EDUCATION : Acting Coaches / Stage

Brennan Murphey (206) 853-9168

(Equity, SAG, AFTRA)

A graduate of both the Yale School of Drama, ( MFA in Acting ) and The Central School of Speech and Drama, London, UK, with the post-graduate degree: Advanced Diploma of Voice Studies (ADVS),  Brennan Murphy teaches acting and voice at Freehold Studio/Theatre Lab in Seattle.  Working privately with  all levels of actors; beginning to seasoned professionals,   Brennan  also coaches BFA and MFA conservatory entance auditions for young actors.

Previously he had a twenty-year career as a professional actor in New York City and at regional theatres around the United States, performing in over 100 professional productions: stage productions, commercials, numerous workshops of new plays, and several experimental venues. On Broadway he was a featured actor in Angela Lansbury's revival of Mame, the critically-acclaimed Hal Prince/NYC Opera production of Candide, as well as Take Me Along, the musical version of Eugene O'Neill's classic, Ah, Wilderness!

As an educator, he has taught acting, voice, and movement at New York City's Stella Adler Conservatory of Acting and the American Musical and Dramatic Academy, California State University-Sacramento (Head of Acting), Illinois State University, University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign, SUNY at Buffalo State College, and at several of London's leading drama schools: Central School of Speech and Drama, Rose Bruford College, and Middlesex University. Brennan has taught master classes at universities around the United States and was a guest lecturer at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts in Perth. ( see Speaking Voice, Accent Reduction, Accents & Dialect, and Public Speaking Skills)

E-mail:  voicebox@yahoo.com

Denis Bateman (206) 523-6064
(Equity, SAG, AFTRA)
Denis Bateman studied with Uta Hagen for three years at the HB studio in NY City and has been a professional actor for 32 years. In addition he took Master classes with Mike Nichols and Horton Foote. Private audition coaching. (see also Commercial Training)

Lani Brockman (425) 827-3123
(Equity, SAG)
Private coaching, Brockman trained at Circle in The Square Theatre in NYC, and is currently artistic director at Studio East. She is an excellent resource for audition pieces and excels in getting that “old standard” rejuvenated and ready for that last-minute time slot.  ( see Youth Theatre)

Michael J. Loggins

Tel: (206) 819-2476

Email: mjlogg@yaho0.com

Michael Loggins currently accepts private students. Contact him either by phone or email.  Works with pre-teen to adult ages.  A graduate of London’s Academy of Music and Drama (LAMDA), Michael J. Loggins has been an a stage and film actor as well as taught dialects and voice for over 30 years.  For the last 10 years he has worked as an acting and improvisation presentation instructor and coach at John Robert Powers ( see ch.2, speaking voice) (Seattle)

Ted D’Arms (206) 282-2254
(Equity, SAG, AFTRA)
Audition coaching, by interview only. An actor/director, D’Arms has been part of the regional theatre scene for 35 years. He studied with Hagen and Katsellas in New York, and taught at Harvard, the University of Washington and Cornish College of the Arts.

Toni Douglas (206) 244-7558
(Equity, AFTRA)
Private audition coaching, Douglass is an actor/director/playwright whose regional acting credits include Intiman, ACT, Empty Space, Seattle Group Theatre, Tacoma Actor’s Guild and Southcoast Repertory Co. A playwright with 26 published plays to her credit, Douglass also writes custom audition pieces, which she will coach to performance level..

Rita Giomi (206) 784-6065
Audition workshops and private coaching. Giomi is a recognized Seattle directors with an MFA in directing and 25 years of professional experience at many of the Northwest’s leading Equity houses. Giomi’s audition workshops are well attended.
E-mail: rgiomi@comcast.net

Aaron Levin (206) 526-2466
( Equity, SAG, AFTRA)
Aaron Levin has taught acting for over 25 years. Trained by Mira Rostova , Aaron studied in London under directors of the National Theatre of Great Britain and the Royal Shakespeare Company, and is a graduate of the North Carolina School of the Arts ( BFA in Acting and the University of Washington ( MFA in Directing. ) In addition, he was Executive Director of Seattle’s Bridges International Repertory Theatre, for which he directed A Map of the World by Sir David Hare, The Primary English Class by Israel Horovitz, and Death and the Maiden by Ariel Dorfman. He has directed all across the country, including the New York premieres of The Workroom by Jean-Clause Grumberg ( NY Drama Desk Awared nomination) and was the first American theatre director to work with the famous Sovremennik Theatre of Moscow. As well as private coaching, Aaron teaches a small Actor’s Monologue and Scene Study Class, Monday 6 pm to 9 pm at the TPS studio at Seattle Center. Aaron has over 500 monologues for actors
E-mail ahlevin6@aol.com

