About
Mary Bracken Phillips is a Tony nominated writer, actress, and teacher whose numerious Broadway credits include Martha Jefferson in "1776" and Grace Farrell in "Annie". Off Broadway credits include "Look Where I'm At" (Variety Critics Cicle Award "Best Actress In An Off Broadway Musical'), her own musical, “Cradle Song” and the “The Perfect Party” by Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Charles Fuller. She was a featured soloist in the original production of Leonard Bernstein’s “Mass” at the Kennedy Center, Philadelphia Academy of Music and Metropolitan Opera and toured as featured vocalist with eight time Oscar winning composer Michel LeGrand in concerts nationally including Carnegie Hall. She studied acting with Sanford Meisner in NYC, the Rheinhardt Seminar in Vienna, Austria and has been teaching and directing young and adult actors and singers for over fifteen years. She has an MFA from the prestigious Tisch School of the Arts at N.Y.U and studied voice with legendary Sue Seton in NYC and later with Felix Knight, opera star and tenor coach at the Metropolitan Opera. The technique she teaches is a combination of the world class training methods of these two great teachers plus her own years of professional singing 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.
Former students have appeared on and Off Broadway and on television in “Thirty Rock”, “Gilmore Girls”, “Law and Order”, "Orange Is The New Black", "Law And Order SUV", "Blue Bloods", "Criminal Minds", "The Charming Miss Maisel", on and Off Broadway and others.
As a college audition coach, she has successfully coached young actors into NYU, EMERSON, CARNEGIE MELLON, ELON, AMERICAN ACADEMY OF MUSIC AND DRAMATIC ARTS, MUHLENBERG, SUNY PURCHASE, BRISTOL OLD VIC THEATRE SCHOOL AND OTHERS.
In addition to her studio in Croton on Hudson she also teaches over Skype.
She is a member of AEA, SAG/AFTRA, AGMA and The Dramatists Guild.
I have been teaching beginning, intermediate and developing professional singers and actors for fifteen years and love it! There is nothing like the feeling I get from watching my students grow and florish as singers and actors. I was lucky enough to study with two legendary teachers and I pass their brilliance, inspiration and knowledge on to my students. Hopefully I can inspire them as much as my teachers did me.
Specialties
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Frequently asked questions
What is your typical process for working with a new student?
I start with showing them singers' breathing which is into the lower abs and then demonstrate the basics of vocal support using the abs not the throat. Then I move to vocal exercises which will give me an idea of the student's natural ability as a singer, the level of their vocal technique and what we need to work on and improve. This gives me a chance to get to know them and hopefully make them a little less nervous. A voice lesson is nothing to be nervous about. It's a place to learn, take chances, make mistakes and hopefully become a great singer. Oh...and have a couple laughs along the way.
What education and/or training do you have that relates to your work?
BA Theatre/Voice University of Kansas
BFA Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program N.Y.U Yisch School of the Arts.
Acting NYC: 2 years Sanford Meisner Proffessional Class Meisner Technique
Scene Study: Arthur Storch Professional Class
Voice NYC: Sue Seton, Felix Knight
BMI Workshop NYC, beginning and advanced workshops