Broadway Y'all

Texas native brings Broadway to Big D in unprecedented acting classes

Houston native Tyce Green is bringing Broadway to Dallas in a big way. His Straight From New York master classes invite award-winning musical theater actors to dispense industry wisdom and share personal anecdotes while giving feedback to professional and amateur local performers.

The series has been enticing big Broadway names — Mary Testa, Laura Benanti, Hunter Ryan Herdlicka, and Constantine Maroulis — to come teach in New York, and now Green has expanded the series to include Houston and Dallas.

Wesley Taylor (recognizable from NBC's Smash, and who recently appeared in the musical version of Little Miss Sunshine at Second Stage Theatre) will visit Dallas on July 30. The fee for participants at Taylor's workshop is $249, but observing is only $35.

"It's unlike anything you've ever experienced," Tyce Green says. "The people who come consistently say that master classes like these just aren't happening."

Adam Pascal, who created the role of Roger in Rent and starred in the Broadway productions of Memphis, Aida, Cabaret and Chicago, enthralled a group at Rowlett High School on June 25. That night, a group that ranged in age from 12 to 34 sang audition snippets for Pascal and Green, who offered practical feedback in everything from song selection to breath control to physicality choices.

"It was a thrill to work with the talented and dedicated artists of Houston and Dallas," Pascal said. "They are an inspiration to me and remind me why theater is so special."

Green, who is also known as the Audition Consultant, answered a few questions about the history and future of Straight From New York.

CultureMap: How did you get into audition coaching?

Tyce Green: I grew up very early in this industry and have had great opportunities to work with esteemed Broadway stars throughout my career as an actor thus far, and I picked up information very fast. As a Texas native, I split my time between New York and Houston pretty equally, and I devote a lot of my time and resources to bringing the right industry information to students and artists in Texas.

I am actively auditioning as an actor, producing, working with all different levels of industry people, and it's my first-hand experience that people trust. And I do it because I love it, which is the most important factor, in my opinion.

CM: How did Straight From New York come about?

TG: Funny story. About two years ago, I was visiting my really good friend Nancy Opel (you remember her for her Tony-nominated turn as Pennywise in Urinetown, or as the original Eva replacement in Evita), at her apartment right near Times Square, gorgeous location, and she mentioned that she has started privately coaching students out of her apartment. I was floored.

Nancy is Juilliard-trained, Tony-nominated and working on Broadway eight shows a week, and yet she still had time to devote her energy and attention to the next generation of artists. Long story short, I asked her to come do a workshop in Houston, she stayed in my friend's garage apartment, I paid her with love and the rest is history.

CM: What can people expect at these master classes?

TG: Every artist is different. As you saw with Adam Pascal's class, it was really more like a dual-taught class with Adam and myself. Some are like that; others are not. They cover different areas of performance, i.e., audition skills, song choices, song interpretation, technique — it really runs the gamut.

"Dallas basically took a metaphorical battering ram to my door and demanded that I bring the series to them," Green says.

People can expect to come and have an insightful look into a high-level artist's perspective based on their experience. And of course enjoy a couple of songs and maybe sing a little.

CM: Whom are the classes aimed at?

TG: Participants should be singers who are interested in in-depth coaching on singing styles, performance technique and audition skills. All levels and ages are encouraged; we do this because we believe everyone at all levels should have these great opportunities.

Observers can be friends, parents, teachers or students who love musical theater, singing, performing — or just love the artist!

CM: What do observers get out of it?

TG: I always joke about observing being the better "gig" because you get to learn without having any stakes in being coached. Don't get me wrong; it's an amazing experience to sing, but observing takes away the nerves and the judgment the singer might have on themselves and allows them to still receive all the helpful information that they can apply to their work without the stress of "Omgsh, I'm singing for a star."

Then, of course, teachers and parents who observe get to see firsthand just what their students are learning, which is one of our big missions.

CM: What made you decide to expand the classes from Houston to Dallas?

TG: Dallas basically took a metaphorical battering ram to my door and demanded that I bring the series to them. Haha. The outpouring of support from the Dallas community was so overwhelming that I couldn't say no. We hope it's here to stay.

CM: What's been the most rewarding experience with this series?

TG: For me personally, I am a young actor who is privileged to also be a producer, so the benefit for me is that not only do I get to help pass information alongside esteemed artists, I get to learn from them as well. It's a two-way street, and anyone who's successful will tell you that they never stop learning.

Learning, in this regard, is my job, and that's just the best I could ever ask for.

CM: Where will upcoming classes be held?

TG: What's cool about this series is that the location changes sometimes based on local interest. Dallas, like Houston, is huge, and we are trying to make these classes accessible to everyone. We know that sometimes if it's out in the east 'burbs, the Fort Worth people will not come, but a more central location helps others, etc. So we are exploring different options.

CM: Is there anything else you would like people to know about the workshops?

