Pre-Professional Acting for the Stage & Screen
TRAIN
Video by Austin Lewis.
Announcing 2024-2025 TRAIN Auditions
Plus, New Private Voice Lessons and a 2nd Semester Live Production March 1 & 2!
Now accepting video submissions.
Ages 12 - 18
Tuesdays 5-7pm September 10th-February 25th
Classes at RPAA and Performances at Libby S. Gottwald Playhouse inside Dominion Energy Arts Center
THE PROGRAM
TRAIN is Virginia's premier pre-professional actor training program designed to provide the serious acting student with the practical skills needed to succeed in the business. Students work with top industry professionals, including arvold, an award-winning organization that provides casting, production, and education.
Our students leave the program with a well-rounded skill set, including monologues, scenes, cold reads, script analysis, on-camera work, audition skills, acting the song, vocal, and physical techniques and a better understanding of themselves as artists. We also emphasize rigor, preparation, consistency, discipline, accountability, responsibility, and materials for college, specialty centers, professional theater, and film & TV opportunities.
Our students have gone on to work with top theaters in the area, as well as in TV, commercials, films, web series, and voice-overs. As a testament to their exceptional guidance, Cadence students have achieved acceptance into prestigious institutions, including Carnegie Mellon University, Northwestern University, New York University, Missouri State University, North Carolina School of the Arts, Syracuse University, Shenandoah University, Montclair State University, JMU, and VCU, among many others.
THE SHOW: Spring Break by Joe Calarco
March 1-2 at the Libby S. Gottwald Playhouse
In Joe Calarco's play, as spring break begins, 19 teenagers navigate a night of celebration, friendship, heartache, and self-discovery. Through moments of empathy and humor, this candid dramedy explores pivotal decisions and the quest for individual identity. Each character grapples with defining who they truly aspire to be, amidst the seemingly ordinary yet transformative events that shape their futures. Will include live music by student vocalists and musicians.
TO AUDITION
Students will be asked to record a short monologue and a 16-bar cut of a song (if singing).
Send your submissions to: TRAIN Program Director, Laine Satterfield, at lainesatterfield7@gmail.com.
Cost: $1500
Payment plans are available.
Space is limited.
Don't just take our word for it—here's what our students and parents have to say:
“TRAIN not only helped me get into my dream school but made me realize my own potential and worth as an artist and more importantly, a person. It really changed my life for the better, and I can’t thank you enough.”
- TRAIN College Prep student
“Your college prep course is invaluable. My daughter was invited to audition at each school to which she applied and felt confident during the process. The TRAIN experience has, no doubt, helped prepare my daughter for a career in musical theater.”
- TRAIN College Prep parent
We are honored to have been named Best Acting Studio in Richmond by DistinguishedTeaching.com in 2022!
Core Teaching Artists
Erica Arvold, Film / TV
Erica has been an educator, guest instructor, and speaker for over 20 years, sharing insights from a career as a casting director and producer that spans major studio films, television shows, and multimedia projects. She has had the honor of collaborating with and serving students and faculty at universities, schools and acting studios across the country including UVA, UNC, George Mason, Longwood, TRAIN at Virginia Repertory, and many others. Her multiple festival and conference appearances over the years include serving as a panelist, moderator, mentor, and host; recent festivals include Austin, Virginia, Richmond, and the Independent Television Festival. She has been the keynote speaker for several organizations outside of the filmmaking industry as well. In 2010, Erica founded arvold.education with the goal of raising the bar for all film artists through training and collaboration. arvold.education develops and offers master classes for actors and also sponsors events, panels, and discussions on all aspects of the industry. As the daughter of a professor, Erica believes that we are and will always be students of one another, a belief that was shaped and molded by her years at The Theatre School, DePaul University (formerly The Goodman School of Drama), which has manifested into a deep love of craft and a belief in formal training as a means to consistent, constant artistic growth.
Paul Dandridge, Dance
Paul Dandridge is a faculty member at Richmond Ballet and a full time Teaching Artist with its Community Engagement program, Minds In Motion. Paul received his dance training from the School of Richmond Ballet as well as Indiana University’s Ballet Theatre program and has performed works by some of the dance world’s greatest choreographers; George Balanchine (The Four Temperaments, Serenade, Who Cares?), Twyla Tharp (Noir), Paul Taylor (Cloven Kingdom), Fredrick Ashton (Les Patineurs), Agnes de Mille (Rodeo), among many others. Recently, Paul has performed more on the musical theater stage as Nelius, the dancing statue in Mary Poppins, and as A-Rab, in West Side Story, both with Virginia Repertory Theatre. He is thrilled to be on the TRAIN team.