Catherine Madden (206) 368-8544
Acting and Alexander Technique; workshops and private coaching that combine stagework and movement theory. Madden is former Artistic Director of a Midwestern theatre company who’s taught Alexander Technique for 124 years, and is currently the Alexander instructor in the UW’s Professional Acting Program. Her specialty is the practical application of the Alexander Technique to all performing arts-theatre, music, and dance. She is the Director of the Alexander Technique Teaching and Performance Studio in Seattle, and Associate Director of ATA in Japan and UKATA in England. (see Alexander Technique)
E-mail: cathmadden@aol.com

Maureen Mershon
(Equity)
Maureen Mershon has been working professionally since she was 12 and has been a member of Equity since she was 19. She studied at The American Musical and Dramatic Academy in NYC, where she worked in plays cabaret, musicals, independent films and commercials. Ms. Mershon has taught all levels, from college ( UCLA) to high school and grammar school. In addition, Ms. Mershon has produced, directed and choreographed many plays, musicals and wrote a play, produced at NWAS in 1996. Ms. Mershon directed Murder in the Cathedral for the Fringe Festival, a production that was deemed, “best vocal performance in Seattle” by one critic. ( see Youth Theatre)
E-mail: mmershon@blanchet.k12.wa.us

Kevin McQuade (206) 965-9068
Holding an MFA in Directing, Kevin McQuade has been teaching theatre for more than 25 years at all levels, from High Schools and colleges to professional actors such as Lara Flynn Boyle and Laura Lee Bell (at Chicago Academy of Performing Arts) He has directed in Chicago at Alphabet Soup Children’s Theatre and other regional theatres. With over 75 acting production credits and 50 directing credits, McQuade works on acting and audition technique as well as trouble-shooting with directors. (see Youth theatre)

Terry Edward Moore (206) 313-0257
(Equity, SAG, AFTRA)
Private Audition coach; helps actors find clear and specific actions, clarify scansion, etc. Moore has an MFA in Acting/Directing from Brandeis University. He has acted, directed and taught around the country, including New York, Minneapolis and Phoenix, and has performed with most of the Equity Theatres in the Northwest.
Website: terryedwardmoore. com

Laurel Paxton
Laurel who holds a BFA from Cornish has been acting and directing for 25 years as wekk as teaching for the last 10. As a trainee Alexander Teacher, her coaching has a movement basis. ( see ActinClass studio)

Robin Lynn Smith (206) 323-7499ext. 15
(Equity, SAG, AFTRA)
A professional director and teacher, Smith is a founding member of Freehold and is on the faculty of Cornish. Since moving to Seattle from New York 20 years ago, she has directed at many of Seattle’s major theatres. She has been a guest director/faculty member at New York University and the UW. She holds an MFA in Directing from NYU and a BFA in Acting from Boston University. ( see Freehold Studio)

Veronica Weikel (206) 547-3230 or (360) 863-6298

(AFTRA)

Commercial voice teacher; offers private instruction in TV/Radio voice-over, audition and cold reading techniques. She can help you put together an audition CD in her studio. Very highly respected.

Arne Zaslove
Arne Zaslove is renowned all over the world as a director and teacher. In Seattle, he co-founded the Professional Actor’s Training Program, at the UW in 1976, was co-artistic director of the Seattle Rep and founded and was artistic director of the Bathhouse Theatre. He studied acting at Carnegie Mellon University, movement at Ecole Jacques Lecoq, and served an apprenticeship with Commedia dell’Arte master Carlo Mazzone-Clementi. He has directed at Teatro Zinzani in Seattle, Pomp,Duck and Circumstance in Berlin, as well as cabaret performance shows interweaving clown routines with high-level circus skills. In addition, Arne has directed over 30 highly innovative Shakespeare productions. ( see Physical Training, Shakespeare and his website)
E-mail: ArneZaslove@earthlink.net
www.zaslove.com