Dictionary definitions may seem odd or boring but we wanted you to have an understanding of why we use the words we do.  Practicing an art of the spoken word, we like knowing what we mean and thought you might like to know, as well.  Besides, as her students know, Studio Director Molly Lyons, actually enjoys looking up words in the Oxford English Dictionary.  The cast of a production of EVERYMAN she directed, gave her a set of the OED as a closing night gift, after looking up every word of the script during the rehearsal process.  When Molly looked up the phrase "Classic Acting Conservatory" in the dictionary, she was also pleased to discover some delightful secondary meanings of the words that supported her desire to create and teach in the Classic style, as she was trained.  

classic (klàs´îk) adjective

1. a. Belonging to the highest rank or class. b. Serving as the established model or standard: a classic example of colonial architecture. c. Having lasting significance or worth; enduring.
2. a. Adhering or conforming to established standards and principles: a classic piece of research. b. Of a well-known type; typical: a classic mistake.
3. Abbr. class. Of or characteristic of the literature, art, and culture of ancient Greece and Rome; classical.
4. a. Formal, refined, and restrained in style. b. Simple and harmonious; elegant: the classic cut of a suit; the classic lines of a clipper ship.
5. Having historical or literary associations: classic battlefields of the Civil War.

Classic, Classical, and Classicism, terms describing the style, historical period, or quality of a work of art, literature, or music. A classic is any ancient Greek or Roman literary work of the highest quality, as well as anything accepted as a model of excellence or as a work of enduring cultural relevance and value.

conservatory (ken-sûr´ve-tôr´ê, -tor´ê) noun plural conservatories

1. A greenhouse, especially one in which plants are arranged aesthetically for display, as at a botanical garden.
2. A school of music or dramatic art. academy: conservatory, school of music, school of dance, ballet school, art school, academy of dramatic art

"A classic is a book that has never finished saying what it has to say." Italo Calvino (1923-85), Italian author, critic. "Why Read the Classics?," in L'Espresso (Rome, 28 June 1981; repr. in The Literature Machine, 1987). This is one of a series of definitions of "a classic" in Calvino's essay.

The Columbia Dictionary of Quotations is licensed from Columbia University Press. Copyright © 1993, 1995 by Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

The Original Roget's Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases (Americanized Version) is licensed from Longman Group UK Limited. Copyright © 1994 by Longman Group UK Limited. All rights reserved.

Excerpted from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Third Edition © 1996 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Electronic version licensed from INSO Corporation; further reproduction and distribution in accordance with the Copyright Law of the United States. All rights reserved.