The Winter 2022 programming season begins with two teaching artists working with The Actors Center’s Resident Company: Acting coach, film and theater director, and casting director Heidi Miami Marshall; and interdisciplinary performing artist, activist, and voice teacher, Micha Espinosa.
Heidi Miami Marshall, returns to The Actors Center in January for three days in residence devoted to cultivating creative freedom while acting on film. Heidi will collaborate with members of The Actors Center’s Resident Company.
Heidi’s career has spanned over 25 years as an acting coach, film and theater director, casting director, and acting studio owner. Her entire career informs her director’s eye and influences her aesthetic for working with actors.
Originally, Heidi was the lead casting director at Telsey + Co. for the Broadway musical Rent, as well as for 70+ projects in theater, film, TV, commercial, and voiceover. Now, as owner of a top acting studio, she’s coached countless actors into roles for film, TV, and theater. She is frequently hired by directors and production studios to prep actors for auditions, screen tests and performance. Heidi has expert understanding in all the layered needs of casting and what gets actors hired. Her acting clients have appeared on screens big and small, from network TV to indie film to blockbuster hits. Her clients’ range of talent includes new actors to Emmy award-winning.
As a director, Heidi has received awards and fellowships for her directing in theater and film, most notably AFI’s Directing Workshop for Women and The Drama League. Recent films directed by Heidi include S.P.I.C., Muscle, and upcoming feature American Bubble (written by Johnny Sánchez and Khalil Kain, and starring Jade Pettyjohn, Julianne Nicholson, Dave East, J. Alphonse Nicholson).
Micha Espinosa also returns in February for a 2-day workshop on Zoom exploring Fitzmaurice Voicework. This physical approach to vocal training combines classical voice methods with variations of physical approaches including yoga, bioenergetics, and Reichian bodywork. Micha will work with members of The Actors Center’s Resident Company to expand their understanding of the dynamics between body, breath, and voice, while developing a deeper connection with text.
Micha is an Arizona-based interdisciplinary performing artist, activist, teacher, voice, speech, and dialect coach who has performed and taught globally. She is a master teacher and trainer of Fitzmaurice Voicework, Director of Global Outreach for Fitzmaurice Voicework Institute, and is currently a professor at Arizona State University. Micha is an award-winning editor for the books Monologues for Latino Actors and Scenebook for Latinx Actors and an affiliate artist with performance art collective, La Pocha Nostra. Her scholarship, artivism, and creative research all seek to challenge systems of inequity and eurocentrism. She is passionate about global and feminist perspectives and the cultural voice.
