Photo Flash: Shaiman and Wittman Surprise Students at Broadway Artists Alliance 2011 Summer Session

Tony Award-winners Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman delighted students as their special surprise guests during the Broadway Artists Alliance 2011 Summer Intensive Session One. Shaiman and Wittman lent their talents for a surprise Q&A with the students of Broadway Artists Alliance. Following the Q&A, they led a Song Interpretation master class.

Shaiman and Wittman were a welcome addition to the Broadway Artists Alliance's roster of Tony winning guest speakers, which have recently included impressive talent such as Nikki M. James, Bebe Neuwirth, Lillias White, Sutton Foster, Karen Olivo, Gregory Jbara, Bill Irwin, Laura Benanti, Norbert Leo Butz, Beth Leavel, Michael Cerveris, Katie Finneran, Trent Kowalik, Douglas Hodge, John Gallagher Jr., Lea Salonga, John Lloyd Young, and Jason Robert Brown.

The Q&A was part of Broadway Artists Alliance's two-week Summer Intensive at Ripley Grier Studios, NYC.

Additional instructors and special guests have included Stephen Schwartz, Kelli O'Hara (South Pacific), Will Swenson (Hair), Kyle Dean Massey (Next to Normal), Brooks Ashmanskas (Promises, Promises), Lea Michele (Spring Awakening, Glee), Jonathan Groff (Spring Awakening), Megan Hilty (9 to 5), Matt Cavenaugh (West Side Story), Mitch Jarvis (Rock of Ages), J. Robert Spencer (Next to Normal), Susan Blackwell ([title of show]), Stephanie J. Block (Wicked), Ashley Brown (Mary Poppins), Jennifer Cody (Shrek), Michelle Federer (Wicked), Christopher Jackson (In the Heights), Tyrick Wiltez Jones (Finian's Rainbow), Norm Lewis (The Little Mermaid), Andrea Martin (Young Frankenstein), Megan McGinnis (Les Miserables), Skylar Astin (Spring Awakening), Andrea Burns (In the Heights), Lauren Kennedy (Vanities), Christopher Fitzgerald (Finian's Rainbow), Heather Parcells (A Chorus Line), Paul Schaefer (Phantom of the Opera), Alexandra Socha (Spring Awakening), Lisa Stevens (High School Musical), Morgan Karr (Spring Awakening), and many more. For more information about Broadway Artists Alliance, please visit www.broadwayartistsalliance.org.

Broadway Artists Alliance provides professional level training for promising young musical theatre artists ages 10 to 21. Participants are given the unique opportunity to study with current Broadway performers, Tony® Award winners, and top industry professionals - right in the heart of New York City! They recently completed their 2011 summer programming, which included a 3-day Summer Workshop, a 2-week Summer Intensive, the first annual Alumni Only Workshop, a College/Professional Workshop, and a College Audition Preparation Workshop. They will begin their fall one-day master class series with a Book of Mormon master class (September 17th), a Wicked master class (September 18th), and the BAA Musical Theatre Intensive Day at Telsey + Company. 2012 Winter and Summer program dates, including a new College/Professional Workshop in January, are available by visiting www.broadwayartistsalliance.org.

In addition, Broadway Artists Alliance will present the first BAA Musical Theatre Intensive Day at Telsey + Company on October 16th, 2011. BAA students will rotate between four classes at the Telsey + Company studios, including musical theatre audition technique, theatre dance, on-camera audition technique, and a song interpretation class with Catch Me if You Can's Aaron Tveit.

Photo Credit: Laura McBride