Weekend Of Workshops

Saturday, April 18 at 10:00AM

Level Up Your Solos

Using Emotional Dynamics to Amp Up Your Performance

Instructor: Molly Robertson (Un-Scripted Theater Company)

Do you find yourself stuck when faced with an improvised solo? Do you struggle with grounding yourself in emotion, committing with your whole body and owning your choices in song?

In this workshop, Un-Scripted Theater's Molly Robertson will help you explore how to use emotional dynamics and stage presence to amp up your solo singing performance and find your spotlight. Because it's not so much what you sing, as it is how you sing it. 

Students will learn tools for how to dial their emotions up and down in order to create a more dynamic performance, and learn how to use skills like physicality, stillness, breath and focus to draw in the audience in and hold their focus.

Due to this workshop being focused on solos, there are limited spots available.

Student Information

Advanced: This workshop is open to those who have studied or performed musical improv at the advanced level.

About the Instructor

Molly Robertson has been improvising for more than two decades, getting her start studying longform improvisation at the Upright Citizens Brigade in New York. A lifelong fan of musical theater since her formative years as a “theater kid” performing with the Toledo Rep, she developed a passion for musical improvisation in San Francisco under the tutelage of David Norfleet and through the Improv Singing Contest.

Since 2012 Molly has been a company member of Un-Scripted Theater where she has performed in improvised shows such as Let it Snow, A Tale of Two Genres, And It All Went to Hell, and Shakesqueer; as well as developing and co-directing Off Book/Off Broadway and the Worldguide for Wizards and Witches. Along the way she managed to teach longform musical improvisation with a focus on contemporary Broadway influences. She is a founding producer of the West Coast Musical Improv Festival and the Bay Area Musical Improv Festival.

Saturday, April 18 at 10:00AM

Find Your Groove Onstage

Stage Presence, Movement and Dance in Improvised Songs

Instructor: Camila Frausto (Worlds Collide)

Far too often in musical improv songs, we forget about our bodies: We feel stuck in one place; we stop moving as a group; we get trapped in static or boring stage pictures.

In this workshop, Camila Frausto of Worlds Collide will help you to amplify your stage presence, so you can stop standing around and start moving with purpose.

Students will learn positions of power both onstage and in your body, as well as some foundations of movement so you can look like you know how to dance (even if you have two left feet!) You'll also leave this workshop knowing how to improvise comfortable but effective movement, choreography and stage pictures from the perspective of the audience.

This workshop is inclusive of all bodies and all abilities.

Student Information

All Levels: This workshop is open to students with any improv performance experience.

About the Instructor

Camila Frausto is passionate about the practice of improvisation in music, voice, and dance as a way to unlock next-level confidence and agency on and offstage.

In her youth, the joys of classical training in ballet and violin were often overshadowed by perfectionism, only to switch to acting in college and be confronted with typecasting pressures. She happily found the flexibility of improv in 2013, and through musical improv, rediscovered music and dance as joyful, celebratory, and empowering. She loves sharing this awakening with others.

Former musical teams include Cherry Bomb (Nashville), Hit ’n’ Run (Denver), and Flash Mob Musical (San Francisco); current member of Worlds Collide (what up, Fremont!). She also enjoys performing improvised Shakespeare and holds two master’s degrees in Communication and Performance, and Professional Creative Writing.

Saturday, April 18 at 2:00PM

Character First, Song Second

A Character-Based Approach to Musical Improv

Instructor: Diana Brown (Leela Improv, BATS Improv)

Learn how to root your songs in character in this workshop taught by Bay Area luminary Diana Brown.

Drawing on acting and long-form improv practices, students will learn how point of view, emotional intention, and physicality shape vocal choices and lyrical expression.

Through guided exercises and playful exploration, you'll experiment with letting character lead the song—using posture, rhythm, and emotional clarity to create grounded, expressive musical moments. The focus is on storytelling, specificity, and connection, not singing “well.”

Designed to be welcoming to singers and non-singers alike, this class offers an accessible entry point into musical improv for performers who want their songs to feel alive, intentional, and rooted in character truth.

Student Information

Intermediate/Advanced: This workshop is open to those who have studied or performed musical improv at the intermediate or advanced level.

About the Instructor

Diana Brown is a theatrical improv artist, actor, director, producer, and teaching artist based in San Francisco, who  was named one of The Improv Boost’s 2025 Sudden Impact Teachers and voted Most Valuable Mentor and Teacher at the San Francisco Improv Festival. She is known for emotionally grounded, character inspired, genre-driven, and theatrical longform work that lives at the intersection of emotional depth and joyful comedy — from Tennessee Williams–inspired longform to large-scale festival improv comedy.

Diana teaches and directs across the country and internationally, with her credits including Belfast Improv Fest, Vancouver Improv Fest, Improv Fest Ireland, Gather Fest (Ireland), Rise Comedy Festival, SAVI Fest, and Unscripted Shakespeare Festival in NYC, Countdown Improv Fest, and others. She leads the Improv Performance Lab at Berkeley Repertory Theatre’s School of Theatre, is an instructor and corporate facilitator with Leela Improv Theatre, and presents improvised Shakespeare programs at All Out Comedy Theater. Diana is a guest teacher with BATS Improv, San Francisco.

