To truly coach a performer on the art of auditioning is to help that person present a unified package that gets them noticed.
Welcome to Custom Coaching. We want to create a program specifically FOR YOU! A service designed to meet your unique needs as a performer. Whether you need to dissect, reconstruct, or to simply perfect the package that you are presenting to producers, directors, and casting agents, we want to help ensure that your material choices match and showcase your true talents. We want to establish a relationship with you and nurture it over time. We want to see you succeed in this business.
What do we offer? A “one-stop shopping” approach to a new kind of customized coaching, helping you to discover the “brand” you are cultivating. · Concentration on your entire “package” through headshot advice, resumé assistance, and a better understanding of the materials in your book. · Not just coaching in a vacuum, but assisting with selecting material strategically, so you are consistently presenting what only you can offer. · The benefit of two viewpoints, both giving you expert advice on how to execute the best audition.
How does it work? The first step is to meet. We need to get a sense of your talent, you need to get a sense of our coaching style; and then we can mutually decide if we should begin working together. We will be scheduling 15 minute-long introductory audition/interview sessions over the course of 3 evenings next week. Come in and present your 2 best pieces (songs or monologues), and we will give you honest feedback, assessing whether your material lines up with what you are presenting. Then we’ll talk briefly about your personal goals. What are you looking for in a coach? And we’ll give you our first impression of how we think we could help you. This is all FREE of charge, with no further obligation. The second step is to make a plan. Take some time to think about how your session with Custom Coaching went. If you decide you’d like to work together, contact us to set up a consultation. For $20, we will spend an hour chatting with you, discussing the following in more detail: What are your long-term career goals? What are your short-term career goals? How can we help you achieve them? We want to get to know you, find out what drives you, and learn what you want to put out there as an artist. We’ll determine what we hope to accomplish, map out a coaching program to make it happen, and ideally, schedule your first session, so we can get started.
The final step is to begin your coaching with us. Since we have already given some thought to your unique talents and guided you toward the best material to highlight them, the next step is to help you nail the audition every time. We will challenge you to be specific with who are you talking to, to maximize the words you have been given, and to make all your choices more connected and honest. The cost of these sessions will be $75/hour. Whether you’re looking to study with us once a week, once every other week, or just in preparation for an upcoming audition or callback, Custom Coaching is here to help you identify and accomplish your goals, as well as continually gain a deeper understanding of the business of “You”. To set up your introductory audition/interview, please email us at CustomCoaches@gmail.com. We will meet new clients on a regular basis. We look forward to hearing from you, and also, we look forward to working with you.
Sincerely, Francis Kelly & James Jackson, Jr. | FRANCIS KELLY - After graduating from the University of Notre  As a proud member of Actors’ Equity, Francis has worked with various regional theaters including Westchester Broadway Theatre, Fulton Opera House, Hangar Theatre, and Idaho Shakespeare Festival. At North Carolina Stage Company, he performed his first solo show, Dan Butler’s The Only Thing Worse You Could Have Told Me… with Immediate Theatre Project. His New York credits include: “Burrs” in Michael John LaChiusa’s The Wild Party; Flora, The Red Menace; Kiss Me, Kate at the Lucille Lortel; and the Drama Desk nominated New York premiere of George Orwell’s Animal Farm. Directing credits include: Love, NY: In Concert at New World Stages; Forever Plaid at Forestburgh Playhouse; and various cabaret/concert events. As Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director of AnyMinuteNow Productions, Francis produced two sold out concerts at Lincoln Center (Triumph of Love and Andrew Lippa’s john & jen), and the NYMF award-winning production of Smoking Bloomberg. He acted as the casting director for all of AnyMinuteNow’s productions, and as a casting associate on the critically acclaimed Fringe musical, Martha & Me. A faculty member at CAP21 (NYU's Musical Theatre Conservatory), Francis has taught mock audition master classes, audition technique for college students and post-graduate professionals during the Summer Intensive Musical Theatre Training Program, and has served as an audition coach for CAP21's graduating seniors. JAMES JACKSON, JR. - A Boston native, James earned his BA in As a music director, James has worked with several regional theaters around the country, including Arlington Drama, Bucks County Playhouse, and New World Theater Company on several productions. Kiss Me Kate, Pippin, Ragtime, Once on this Island, You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown, Sound of Music, Starmites, Aida, & Once Upon a Mattress to name a few. As a coach, James has taught voice and piano privately and with The Jeanette Paulter School of Boston, Massachusetts as well as The Carole Hayes Studio of New Jersey for the last 5 years. With students as young as 9 years old, James currently coaches several performers working throughout New York and New England. A proud member of Actor’s Equity, James has appeared in the national touring company of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Whistle Down The Wind. He has worked with SpeakEasy Stage Company (The Wild Party –regional premiere), North Shore Music Theater (Showboat), The Company Theatre (Jesus Christ Superstar, Songs for a New World, Hair), Columbia Stages (The Wild Party), Massasoit Theatre (Dreamgirls – Theatre III DASH Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical), Bucks County Playhouse (Ragtime, Smokey Joe’s Café), and The Gallery Players (Hair). |