THEATER:Offerings for real class acts

So you want to be on stage? Perhaps one day tread the boards at South Coast Repertory? Or merely overcome a little social shyness?

Whether you’re a career-minded professional or just interested in personal growth and development, South Coast Repertory has a class with your name on it. And it doesn’t matter whether you’re in grade school or receiving Social Security.

South Coast Repertory’s Theater Conservatory, now in its 33rd year of operation, launches its nine-week winter session on Jan. 8 with six levels of acting and improvisation, as well as acting for television or in films.

“Our curriculum is carefully developed so that serious students will be able to advance their training through progressively more intense sessions, with professional instructors, all the way to Actor’s Workshop,” said Karen Hensel, conservatory director.

“However,” she adds, “we have appropriate beginning levels in acting and improv for those who wish to develop communication skills or just overcome shyness and gain a little spontaneity in their lives.”

The first step is an introductory class called Fundamentals of Acting: Act I Basic Skills. The theater company offers two sessions under the tutelage of Martin Noyes (an actor and fight director) and Kristina Leach (an actress and award-winning playwright).

Graduates of Act I, as well as those who have completed any beginning acting class, may choose from two more levels of instruction — Fundamentals of Acting: Act II Scene Study, and Fundamentals of Acting: Act III Advanced Scene Study and Characterization. Both classes are taught by Greg Ungar, who appeared in the movie, “Super Size Me.”

The repertory’s resident Scrooge, Hal Landon Jr., teaches a course in acting for the camera (you may remember him in “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure”) and Greg Atkins, author of the handbook “Improv,” conducts a workshop for continuing students or those who have taken beginning classes.

The classes run through March 7 and tuition is $295 for each nine-week class. Those interested should call the Education Department at (714) 708-5577.

Meanwhile, the theater’s acting program for young people resumes Jan. 9 and continues through March 17. There is the Youth Program for grades 3 through 6 and the Teen Program for grades 7 through 12, meeting on Saturdays or after school on Mondays, Tuesdays or Wednesdays.

Both programs are conducted by Theater Conservatory director Hisa Takakuwa and a staff of theater professionals.

“Our goal is to inspire students not only to discover the talents that already exist, but to take risks,” Takakuwa says. “Once students gain self-confidence and understand the source of power that comes from working within an ensemble, they are unstoppable.”

In their first year in the Youth Program, students explore the world of theater through movement, focus and concentration with an emphasis on ensemble work, storytelling, character development and physical improvisation.

The second year’s focus shifts to understanding acting objectives and exploring scenes through specific character relationships. In the third year, serious acting students explore character development through advanced voice, body and text work.

Tuition for the Youth and Teen programs is $245 ($215 for siblings of enrolled students). The Players’ tuition is $355. Enrollment information also is available at (714) 708-5577.