As a performer, Diana appears with Bingewatch, Fleeting Reminiscence, Gamesome Frolic, Slumber Party, DJ, and the Twilight Zone inspired ensemble But of Mind. She appeared at San Francisco Sketchfest 2026 with Groundlings: Personals directed by Brian Palermo. Diana has enjoyed sold-out performances at San Francisco Sketchfest with Bingewatch and Fleeting Reminiscence. She's performed at  Improv Fest Ireland, Vancouver Improv Fest, Impro Amsterdam, Liverpool Improvisation Festival, NYC Improv Festival, Playground Comedy Festival, and festivals across North America and Europe. Diana has also appeared in scripted theatre productions and festivals in New York, Washington, D.C., Charlotte, SC, Los Angeles and San Francisco, and most recently in Playground's Solo Fest 2026 in When You are Called.

Saturday, April 18 at 2:00PM

Navigating Ensemble Songs

Sticking the Landing with Confidence and Clarity

Instructor: Shawn Amaro (Worlds Collide)

Ensemble songs can be complicated to improvise, requiring hyper-active listening, group mind, and a shared understanding of song structures and cues.

In this workshop, Shawn Amaro of Worlds Collide will help you learn how to stick the landing in your group numbers--by starting, executing, and ending songs with confidence and clarity.

Students will learn how to make strong choices while also listening to the ensemble and the Musical Director in real time, how to recognize musical signals, and how to end songs purposefully by choosing strong, unified endings from several options provided.

Student Information

All Levels: This workshop is open to students with any improv performance experience.

About the Instructor

With a passion for creating spontaneous melodies and characters, Shawn Amaro is a co-founder of such electrifying long-form musical improv troupes as Echo, Los Banditos Del Canto, and Worlds Collide.  He has performed at Upright Citizens Brigade, Magnet Theater, Peoples Improv Theater, and Made Up Theatre as well as festivals like West Coast Musical Improv Festival, Del Close Marathon, and New York Musical Improv Festival. Shawn is an experienced musical improv teacher and coach, and is the lead musical improv teacher at Made Up Theatre in Fremont.

Sunday, April 19 at 10:00AM

Crafting Melodies That Sing

How to Build Tension and Resolution in Improvised Songs

Instructor: Lukas Tannenbaum (RiOt, Sonic Boom)

Are you looking for a deep dive into the guts of melody and harmony? Then this all-singing workshop may be for you!

In this workshop, Lukas Tannenbaum of RiOt and Sonic Boom will help you to learn ways to create tension and resolution within your melodies through the concepts of dissonance and consonance.

Students will leave this workshop with some advanced techniques to make more intentional melodic choices on the fly and with more awareness of how to build complex harmonies within a vocal ensemble. 

This workshop is aimed at singers who can match pitch and are comfortable holding a note in a chord around other singers. If you are newer to singing or struggle with matching pitch, we'd recommend taking vocal lessons instead to build that muscle.

Student Information

Intermediate/Advanced: This workshop is open to those who have studied or performed musical improv at the intermediate or advanced level.

About the Instructor

Lukas Tannenbaum is a musician, video game developer, and CGI artist from Raleigh, North Carolina. He dove headfirst into the world of improv after growing up performing in choirs, orchestras, and musical theater productions. Lukas has performed with many mainstage and independent improv teams since starting at ComedyWorx in Raleigh, NC and now performs around the bay area in RiOt and Sonic Boom and teaches at Leela Improv Theatre. While in Raleigh, Lukas co-produced the ComedyWorx musical improv team Vatican City Navy, coached independent and house longform teams, and co-created shows such as Fates and Foolery: A D&D Improv Adventure.

Lukas aspires to meld technical and artistic worlds wherein his passion for storytelling can entwine with his background in computer graphics and cinematic production. Beyond the stage Lukas volunteers as the chair for the SIGGRAPH 2026 Immersive Pavilion, serving on the committee organizing the largest computer graphics and animation conference in the world where he explores how performance, art, and technology intersect.

Sunday, April 19 at 10:00AM

Putting Your Whole Self In

Embracing Physicality, Emotion and Space in Musical Improv

Instructor: Myles Nye (ComedySportz)

Do you struggle to activate your whole body in musical improv? Do you often find yourself in scenes without a sense of your own physicality, your emotions or your surroundings?

In this workshop, Myles Nye will help you to explore all of the physical gifts of your instrument--your body and voice--and use them to quickly get to what the scene and song are really about.

Students will learn tools for not just building out your improvised physical space, but for interacting with it in ways that deepen your understanding of your emotions and relationships and allow you to sing about what really matters. Ultimately, this is a workshop about the space around us and the closeness between us.

