Mary Claire Garcia is a native Angeleno, working actress, singer, and phonetician. She is an MFA graduate of California Institute of the Arts in Acting, with focus in Speech Pedagogy under tutelage of Dwight Bacquie. As faculty at various studios in Los Angeles, Mary Claire coaches acting, script analysis, audition prep, and accent acquisition. Her clients – both privately and on set – from across the globe include actors, comedians, public speakers, politicians, broadcasters, ESL speakers, and corporate professionals.
Studying Bel Canto technique as a youth, she explored the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) throughout undergraduate and graduate studies. Training includes extensive Linklater (Fran Bennett), Knight-Thompson Speechwork (Andrea Caban, Julie Foh, Tyler Seiple, and Cynthia DeCure), Alexander Technique (Andrea Stark and Babette Markus), Edith Skinner’s Speak With Distinction (Denise Woods, Dwight Bacquie, Mary Lou Rosato, Deborah Ross-Sullivan, and Damian D. Lewis), Roy Hart and Barrantes Voice System (Rafael Lopez-Barrantes), and Fitzmaurice (Christine Menzies and Chelsea DuVall). Mary Claire has completed all Knight-Thompson Speechwork, and is currently working toward certification.
Television and film include: Grownish, 9-1-1: Lone Star, Good Trouble, Criminal Minds, Days of Our Lives, While You Were Breeding, Tragiometry (Cannes Nominee), and several upcoming NDA projects, including a live-action project for Disney. Theater includes: A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Titania/Hippolyta), As You Like It (Audrey), Winter’s Tale (Emilia/Dorcas), Merchant of Venice (The Duke), Suzan-Lori Parks’ 365 Days / 365 Plays (Original Cast), Hecuba (Talthybius/Choryphaeus), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Maggie), A Streetcar Named Desire (Stella), Oklahoma! (Ado Annie), Little Shop of Horrors (Audrey), Last Days of Judas Iscariot (Director), and title roles in Electricidad and Sarah Ruhl’s Eurydice.
Mary Claire teaches core curriculum Speech: Accents, Dialects & Phonetics to BFA3 Actors.