Bernie Telsey, Artistic Director of MCC Theater and Casting Director, Telsey and Co.

July 2, 2009 • No Comments

Backstage has done a great profile on the amazing Bernie Telsey. It is a great read for any actor. As most folks know I had the wonderful luck to work with Bernie at MCC Theater. Bernie, Robert Lupone and Will Cantler are three of the greatest people in the business.

Of course, I also have to mention that they asked some actors for some of their favorite memories of Telsey and Co. Here is my personal favorite.

Actors Tell Their Telsey Tales

Back Stage readers offer their stories about

auditioning for or working with Bernie Telsey.

By David Sheward

July 2, 2009

Thanks to Bernie Telsey, I have a wife and a career. When I first came to New York, I volunteered for a short while at MCC Theater, where Bernie and Robert Lupone are artistic directors. Bernie, Will Cantler, and David Vaccari had me be a reader for a couple of auditions. A month or two later, Wit was coming in from Long Wharf to MCC, and there was one male role open. Bernie asked me to come in and audition. I got the role. During the 18-month run of Wit, I got to work with three amazing lead actresses—Kathleen Chalfant, Judith Light, and Lisa Harrow—and I fell in love with my wife, Jodi Schoenbrun, who at the time was general manager of MCC. If I hadn’t been cast, we would never have spent all that time together and would never have fallen in love. I went on from Wit to do TV (Law & Order, One Life to Live, Guiding Light), theater (Off-Broadway and regional), and lots of commercials, and Jodi and I have been together for over 10 years. Thanks, Bernie!

Brian J. Carter