Student Information

Intermediate/Advanced: This workshop is open to those who have studied or performed musical improv at the intermediate or advanced level.

About the Instructor

Myles Nye is a Berkeley improviser who began taking classes from Bruce Ducat at age 12. Since then, he's improvised professionally with ComedySportz and other companies. Myles joined ComedySportz LA in 2002 when he was still an undergrad at UCLA. Myles performed in hundreds of matches over 17 years with the team, appearing in All Star Matches and teaching workshops at championships in Chicago, San Jose, Milwaukee, Twin Cities, Quad Cities, and Philadelphia. Now Myles plays with the San Jose team. In addition to his improv with ComedySportz, Myles performs in improvised musicals, cabaret shows, and improvised Shakespeare. He is currently studying with Diana Brown in Berkeley Repertory Theater's Advanced Improvisation Lab. Myles also designs challenges for "Survivor" and writes trivia questions for the British quiz "Only Connect." 

Sunday, April 19 at 2:00PM

Elevate Your Duets

How to Connect with and Play Off Your Singing Partner

Instructor: Jessica Neighbor (Knockoff Broadway)

Duets are the most common song form in a musical improv show, and yet far too often when we sing a duet, we don't take advantage of the opportunities our singing partner provides.

In this workshop, voice coach & Knockoff Broadway's Jessica Neighbor will help performers explore the craft of the musical improv duet by learning how to actively play off a partner through melody and counter-melody, vocal dynamics, and musical heightening. 

Students will practice using body language, contrast, and musical variation to build connected, memorable duet moments in real time and leave with actionable tools that you can immediately apply to improvised duets, ensemble work, and your own musical projects. Let's duet!

Student Information

Intermediate/Advanced: This workshop is open to those who have studied or performed musical improv at the intermediate or advanced level.

About the Instructor

Jessica Neighbor is an international voice coach and performer with over 20 years of experience in coaching and live performance. She graduated from UCLA’s School of Theater and completed All Out Comedy’s Improvisation Program. You can catch her performing with the musical improv group Knockoff Broadway, and she has performed in musicals and bands throughout Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area.

As a coach, Jessica served on the vocal faculty at The Jazzschool in Berkeley, CA, worked with American Idol, and has led performance workshops for years through her vocal studio, Impact Vocal Coaching. She specializes in helping performers strengthen vocal technique, sing popular music with confidence, and deliver songs with emotional clarity and impact. Jessica is also the author of two coaching books, How to Succeed at Your Next Audition and Love Your Voice.

Sunday, April 19 at 2:00PM

Mastering Broadway-Style Openers

How to Build a Rich Environment for Your Musical Show

Instructor: Debra Schifrin (Flash Mob Musical)

The most important moment in a musical improv show is the first few minutes, when big choices are made to establish the reality and context for the show to follow. 

In this workshop, Flash Mob Musical's Debra Schifrin will teach a deep exploration of the environmental opener, in which you'll learn how to establish important context before a single lyric is even sung and how to to work together as one organism to create a rich, theatrical experience.

Students will learn how to make quick choices that build out the location through dialogue, greetings, rhythmic sounds, and space-object work to make your world feel vibrant and lived in, while also learning several different styles and approaches to environmental opening numbers.

Student Information

Intermediate/Advanced: This workshop is open to those who have studied or performed musical improv at the intermediate or advanced level.

About the Instructor

Debra Schifrin has been performing and teaching improv for over 15 years. She is a founding member of Phasers on Stun (Improvised Star Trek, 2014) and Flash Mob Musical (musical improv, 2015). She also performs with Ragtag, which brings different genres to the stage each show, including Tennessee Williams, Oscar Wilde, The Twilight Zone, fantasy, and epic sagas, to name just a few. She performs in the duo Snafu with Michael Astrauskas and the trio 3’s Company. She teaches improv at Stanford, and in 2017 she created an applied improv leadership course that she teaches at Stanford Graduate School of Business and beyond. Since 2007, she has trained and/or performed at San Francisco improv theaters including BATS, Leela, Endgames, and Made Up Theatre, as well as iO (Chicago) and UCB (New York).

Sunday, April 19 at 5:00PM

Bread & Jam

Spring Potluck, Mixer and Jam with Live-Band Improvised Karaoke

Celebrate the end of our Weekend of Workshops with our second-annual Bread and Jam event! It's a community-focused evening of socializing, shared snacks and making up songs with a live band!

This is a totally FREE event for any and all Bay Area musical improvisers. Come make new friends from the community, connect with old friends, bring a snack to share, and take part in live-band improvised karaoke! That's right, we'll be drawing song titles from a hat, then making them up with the help of a full band!

The event starts at 5:00pm, with the live-band improvised karaoke starting at 6:00pm.

This event is a potluck (that's the "bread" part of 'Jam and Bread'), so we encourage guests to bring a snack or treat to share.

Tickets are FREE, but we'll require RSVPs in advance, due to space limitations. You'll be able to get your free tickets starting March 30th at 12:00pm Pacific.