
With more than thirty years experience on both sides of the casting table I can help you focus your attention and your tools on that one job.
Forget about impressing them.
Forget about guessing what they want.
Forget about booking... until you book.
(Then you can think about how great that is.)
But, for now?
We're going to get you to tell a really great story.I work both in my home in Washington Heights and in client-rented spaces on the Upper West Side and in Midtown.
Read more about this pro
Christopher Gurr is Amazing. I booked the first job we put down on tape. I looked great, sounded fantastic and his editing skills made my audition tape something I was very proud to submit. Whether it's a musical, straight play or on-camera I can't recommend Christopher highly enough.
I highly recommend coaching with Christopher Gurr! He really impressed me with his attention to detail, mastery of comedy, and bullshit detector for moments when I was making a half-choice or using ambiguous tactics in the scene. He supported and piggybacked on my ideas instead of forcing his own take of the character onto me. We worked on some tricky, perhaps poorly-written sides but I left feeling excited and confident about what I wanted to bring to the audition.
Gurr and I coached on British/RP dialect for a huge audition for a major casting agency. He was patient, kind, broke everything down and even made me a recording that I could use to work on my own. The session was low stress and best of all affordable! When I went in the room I was confident because I was well prepared and nailed the audition. I can't recommend him highly enough for any of your audition prep needs. He does it all!
Christopher's expertise and insight on truthful acting is what made me love working with him. We recently worked on a stack of call back sides that came in short notice to both of us and I left a 45-minute session with a much deeper understanding of the character's motives and point of view from scene to scene. He even guided me on how to present myself in the actual audition room, for example suggesting where to look while reading a scene that involves and addresses many people when there is only one reader. He creates a safe space that makes vulnerable work easier to tap into and he is incredibly invested in every minute of the work.
My first goals with a new student are 1) finding out what their experience is so far and 2) what they have in mind in terms of goals for their work. It's important that the student have a really clear idea of they want from our time together so we can both discover if I'm the right teacher for this time in their development.
I earned a BFA in Musical Theatre Performance from Webster University in St. Louis and I've been teaching theatre arts in some form or another for over twenty-five years. I'm a working actor and have earned my living in theatre my entire adult life. I've worked in regional theatre and on Broadway in musicals and non-musical works.
My standard rate for all my coaching clients is $80 an hour.
I mostly work with artists who are already working in the profession—both on Broadway and all over the country—but I have had some clients who are preparing to audition for professional training programs and colleges as well.
What are your strengths and weaknesses as you see them? What do you think your strengths and weaknesses are as others see you? Where do you want to be in ten years? What theatre work do you admire?
Acting Classes Shakespearean Acting Classes Stage Performance Training Theater Acting Classes