Since 2019, Simon has been teaching musical theatre at one of New England’s leading regional theatres, North Shore Music Theatre (NSMT) in Beverly, Massachusetts.
North Shore Music Theatre – an incredible venue on the North Shore of Boston
NSMT is an incredible space – a 1,500-seater in the round, which truly challenges even the most accomplished professional actors since patrons are literally in every direction all around the stage.
One of the main hurdles to overcome is where to place actors so that everyone in the audience can see them and feel engaged with the action. You can’t have your back to the audience for long before they feel that they are being ignored. The reality is you have to move around a lot more in an arena setting, and frequently adjust the direction you’re facing. But on the plus side, there’s no “cheating out” or “stage walking” in the round, which can be quite liberating and make it feel more natural as an actor. You can kind of lose yourself, as long as you keep the sight lines shifting. But at the same time, it can be extremely disorientating when the lights are up and you can’t see a thing out in the auditorium. It’s very easy to lose your bearings!
Which brings us onto related points of reference on the stage. We can’t use terms like “up stage right” like in a traditional proscenium theatre. Instead we work on the clock system – so directions like “12 ‘o clock” and “move to 6” are common as we block our shows.
How to get actors on and off the stage is another challenge that might not immediately spring to mind. There are no wings on stage left and stage right to obscure actors awaiting an entrance. There are instead eight ways to enter the stage – six aisles through the auditorium (known as 12, 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10), a huge central hydraulic lift which descends 15 feet down into “lower production” where the live orchestra are also situated, plus a unique “vom” or ramp (also with automation capabilities) that can deliver a huge cast en masse. On top of those, depending on the show, aerial entrances from the incredible overhead gantry/catwalk (if you’ve seen A Christmas Carol, you’ll have seen Marley and the Pearlies descend to the stage) and sometimes other show-specific build-outs produce additional entry options for actors (just recently we’ve seen the Austrian mountains for The Sound of Music and the frozen tundra of Arendelle for Frozen). We also have a satellite stage available to shift focus into another pocket of the space. It is truly an incredible theatre, and each new production finds new ways to use it.
The education programs at NSMT
The Education Department at NSMT has a fantastic year-round calendar of programs for both children and adults, and Simon is music director for the majority of the junior productions and classes.
A typical year begins with auditions in January for the spring show, with rehearsals immediately following and performances taking place in April. The main stage schedule then ramps up and a masterclass might be sprinkled in here and there, typically led by a Broadway star that is working on a main stage production. Then over the summer, Simon runs a three-week intensive with performances towards the end of July. In the fall/autumn, we switch to classes where students get to hone their craft through a variety of study scenes and musical numbers.
Quotes from parents, etc.
Beetlejuice Jr. (2025)
Beauty & The Beast Jr. (2024)
Disney’s Descendants (2024)
Matilda Jr. (2023)
Wizard of Oz Youth Edition (2023)
Frozen Jr. (2022)
Annie KIDS (2020)
Happy Madison Summer Theatre Program (2019)
Simon has also taught various workshops and masterclasses alongside Broadway/West End stars including Mary Callanan, Todd Buonopane, Andrew Kober, Christine Dwyer & Matt DeAngelis.
Dialect coaching
As a British expat, Simon has a unique skillset for dialect coaching! He is very proud to be a part of the extended A Christmas Carol family since 2021, and has taught Received Pronunciation (RP) and Cockney to the professional cast of A Christmas Carol each November/December.