Musical Theater Audition Master Class with Merri Sugarman, Casting Director, Tara Rubin Casting

Monday, April 11, 2011, 6:30pm ET / 3:30pm PT

From one of the busiest Broadway casting offices in NY, Actors Connection is thrilled to have Merri teaching this ONE NIGHT ONLY Musical Theater Audition Master Class. For this Master Class, please prepare 1 song and bring your book as Merri may want to hear something additional. The evening will start off with a Q & A, and then each actor will perform for Merri using your prepared material in a group format. She will coach, give direction and offer possible recommendations of material to "check out" if what you are currently using doesn't "work". This office is currently casting the Broadway and National tours of: Jersey Boys, Billy Elliot, Shrek, Mamma Mia!, Mary Poppins, Young Frankenstein, The Little Mermaid and The Phantom of the Opera. Past projects include: My Fair Lady, The Pirate Queen, Les Miserables, Spamalot, Spelling Bee, The Producers and Guys and Dolls to name a few. PLEASE NOTE: This class is limited to 14 ADVANCED Musical Theater actors.

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, BAD CINDERELLA, HERE LIES LOVE, ALADDIN, JERSEY BOYS, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, LES MISERABLES, SCHOOL OF ROCK, MISS SAIGON & A BRONX TALE for Broadway. 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 LaJolla Playhouse.

Merri is also 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.

On a more personal note, Merri has been a Big Sister to Jenny via the amazing Big Brothers/Big Sisters program for the last 21 years, is an alumni officer of the professional sorority Kappa Gamma Chi (BFA in Musical Theater - Emerson College), a member of Who’s Who in American Colleges and Universities and was recently recognized with the Distinguished Alumni Award from Emerson College. She has been a Tony Voter for the past eleven years and is a proud member of CSA (Casting Society of America).