Starting 10/30: CASTING DIRECTOR PRO MASTER CLASSES, a 3-class series

Description

Elevate your career by working directly with the people behind the table to sharpen your audition and performance skills and gain a better insight on what seek in the audition room.

 

Sharpen your audition and performance skills by working directly with the people behind the table in this three-class series. Workshop your audition, the acting of the song, and gain insight on what they are looking for in each audition. 

 

Learn from some of the best casting directors from Broadway, Off Broadway, National Tours and Regional Theaters and Cruise Lines. Each week you will perform your audition cuts for, and be coached by a notable Casting Director.

 Instructors and Dates:

• Wed 10/30 - Class #1: You will workshop your audition materials with Casting Director MERRI SUGARMAN (Tara Rubin Casting)
• Wed 11/6 - Class #2: You will workshop your audition materials with Casting Director PAUL HARDT (Hardt Casting)
• Wed 11/13 - Class #3: You will workshop your audition materials with Casting Director CHAD MURNANE (Murnane Casting)

 

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.  

 

All classes will be held 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: 

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 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 the series 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 THE WHO’S TOMMY, WATER FOR ELEPHANTS, THE OUTSIDERS, THE WIZ, THE HEART OF ROCK AND ROLL, COMPANY, SIX, AIN’T TOO PROUD, DEAR EVAN HANSEN, ALADDIN, JERSEY BOYS, HERE LIES LOVE, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, LES MISERABLES, SCHOOL OF ROCK, MISS SAIGON and A BRONX TALE. CLUELESS the Musical, TREVOR the Musical (2023 Artios Award) and FIDDLER ON THE ROOF (2024 Artios Award) are just a few examples of her Off Broadway work. The TRC office is also responsible for the casting of Billy Crystal’s series “Before” for Apple TV. 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. Merri is the very proud Casting Director of the critically acclaimed web series SUBMISSIONS ONLY and also boasts having cast many other independent TV & film projects, workshops and readings. In addition, Merri is now also the Casting Director at The South Carolina New Play Festival. She has been a Tony Voter for the past eleven years and is a proud member of CSA (Casting Society of America). Merrie is the author of "From Craft To Career A Casting Director's Guide For the Actor" (https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/from-craft-to-career-9781350276017/)

 

Paul Hardt, CSA  Broadway: Once Upon A One More Time, West Side Story, Come Fly Away, August Osage County, A Moon For The Misbegotten, On Golden Pond, Hot Feet, Caine Mutiny Court Martial. National Tours, Cats, West Side Story (US and World Tour), A Bronx Tale, Dirty Dancing, Legends!, Whistle Down The Wind, One Golden Pond, August Osage County and the current North American tour of Annie. Regional Theatres include: Goodspeed Opera House, Bucks County Playhouse, Delaware Theatre Company, TheaterWorks Hartford, Shakespeare Theatre Company.

 

Chad Eric Murnane, CSA (he/him)Chad is a New York-based casting director and the founder of Murnane Casting. Before launching Murnane Casting, he spent six years at Binder Casting and three years at Lisa Fields Casting. He is passionate about championing actors and strives to cultivate a sense of humanity and ease in the audition process. He is committed to investing in untapped and underrepresented artists. Career highlights include casting Anne of Green Gables (Goodspeed), Into the Woods (Hollywood Bowl), Emojiland (off-Broadway), along with national/international tours of Lincoln Center Theater’s My Fair Lady, Dear Evan Hansen, Tina, The Sound of Music, and the Tony Award-winning revival of The Color Purple. On film, Chad worked on Paramount Pictures’ Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows and the reboot of Friday the 13th. Chad earned a B.S. in Media Studies with Entertainment Entrepreneurship from The New School, as well as an M.A. in Arts Administration from Baruch College. Additionally, he is a CAP21 Conservatory graduate. A member of the Casting Society of America, Chad is a three-time Artios Award nominee for his work in theatre and an advocate for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. He resides in Washington Heights with his husband and their terrier.

 

Terms and Conditions: Click here to read the Masterclass PRO Terms and Conditions

Date & Time

Wed, Oct 30, 2024 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM

Venue Details

Open Jar Studios

1601 Broadway
New York, New York 10010

Open Jar Institute