Jana Farrell, Musical Theatre Acting (Thursday)
Jana is thrilled to join the TRAIN teaching family. She has a BFA in Musical Theatre from Boston Conservatory, with an emphasis in Speech, and an MFA in Acting Performance from VCU. While a Graduate Student at VCU, Jana performed several roles at the former Theatre Virginia including Arcadia (Chloe), Much Ado About Nothing (Margaret), Picasso at the Lapine Agile (Suzanne/Countess/Female Admirer), Hay Fever (Jackie Coryton), and The Heiress (Marian). Most recently, Jana appeared as Miss Lynch in the TRAIN Summer Showcase production of GREASE: School Version. While she has fond memories of her New York City days, touring and acting in regional theatre, Jana now enjoys directing and teaching Speech & Drama where her journey began, in Chesterfield County Public Schools. She has been teaching middle- and high-school students since 2009, directing and choreographing many musicals and plays, including Hairspray, High School Musical, Zombie Prom, and John Lennon & Me. Over the course of her teaching career Jana has developed a strong working relationship with NYC/LA-based, award-winning playwright Brian Hampton (Jungle Fun Room, Gossip, Checking In), directing his plays and arranging for students to engage with the playwright throughout the rehearsal process. In 2018 Jana and Brian collaborated on the world premiere of USERNAME, scheduled for publication in 2019. She can’t wait to get started with the wonderfully talented TRAIN students!
Jason Marks, Vocal Coach for Musical Theatre
Jason Marks is one of Richmond's top tier talents, having performed on local area stages, as well as across the country in musicals and stage productions. New York: Broadway Gypsy of the Year (with Carol Channing), Bound for Broadway, Young Edgar. Regional: Mill Mountain Theatre, New Stage Theatre, Park Playhouse, Oregon Cabaret Theatre, Shenandoah Summer Music Theatre, Riverside Center, Swift Creek Mill Theatre, Virginia Repertory Theatre. Mr. Marks is an award-winning actor, singer, and cabaret artist, and was recognized with an Artsie Award in 2008 for his performance in Guys & Dolls, and the 2012 Theresa Pollak Prize for Excellence in the Arts from Richmond Magazine for his contributions to local theater. In addition, he won the 2010 Your Big Broadway Break contest, hosted by Staybridge Suites Times Square NYC, and is a 3-time NATS (National Association of Teachers of Singing) competition winner in men's classical and musical theatre divisions. He has performed solo concert work with the Richmond Symphony, as well as the Washington National Symphony and Chorus. He currently serves as resident music director for the children's touring department of Virginia Rep, and has also been commissioned to write several new stage works for VA Rep, including Hiawatha, Ellis Island: Gateway of Dreams, The Little Engine That Could, Have You Filled a Bucket Today? The Musical, and Newton's Apple. An experienced and veteran educator, Jason has taught for local youth arts organizations for almost 20 years, including SPARC (School of the Performing Arts in the Richmond Community), as well as education programs at the Weinstein JCC, Virginia Rep, and Cadence Theatre Company.
Laine Satterfield, Acting Technique and Program Director
Laine Satterfield (she/her) is an award-winning theatre artist who has performed in, taught, choreographed, directed, and devised theatre both nationally and internationally. She holds a BFA from Tisch School of the Arts at NYU and has trained at the University of Eurasian Theatre, Stella Adler Conservatory, Carnegie-Mellon University, and the University College of London (Dramaturgy – Shakespeare and modern British). She has taught at New York University, Stella Adler Conservatory, Aquila University, VCU’s School of Business, Virginia Governor’s School, Company of Fools, Artspower, SPARC, Center for the Arts, CenterStage, Cadence Theatre Company, the Joan Oates Institute for Partners in the Arts, and various workshops in the States and abroad. Laine founded the New York City based theatre group World 3 Theatre Company, where she was Artistic and Founding Director. She also toured extensively with the international theatre group Linea Trasversale, headed up by Eugenio Barba. Acting roles include Cadence/Virginia Rep's Gloria (2019 RTCC Best Play), Sight Unseen, In the Next Room (or the Vibrator Play), and Detroit (2015 RTCC Best Ensemble nomination); Virginia Rep's Pipeline, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, The Little Dog Laughed (2008 RTCC Best Supporting Actress nomination), and To Kill a Mockingbird; Richmond Triangle Players’ Cloud 9 (2018 RTCC Best Actress and Best Ensemble nomination); 5th Wall's Gideon’s Knot (2013 RTCC Best Ensemble Acting Award); and Firehouse Theatre Project's Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (2012 RTCC Best Actress nomination), Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf (2011 RTCC Best Actress Award), Mr. Marmalade, This is How it Goes, and Eurydice (2009 RTCC Best Actress nomination). Other favorite roles include Lady Macbeth in Macbeth, Elena in Uncle Vanya, Paulina in Death and the Maiden, and Ariel in The Tempest. Recent Direction: Cinderella, Airline Highway for Virginia Repertory Theatre and Small Mouth Sounds, The Mountaintop for Cadence/Virginia Rep (2017 RTCC Best Director Award). In addition to teaching theatre to all ages in the Richmond area, she serves as Program Director for Cadence’s STAGE WRITE Program and Cadence/Virginia Rep’s TRAIN Pre-Professional Acting Training Program. She was recently honored as one of Style Weekly’s Women in the Arts and is a member of Actor’s Equity Association.
