time.” 

Villabon brought the same attitude to teaching this summer's workshop. He has conducted similar workshops for nearly a decade, but Rider's was the first residential camp that he led. “At every camp the students experience a certain amount of bonding,” he says. "I think it's partly because Rider provided the right atmosphere and partly due to luck, but the talent level was exceptional, and everyone grew so close. It was just really special.” 

He says the staff and the students have been exchanging letters since the camp ended. “The letters focus on what the students learned, not just about the theater, but about themselves. For most of them, the camp was a life-changing experience.”