N.Y. LIBRETTO is a 3-disc educational documentary series that chronicles the lives of three different actors as they fight to achieve their dreams in New York City. N.Y. LIBRETTO offers a glimpse into the lives of each actor as they commute from their respective apartments to their day jobs, and from voice lessons to dance classes, auditions, etc. We, the viewers, experience the world of theatre in NYC as they do...first-hand. Their voice lesson is our voice lesson. Their audition experience is ours to share. We see them at their emotional highs and lows. While one actor may be on top of the world, another is contemplating taking a different path in life. But what each of them has in common is the fight to survive in a cutthroat business. 

Additionally, N.Y. LIBRETTO ventures into the minds of “the people on the other side of the table.” Several of New York City’s top casting directors were gracious enough to volunteer their insight into the world of auditioning. With all of the discrepancies out there regarding proper audition protocol, these casting directors are here to put an end to the ever-present struggle to know what it is that they really want to see in the audition room. N.Y. LIBRETTO provides face-to-face interviews and answers to the following questions: What should I wear to an audition? Should it be “dressy” or casual? Should I wear what the character that I’m auditioning for would wear? What do casting directors really want to see when they request eight bars or sixteen bars of an audition piece? Should I prepare a piece that is vocally impressive and shows off my skills and technique, or should I prepare something more suited to the character in the show? How should I treat the accompanist? What should my headshot/resume look like? Is it okay to sing from the show? How do you feel about a man singing a woman’s song and vice versa? N.Y. LIBRETTO provides answers to all of these questions and many more.

Providing young actors and theatre students with all of this insight enables those individuals and schools with smaller budgets to partake in the “inside information” that some of the larger, more reputable schools indulge in on an annual basis. And for those institutions that spend large amounts of money flying individual casting directors to and from their campuses for a two-day workshop, N.Y LIBRETTO enables them to gain insight from multiple casting directors at a fraction of the expense. As an example, the minimum fee required for a university requesting a workshop with a single casting director is roughly $1000 (this includes round-trip airfare, lodging, transportation, and the casting director’s fee); and that’s just one casting director. Compare that with the introductory price of N.Y. LIBRETTO - $31 ($41 for the documentary/handbook “Broadway package”).

In addition to these casting directors, N.Y. LIBRETTO contains personal interviews with well-known vocal coaches, acting coaches, and choreographers in NYC, and even an exclusive interview with a tax attorney who specializes in taxes for performers! Basically, N.Y. LIBRETTO brings the New York theatre industry to any classroom or home in any city, regardless of its size or location.


N.Y. LIBRETTO features interviews with the following industry professionals:
- casting directors Dave Clemmons, Bob Cline, Joy Dewing,
Laura Schutzel, and Merri Sugarman
- vocal coaches Michael Lavine and Richard Lissemore
- choreographer and Vice President of Actors’ Equity Association,
Rebecca Kim Jordan
- acting coach/former agent Dani Super and entertainment tax attorney
Don Robinson