A few years ago, I was looking for private audition coach for my high school age daughter, Kate, who aspired to study acting at the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU. Not exactly pre-Internet days, but far enough back that the computer was not the first place you think of to find an acting coach. In the early fall of Kate’s senior year, Kate and I took a trip to Manayunk to a specialty bra store (we share the same anatomical problem- you figure it out). We happened to arrive about five minutes before the store opened. My daughter had brought along a script to read. When the saleswoman arrived, she took note of Kate’s reading material. Turned out, she was a professional actor and a graduate of an MFA Acting program in New York, helping out at her mother’s shop between auditions and shows. So I asked her if she had any suggestions for an audition coach. First thing out of her mouth was, “You have to work with Lisbeth Bartlett. She’s the BEST! She helped me get into a wonderful graduate acting program!” On and on she went, and all so very positive. Kate and I decided, WE GOTTA HAVE HER!! And we GOT her! Who would have thought that a shopping outing for “Double D’s” would lead us to a fantastic private acting coach?

That fall, Lisbeth guided Kate though an intensive process of weekly 90-minute sessions. From the moment they met, Kate and Lisbeth clicked beautifully together. Lisbeth helped Kate find and choose just the right audition monologues to show off her unique talent and personality. She also helped Kate’s father and me deal with our worries, having our firstborn go through an intensely competitive college audition process. As both a coach and a mentor, she is smart, insightful, howlingly funny, and beautiful inside and out. She is also a great wife and mother to boot. I feel certain that Lisbeth deserves tremendous credit for the fact that my daughter aced her audition and was admitted to NYU Early Decision. Kate’s exciting four years in the Experimental Theatre Wing Studio at NYU are now complete, and the makings of a professional theatre career are underway. She has an agent in New York and has been cast in plays in New York and at regional theater companies.

Lisbeth continues to advise Kate about her acting career and has attended many of her college and professional performances. We remain profoundly in awe of her knowledge and skill in interpreting everything she sees on the stage (and the page). I daresay nothing escapes her, and it is an honor to accompany her to one of Kate’s performances and benefit from her reaction to and review of the performance. I recommend her to you highly, and know with confidence that she will help you or your child win admission to a great acting program.