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Description
Casting Director and Talent Agent Coaching Series
A PRO Masterclass to elevate your career by studying with top industry insiders including a Broadway Resident Director, Casting Director and Talent Agent
Elevate your career and sharpen your audition skills by working directly with a Broadway resident director and key movers and shakers responsible for booking talent into Broadway’s biggest shows.
- Week One: You will workshop your audition with Broadway Resident Director (Bullets Over Broadway, Big Fish, The Scottsboro Boys), Jeff Whiting. He will coach you on your audition pieces.
- Week Two: You will perform your audition cuts for, and be coached by one of Broadway’s leading talent agents, Jed Abrahams and gain insight on what Agents are looking for when seeking new clients. At the end of the class, Jeff Whiting will give follow up feedback on your material and concepts covered during the series
- Week Three: You will perform your audition cuts for, and be coached by leading Broadway Casting Director Merri Sugarman (Tara Rubin Casting)
Learn from some of the best leaders in the Broadway industry:
- Jeff Whiting, Broadway Resident Director
- Jed Abrahams, KMR Talentx
- Merri Sugarman, Tara Rubin Casting
**Instructors Listed In Order of Appearance**
Class will begin each week at 7pm and each student will work one-on-one with the instructor on cuts of audition songs or monologues in a classroom setting. Each class will also include a short Q&A, information on the intricacies of the casting process and insight on what the auditioner can do to stand out.
DATES:
- Tuesday July 18th
- Week of July 24th (no class)
- Tuesday August 1st
- Monday August 7th
All classes begin at 7pm at Open Jar Studios, 1601 Broadway, 11th Floor
Under the direction of Artistic Director, Jeff Whiting, Open Jar’s Professional Class Series provides unique opportunities for performers to continue to hone their skills and work one-on-one with Broadway’s best stars, directors, composers, agents, and casting directors.
BIOS:
Jeff Whiting (CEO of Open Jar, Broadway Associate Director [Bullets Over Broadway, Young Frankenstein, Big Fish, The Scottsboro Boys]). Jeff will provide feedback & insight on songs presented in class, provide insider tips on how to improve the audition experience, and how to not sabotage your audition before you begin to sing.
Jed Abrahams is the Senior Vice President and Head of the New York Office for Kazarian/Measures/Ruskin & Associates, Inc., one of Broadway's leading talent agencies. Jed fell in love with talent representation at the start of his career and continues to reaffirm his love each time he works with his clients.
Merri Sugarman Initially an actress ('Les Miserables', 'Aspects of Love', et al.), Merri found herself out West some years back where she quickly made a name for herself at Liberman/Hirschfeld Casting, then Liberman/Patton Casting, working on such shows as Seinfeld, Party of Five, HBO’s Band of Brothers, the feature film My Big Fat Greek Wedding and the Miramax feature film "Playing By Heart", starring Sean Connery and Angelina Jolie. In 2000, Merri moved to Dreamworks Studios as the Casting Executive in charge of TV Pilots and Series- including "Spin City", Freaks and Geeks and the critically acclaimed "The Job", starring Denis Leary. She was then offered a position as the Director of Casting for Dramas and Movies at ABC Television, overseeing the casting of "Alias", "NYPD Blue", "The Practice" and the 'made for television’ movies "Gilda Radner - It's Always Something" and "The Music Man", starring Matthew Broderick and Kristin Chenoweth, to name just a few. Merri then returned to the East Coast to teach and coach actors – something she still does (and loves) as time permits, when Tara Rubin offered her a Senior Casting Director position where she’s been happily ensconced ever since, working on, among many others - the Broadway, touring and international companies of AIN’T TOO PROUD, DEAR EVAN HANSEN, THE WIZ, SIX, SING STREET, HERE LIES LOVE, ALADDIN, JERSEY BOYS, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, LES MISERABLES, SCHOOL OF ROCK, MISS SAIGON & A BRONX TALE. CLUELESS and TREVOR the Musical are just a couple of examples of her Off Broadway work. She also casts for many theaters regionally – including The Papermill Playhouse, Lyric Opera of Chicago, The Old Globe, Seattle Rep, The Goodman and The La Jolla Playhouse.
Terms and Conditions: Click here to read the Masterclass PRO Terms and Conditions
Date & Time
Tue, Jul 18, 2023 7:00 PM - 10:00 PM