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All-star faculty lineup set for Lakeland’s Broadway Bootcamp

Feb. 2, 2022

Lakeland University has finalized its faculty lineup for the free one-day Broadway Bootcamp, set for April 9.

High school and current Lakeland students will train with award-winning artists and Lakeland faculty in voice, dance and acting. It is the only offering of its kind in the region for aspiring music and theater students.

The teaching staff includes four experienced industry experts:

• Singer/vocal coach Natalie Weiss.
• Songwriters Sam Carner and Derek Gregor.
• Choreographer/dancer James Gray.

Broadway Bootcamp participants will rotate through workshops in voice, dance and acting followed by an afternoon intensive course and panel discussion with four professionals. Lunch will be provided.

“We are thrilled to have faculty members of this caliber coming to Lakeland to share their expertise,” said Rachel Ware Carlton, director of Lakeland’s graduate music program. “We’re seeing a great deal of interest from students, and we’re looking forward to providing them with a unique learning opportunity.”

Registration is open for this free events. Visit Lakeland’s Broadway Bootcamp website to sign up or to learn more.

More about the Broadway Bootcamp teaching staff:

• Natalie Weiss
  Natalie Weiss, an American Idol season 4 semi-finalist, has performed on Broadway, toured extensively and has a large social media presence.
  
  An expert in pop and Broadway styles, she is an acclaimed vocal performer and coach who has achieved success on and off the stage. Her performance videos mixed with her “edutainment” series, Breaking Down The Riffs®, made her a viral sensation, with 30 million views on YouTube alone. Her groundbreaking and fun approach to pop technique has become a growing standard in the music industry.
  
  Weiss is one of the most sought-after celebrity vocal coaches and collaborators. She has sung with everyone from Broadway greats to iconic TV and media personalities including Tori Kelly, Ben Platt, Katharine McPhee, Pentatonix, Gaten Matarazzo, Shoshana Bean and Cheyenne Jackson, to name a few.
  
  Her voice can be heard on “The Greatest Showman” soundtrack, “Dear Evan Hansen” cast recording, “The Incredibles 2” jingles and multiple musical theatre composers’ albums. She has performed on Broadway in “Everyday Rapture,” Off-Broadway in “Emojiland” and in national tours of “Wicked” and “Les Miserables.”
  
  Learn more at https://natalieweissofficial.com
  
  
• Sam Carner and Derek Gregor
  Sam Carner and Derek Gregor, among Playbill.com’s 12 Contemporary Musical Theatre Songwriters You Should Know, won the Richard Rodgers Award and the John Wallowitch Award for songwriters under 40, and Sam won the Kleban Prize for “Most Promising Librettist.” Their songs, which have garnered 11 MAC nominations for “Best Song” / “Best Comedic Song” with one win, are performed in hundreds of venues around the world every year and have been sung on all seven continents (including Antarctica).
  
  Their musical “Unlock’d” was produced Off-Broadway at the Duke Theater in the summer of 2013. Previously its was produced at the New York Musical Theatre Festival in 2007, where it won the “Best of the Fest” audience prize and received Talkin’ Broadway citations for “Outstanding New Musical” and “Outstanding Original Theatrical Score.” Their musical “Island Song,” which boasts seven MAC-nominated songs, was produced at the Adirondack Theatre Festival, the Bloomington Playwrights Project and London’s Rose Bruford College.
  
  Sam and Derek’s special material include the children’s musical “Love, Splat,” “Sleep Song” for Cait Doyle’s “Hot Mess In Manhattan”, “Eleven O’Clock” for Unsung Musicals’ “The Passing Show,” “Hard Candy” and “You Inspire Me” for the popular web series “My Gay Roommate” and “Redheads Unite” for “Redheads Anonymous” (Indie Series “Best Song” nomination).
  
  They also created the “Barely Legal Showtune Extravaganza” series, which brought some of the country’s most talented college performers to New York every summer for a blow-out concert.
  
  Learn more at https://carnerandgregor.com/about/
  
  
• James Gray
  James Gray is Susan Stroman’s associate choreographer for a number of projects with his own Broadway resume as a dancer.
  
  He is currently working with the TOHO Theatre Group on their New Tokyo production of the Mel Brooks’ hit musical “The Producers.” He recently choreographed a K-POP number for an episode of “Madam Secretary” for CBS working with director Leslie Libman. He staged the Emmy Award Winning TV Special, Mel Brooks – The AFI Lifetime Achievement Award at the Dolby theatre Hollywood, aired on TCM.
  
  He choreographed the newly released movie “Humor Me” starring Elliot Gould, Annie Potts, Priscilla Lopez and Bebe Neuwirth. For theatre he choreographed Annie at the North Carolina Theatre Raleigh starring Tony Award-winner Karen Ziemba as Miss Hannigan, and “Oliver!” at the Goodspeed Opera House.
  
  For Susan Stroman, Gray has served as her longtime associate choreographer/director, resident director/choreographer on many projects including the world premiere of “Young Frankenstein, the Musical,” (recreating the direction/staging for the UK and US National Tours), the original Broadway production of Woody Allen’s “Bullets Over Broadway” as well as the Mandy Patinkin/Taylor Mac two-hander “The Last Two People on Earth: An Apocalyptic Vaudeville” at the American Repertory Theater.
  
  As a performer, Gray was seen in the Broadway and London stage productions and film version of the Mel Brooks musical “The Producers” with Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick. He is the founder of Audition Truth, a workshop that prepares musical theater performers for the high-pressure world of Broadway auditions. He has taught in the UK, Japan and across America.
  
  Learn more at https://www.broadwaydancecenter.com/faculty/james-gray