Marisa’s film Miracle Year is in production and will be shooting this fall at Tim’s Shipwreck Diner, in her hometown of Northport, Long Island.
How has your life been indelibly touched by a teacher who utilized the arts for whatever reason and acknowledge how they were instrumental in breaking the mold to allow you to become who you are today?
A teacher that touched my life, was none other than Frances McGarry herself. At the time, Frances McGarry was my TheaterWorks drama teacher, where she had us breathe life into the Classics. By the time I got to TheaterWorks, I was already performing and starring in the school musicals. Studying with Frances was a GREAT reality check. There was no “Star.” Here it was a Troupe, so leave your “EGO” at the door Please, Thank You very much.
What I got from her was how to be a PROFESSIONAL. I learned how to collaborate with others to fulfill the artistic vision of a piece, how to ask for help and most of all to how to consistently show up and do “The Work.” She held us in extremely high standards and there was no room for err. She wasn’t gonna take sh*t from anyone, especially some pimply, hormonal, hot shit teenager. Looking back it was the first time I was treated as an adult, a colleague, a fellow collaborator. When everything else in life at that time was an emotional chaos, when the door closed and the bell rung for TheaterWorks to begin, it was the time to achieve the very BEST of you.
First Online with Fran 
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