ONE VOICE Centre for Integrative Studies

Amanda Wansa Morgan is Coordinator of Musical Theatre and Assistant Professor at Kennesaw State University, Atlanta, GA, where she also freelances as a professional music director. Since fall of 2015, Amanda has music directed productions of Jesus Christ Superstar (Atlanta Lyric Theater), Little Shop of Horrors (Actor’s Express), and Courtenay’s Cabaret: Home for the Holidays at the Tony® award-winning Alliance Theatre. She was music director/vocal arranger for two revues at Six Flags over Georgia and music assistant on two world premieres at The Alliance Theatre: the 2016 pre-Broadway run of The Prom, directed by Casey Nicholaw; and Janece Shaffer’s Cinderella & Fella, spring 2017.

At KSU, Amanda teaches classes in musical theatre performance, voice, acting, history and literature, and integrates voice and speech methodologies into the singing studio. In addition, she teaches yearly masterclasses at the Southeastern Theater Conference, and has a particular interest in stamina for actors who work simultaneously in musical and non-musical productions, including Shakespeare.

Amanda also stage directs at KSU: A Man of No Importance, 2016, Heathers, 2017. And she played all five Fraus in the 2016 production of Spring Awakening—along with music directing! She has served as a judge for the GA High School Musical Theatre Awards (“Shuler Hensley” awards) and as a Production Respondent for the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (KCACTF) Region 4. She is an active participant in the Musical Theatre Educators Alliance (MTEA), and was recently appointed Southeast Representative.

Amanda has an MFA in Acting from, University of Central Florida, and undergraduate degrees in Music (Voice) and Theatre from Florida State University. She has worked as a professional actor at Orlando Shakespeare, Seaside Music Theater, Oxford Shakespeare Festival, Tony and Tina's Wedding (Orlando), and at Theatre Southeast (FL). She holds a Certificate of Figure Proficiency from the Estill Voice System®, along with memberships in the Southeastern Theatre Conference (SETC), Musical Theatre Educators Alliance (MTEA), National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS), ASCAP, and The Dramatists Guild.

Perspective – excerpts from “Integrative Links,” by Joan Melton

Voice & Speech Review 2013

Even in integrated programs, there is seldom the opportunity or incentive to really listen to experts outside our own respective field(s). The only people who must listen across disciplines are our students, who regularly take classes in dance (e.g., ballet, tap, modern, jazz), voice/movement for the actor, singing (e.g., classical, musical theatre, jazz, pop, rock) and acting. And the potential for conflict in all of that is enormous!

At the most basic level, what seems to separate us clearly in the training process is our concept of anatomy and physiology…Acting curricula probably come nearer to putting it all together than either singing or dance. Yet, even from actor training, students more often than not emerge thinking the diaphragm is something in their belly that they’re supposed to use—consciously—somehow.

Jennie Morton said, “A better anatomical understanding amongst both performers and teachers can ultimately give them better tools to work with…”

In addition, it takes getting out of our own little corner to see the links from one discipline to another. Long-held views can change—and that’s scary—and what is “true” today may be only partly true or transformed tomorrow. So we must be daring. We must actually listen to colleagues, address the information gaps, and follow threads we never before considered—because staying put is simply not an option.

ONE VOICE Centre for Integrative Studies

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