Shen Curriculum Fridays @ Five: Casting Director Merri Sugarman

MERRI SUGARMAN, C.S.A., is a Senior Casting Director at Tara Rubin Casting and the author of From Craft to Career: A Casting Director’s Guide for the Actor, published in April 2023. Initially an actress, Merri started casting for TV and Film in LA before moving to the East Coast.  Her projects include the Broadway, touring, and international companies of Ain’t Too Proud, Dear Evan Hansen, The Wiz, Six, Sing Street, Here Lies Love, Aladdin, Jersey Boys, The Phantom of the Opera, Les Misérables, School of Rock, Miss Saigon, A Bronx Tale, Company, and Back to the Future. Clueless and Trevor the Musical (2023 Artios Award) are two examples of her Off-Broadway work.   She also casts for many theaters regionally, including Papermill Playhouse, Lyric Opera of Chicago, The Old Globe, Seattle Rep, The Goodman and La Jolla Playhouse.   Merri is also the proud Casting Director of the acclaimed web series “Submissions Only” and also boasts having cast many independent TV & film projects, workshops, and readings.  Outside of the office, she has been a big sister via the Big Brothers/Big Sisters program for the last 24 years and was recently recognized with a Distinguished Alumni Award from her alma mater, Emerson College.