The Performing Option

Specialties

The Performing Option is an amazing venue for networking in the industry

*All classes are taught by currently involved New York Casting Directors who provide the students with first-​hand information about the entertainment industry

*Our Casting Directors teach in their fields of expertise whether it be film, television, commercials, voice-​overs or musical theater

*All classes end with a showcase with at least fifteen Invited Industry Professionals — Agents, Managers, Casting Directors — who are actively seeking talent (If an actor is not seen by the industry then this will just be a hobby).

*Our classes offer an opportunity for each actor to work from current scripts provided by Casting Directors for insight and feedback on audition technique and presentation.

*We are proud of our students consistently high booking rate

A thorough grounding with the essential technical skill is the most dependable path to long-​term success.

History

Established in 1983.

Madelyn Burns and The Performing Option

A graduate of Emerson College, Madelyn Burns earned a degree in Theater Education. She was a tenured, certified teacher in the areas of speech and drama and an instructor at Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School before performing professionally in musical theater, nightclubs, commercials and voice overs. In 1983, Ms. Burns partnered with Leonard Finger and opened Burns and Finger Casting in Boston. By 1986, she had expanded her casting business to New York and for the next 20 years accepted casting assignments in film, television, commercial, radio and theater.

Able to share the knowledge of being on both sides of the desk, she developed a series of courses for the professional actor. Always looking to maximize opportunities for her students, Ms. Burns pioneered the method of bringing in working casting directors as instructors for whom better to teach her students and provide opportunity to actors than industry professionals who could employ