For more opportunities to work with guest teachers curated by Heidi, check out the Acting Collective.
A 4-week course on acting the song that deepens your process and explores how to negotiate the distance of a camera to your musical performance.
Create a working process that mines your personal relationship with the music and lyrics. Bring forward your own unique self expression, and rethink how you find the truth in songs for auditions and performance on stage and camera.
The camera reveals even more if you are authentic and in the moment. The camera is a brilliant marker for your honest work—you can’t lie to a camera, you can’t lie in a close up. This is why it’s becoming even more crucial to be able to work moment-to-moment in your musical theater acting.
This class is applicable to singing on stage or on film/TV. Over four weeks, this class will cover the following themes:
DISTINGUISH THE TEXT & INTRODUCE THE “PORTRAIT”
What are the words saying?
What did the lyricist write and provide you with?
How are the words functioning and activating?
INTEGRATE MUSIC & CREATE THE CHARACTER PORTRAIT
In the process of applying music to the lyrics, how can you make these words real for you?
Can you deepen the personalization of the lyrics while singing?
INTEGRATE CHARACTER OBJECTIVES AND CIRCUMSTANCES & FRAME THE PORTRAIT
How do you find a way into the truth of the character and circumstances?
How do you bridge the differences between you as an actor and the character?
DELIVER THE WORK FREELY & HANDLE LIVE CALL BACKS
How do you trust that you’ve done the work and allow yourself to throw it all away?
Aim to channel your creativity and get inside that poetic space instead of recreating your preparation.
This class is great for anyone who wants to deepen their creative expression while acting a song. Andy will guide you towards bringing a sense of who you are to your audition or performance.
If you have ever felt stalled or stuck in accessing a deeper personal connection, or if you’ve ever felt like you’re winging it every time with no real process that you can count on, this class is for you.
Having a logical process can free you up artistically and creatively.
This class is for intermediate to advanced/professional singers. Note: this class is not suitable for non-singers.
Andy Señor Jr. was born and raised in Miami, Florida. He was the Associate Director of Gloria and Emilio Estefan’s musical On Your Feet! on Broadway, Netherlands, and UK West End Productions as well as Roundabout Theatre Company’s Broadway production of Irving Berlin’s Holiday Inn. He served as Associate Director on the new musical Fly at Dallas Theatre Center w Jeffrey Seller. Andy made his professional debut in the Tony Award winning musical RENT as “Angel,” playing the role on Broadway, London’s West End, and US National and International Tours. Later he became the Assistant Director to Michael Greif on the RENT revival Off Broadway, and went on to re-stage the production in Tokyo, Japan and the historic production in Havana, Cuba. Most recently he directed two new Nilo Cruz plays, Tsunami and Farhad and the Secret of Being. He holds a BFA in Theatre from Florida International University who honored him with a Torch Award, noting him as a distinguished alumni, and further trained at The Public Theater’s Shakespeare LAB where he appeared in All’s Well That Ends Well at the Public Theater. In the spring of 2021 his directorial debut documentary, Revolution Rent, will be released with Neil Patrick Harris as the Executive Producer on HBO.
HEIDI’S ENDORSEMENT
Andy has a keen sensitivity to when you are in your truth zone for character and song. He guides actors gently and firmly—I’ve watched him completely transform performances in musical theater. His approach will ground you in the text and you will learn to not miss a beat, emotionally and musically.
Check out this Broadway.com feature on Andy!
>> How Andy Señor Jr. Went from Producing Rent in Cuba to Making a Documentary
Skip to the 06:30 mark to watch Andy!
This class came at the perfect time for me. It clarified a lot of doubts that I have had recently in regards to my work. Watching other people work gave me way more than I was expecting to get out of the class.
Andy is an excellent coach who can instill confidence and help you “bring it.”
Perfect timing! His words resonated with me. Especially being classically trained, when he compared word of songs and the use of them to Shakespeare text…it made perfect sense!!!!! The words tell the story.
LOVED that this was musical theatre. I learned so much from this that I take back into my straight acting.
I really loved Andy’s positive, easy-going energy. It invited everyone to open up their channels and allow their vulnerable selves to really shine through the screen-some really honest work was happening through Andy’s guidance. A quote that I LOVED was, “You must disturb the air particles in the room.” Another quote I loved, “There is nothing to SHOW, only something to SHARE.” Andy is magnetic.
It was a different approach to musical theater than I’d been working with for the last few years. More like a Shakespeare approach that I’ve never applied to songs.
Definitely came at the right time. Interesting diverse group of students with different needs for their work. I’m surprised how much it affected me being a one-off class and I would love to learn more from Andy.
Full disclosure — please note that we do not guarantee that actors in these classes or workshops will be hired for any project that we might direct, produce, or cast. We teach and coach because we enjoy supporting and nurturing actors as you develop your personal process for auditioning, working and creating your own work.