Broadway, Hollywood veterans join Nexus musical theatre camp
Posted by Jayme Blaschke
Office of Media Relations
February 2, 2018
SAN MARCOS – Josh Bergasse and Dave Clemmons will join the award-winning musical theater faculty at Texas State University to conduct master classes for Nexus, a two-week intensive college prep summer camp designed for high school students.
“We’re so excited to have Josh and Dave join us this summer,” said Kaitlin Hopkins, head of the musical theatre program at Texas State. “Josh is an award-winning, cutting-edge choreographer and an inspiring artist for our students to learn from. Dave has decades of experience as a Broadway casting director, producer, performer and more recently as an educator and top college coach with a vast knowledge of the industry to pass along to our Nexus campers. I can’t wait for our campers to learn from these two dynamic professionals.”
Bergasse won an Emmy Award for his choreography for Smash on NBC. Other television includes So You Think You Can Dance (FOX); Sinatra; A Voice for a Century (PBS); Jessica Jones (Netflix) and A Capitol Fourth (PBS). On Broadway, Bergasse choreographed Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Gigi and On the Town for which he received Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Astaire Award nominations. His Off-Broadway credits include Sweet Charity (Chita Award, Lortel Nom), Cagney (Drama Desk, Outer Critic Circle, Astaire Award nominations and a Callaway finalist); Bomb-itty of Errors; and Captain Louie.
Dave Clemmons is currently the director of education and the dean of the Humphreys School of Musical Theatre and Theatre Under the Stars. As a casting director, Clemmons' Broadway credits include Ring of Fire, In My Life, The Boy From Oz, Dracula, The Civil War and Cinderella; Off-Broadway includes Bare, Bat Boy, Altar Boyz and the 2000 revival of Godspell; National tours include Cinderella, Evita, Millie, Cats, Fosse, Jekyll and Hyde, Chicago, Jesus Christ Superstar, Fiddler on the Roof and Movin' Out. As a performer, Broadway credits include Les Miserables (Valjean), The Civil War, The Scarlet Pimpernel and Jekyll and Hyde.
The Department of Theatre and Dance at Texas State is now accepting applications for NEXUS, a two-week summer musical theatre camp for high school students from June 8 to 24. Admission is by video audition only. Up to 60 students will experience two weeks of intensive training with Texas State Musical Theatre faculty and top industry professionals at Texas State’s state-of-the-art facilities. The curriculum is modeled on Texas State’s nationally-acclaimed BFA musical theatre program, and will include master classes and workshops in voice, acting, a range of dance styles, college audition prep, improvisation, as well as vocal health, physical health, mental wellness/stress management. The camp will culminate in a final showcase performance.
“NEXUS will provide students with a solid understanding of what being a professional actor is all about,” said Hopkins. “Our goal is to prepare musical theatre students for upcoming college auditions and to give them an opportunity to work on their performance skills for the professional market.”
Interested applicants must upload audition material no later than March 1 via the Nexus website. Visit www.theatreanddance.txstate.edu/Programs/Nexus-Summer-Camp for details. For more information, contact Hopkins at (512) 245-6841 or MTSummerCamp@txstate.edu.
About Texas State University
Founded in 1899, Texas State University is among the largest universities in Texas with an enrollment of 38,694 students on campuses in San Marcos and Round Rock. Texas State’s 181,000-plus alumni are a powerful force in serving the economic workforce needs of Texas and throughout the world. Designated an Emerging Research University by the State of Texas, Texas State is classified under “Doctoral Universities: Higher Research Activity,” the second-highest designation for research institutions under the Carnegie classification system.