Introduction: Note: I am a Tony nominated voice, acting and audition coach who teaches on SKYPE and has appeared in over a dozen plays and musicals on and Off Broadway in shows including "1776" (Martha Jefferson) and "Annie" (Grace Farrell) and my own musical "Cradle Song". I was a featured soloist in Leonard Bernstein's "Mass" at the Kennedy Center, Philadelphia Academy of Music, and the Metropolitan Opera and featured vocalist in Oscar winning composer Michel LeGrand's American tour. I have been teaching beginning, intermediate and professional students for over fifteen years and love doing it! I have an MFA from the Tisch School of the Arts at N.Y.U and studied voice in NYC with legendary Sue Seton and later with Felix Knight, opera star and tenor coach at the Metropolitan Opera. The technique and vocal exercises I use are a combination of the world class training methods of these two great teachers which prepares the voice and body for everything from eight shows a week in the theatre to the arduous vocal challenge of a rock tour. I teach over Skype and have successfully coached students into Broadway and Off Broadway shows, college and university theatre departments and professional theatre schools from London to California.
As an actor, I was lucky enough to have worked with some gifted directors (Gordon Davidson, Mike Nichols, Peter Hunt and Allen Schneider to mention a few) and almost everything I know about directing and coaching actors, I learned from them. I was also fortunate enough to study with Sanford Meisner (creator of the Meisner Technique) and have taught his technique for years. I try to keep an atmosphere of support and exploration in my lessons so that my students will feel free to try anything, use their imaginations and not be afraid of making a fool of themselves. If you don't risk, you cannot grow.
FIFTEEN YEARS EXPERIENCE SUCCESSFULLY COACHING STUDENTS INTO NYU, EMERSON, CARNEGIE MELLON, CONNECTICUT COLLEGE, ELON, AMERICAN ACADEMY OF MUSIC AND DRAMATIC ARTS, UNIV. OF MICHIGAN, MUHLENBURG, SUNY PURCHASE, BRISTOL OLD VIC THEATRE SCHOOL, U.S.C, PACE AND OTHERS.
Former students have appeared on and Off Broadway and on “Thirty Rock”, “Gilmore Girls”, “Law and Order”, "Orange Is The New Black", "Law And Order SUV", "Blue Bloods", "Criminal Minds", The Marvelous Mrs Maisel" and others.
“Ms. Phillips is able to reach not only those students who are already excited about theater but inspire those who have no previous knowledge of it. To watch these young actors become more and more accomplished is a marvelous thing. Ms. Phillips inspired them all.” Mark St Germain…Obie winning playwright
It's very exciting to see the growth in vocal strength and range which comes from studying with a good teacher and equally wonderful to see what participating in an acting class can do for a young student in terms of confidence, poise and self discovery. A teenager who is shy and awkward socially can shine on the stage or come alive when singing a song. I have been told by several parents that I changed their son or daughter's life and there is nothing more rewarding than hearing that.
