<p>@ SnoozeButton Not to scare you… but the whole PHTS kids getting naked IS a thing. I’m a PHTS alum, and I can tell you, up until two years ago it was part of one of your freshman classes. For Design I, on your own time, outside of class, you needed to sketch two other people in your color group nude. Most color groups did this by having naked parties where most everyone got naked and sketched each other. It wasn’t required that you get naked yourself, but I would say 95% of us did. It was a really great bonding experience and helped get you comfortable with each other fast. The teacher who required this is no longer at PHTS, and I don’t know if this still happens, but that’s where the naked rumors came from. </p>
<p>Even without Naked Parties I would say chances are by the end of two years at PHTS almost everyone has stripped down to at least their undies for one scene or another. As terrifying as it is, it’s really a good experience. Nudity is part of a lot of shows, and you have to get comfortable with it at some point. </p>
<p>As far a PHTS goes, I wouldn’t describe it as a studio made up of directors and actors. Most PHTS kids don’t categorize themselves that strictly. The classes you take freshman year might have names like, Directing I, Design I, Actors Instrument, but all of them are about making you a whole theater artist. That’s what PHTS strives for, to make a whole theater artist by exposing you to a lot of different elements of theater. Some of the best acting I saw was done in directing classes because it was people taking risks and trying things. Your second year at PHTS you get to decide if you are going to do a performance track or production track, but even then you can take classes in both tracks. Actors at PHTS get exposed to a lot of different techniques and styles. You learn to speak and create with a lot of different acting vocabularies, which is great because your never goanna do a professional show that is all Meisner trained actors, or Atlantic trained actors. Not that I think there is anything wrong with dedicating yourself to one technique. Just saying for some actors its nice to have variety and get to piece to gather for yourself what process works for you. </p>
<p>There is a LOT more to the PHTS program, and I wont go into it all unless anyone has specific questions about it, but I think it gets a worse rap then it deserves. People hear that you’re doing something beside just acting and they freak out, because what they came for was acting. But what PHTS is really doing is teaching you to be the best Theater Artist you can be. Even if you end up exclusively doing acting at PHTS you learn how your acting fits into the larger creative process and how you support the art as a whole.</p>