TG: Look, it's unlike anything you've ever experienced. The people who come consistently say that master classes like these just aren't happening, and the information for singers is so unbiased, unfiltered and 100 percent aimed at their future success.

That comes with laughs, revelations and hard truths, but the reality is that aspiring students deserve just that: the truth. We are very "real" with them when it comes to where they are with their abilities, what they need to grow on and our opinions on the next steps they need to take to reach their performance goals.

CM: What do you consider to be the top five most overdone audition songs?

TG: I love this question. I would like to make this clear for performers: Overdone songs are constantly growing! Don't assume you're safe! If I had to choose a mix, though, it would be these: "Gimme Gimme" from Thoroughly Modern Millie, any song from The Last Five Years, "This is The Moment" from Jekyll & Hyde, "The Beauty Is" from The Light in the Piazza and "So Much Better" from Legally Blonde.

Believe me, though, the list of overdone songs is vast.

Houston native Tyce Green is bringing Broadway stars to his hometown and Dallas to teach acting classes.

Photo courtesy of Tyce Green

Houston native Tyce Green is bringing Broadway stars to his hometown and Dallas to teach acting classes.

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In Memoriam

Matthew Posey, founder of Dallas' Ochre House Theater, dies at 68

Ochre House Theater presents Dr. Bobaganush

Photo by Robert Hart

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Matthew Posey, the actor, director, and playwright who founded Ochre House Theater and was a founding father of Dallas' experimental theater scene, died at his home on October 2, 2026, the theater confirmed. He was 68.

In 2008, Posey opened Ochre House in Exposition Park near Fair Park. The 45-seat storefront venue became what the theater calls a legendary lab for raw, original art. Posey and his core company called themselves the "Pioneers of the Suavant-Garde," a name that promised surrealist, experimental performances delivered with a surprisingly sophisticated charm. The work was known for a deconstructed, musical-narrative style, built on live music, magic-realist imagery, and elaborate puppetry inspired by the Japanese Bunraku tradition.

Posey wrote, directed, and produced more than 40 plays there, including Morphing, Dr. Bobagonush, Moving Creatures, Mrs. Haggardly, Bill, Original Man, and Soft Noodle Map. Many began in his bound notebooks, which held more than a decade of original pieces. They examined love, family, class, addiction, violence, forgiveness, greed, and the search for one's place in the universe. He often staged them quickly enough that the theater reflected current social and political events as they unfolded (see: Moving Creatures, a politically charged satire about an evil and intolerable oligarch and his tyrannical rise to power). Ochre House also gave its core company of performers, designers, and musicians the chance to write and direct their own original work.

Posey also built a lasting bridge between Dallas and the flamenco world. For 15 years, he partnered with the Dallas-based Flame Foundation on original full-length plays featuring authentic flamenco. The collaboration brought international and local artists to stages in Dallas and New York.

Ochre House was not Posey's first venture in the city. After studying theater at Texas Tech University and interning at Houston's Alley Theater, he came to Deep Ellum and founded the Deep Ellum Theatre Garage. The venue hosted boundary-pushing work, including Sexual Mythology Part 1: The Underworld, a collaboration with another Dallas-based theater legend, Fred Curchack.

Posey later spent 12 years in Los Angeles, working in the film industry and ghostwriting, and he earned a master's degree in film from the American Film Institute. When he returned to Dallas, he joined the company at Undermain Theater before founding Ochre House.

In January 2017, Posey was shot in the face and thigh outside Cold Beer Company in Deep Ellum after leaving the bar with a friend. The attack came just days after previews began for his new musical Dr. Bobaganush, and that week's performances were canceled. But Dallas' arts community rallied around him with a benefit concert, and he returned to the Ochre House stage as the titular doctor that March.

Jerome Weeks, the former KERA and Dallas Morning News theater critic, recalled in an Oct. 3 Facebook post a story from that time. Weeks had reviewed Posey's first shows at the Deep Ellum Theatre Garage and ended up meeting his wife Sara, a member of Posey's first acting troupe, there. After the 2017 shooting, Weeks sent flowers to Posey's hospital room with an unsigned note: "This is what you get for introducing me to my wife." He knew Posey would appreciate the dark joke. Years later, Posey told him the flowers were the first public sign of what had happened, so when they reached the nurses' station, police grew suspicious of the sender. For a few hours that morning, Weeks was the chief suspect. The bullet had damaged Posey's teeth, cheek, and tongue, and, still groggy from anesthesia and painkillers, Posey could only gesture and mumble to the police that it was a joke — that the local theater critic had not tried to murder the artist. When Weeks learned of this long afterward, he was stunned and didn't know how to apologize. Posey, laughing, told him: "It was absolutely the only laugh I had that day."

Posey's career also reached well beyond Dallas. Over more than 35 years, he appeared in more than 60 major film and television productions, including Oliver Stone's JFK, the Oscar-winning No Country for Old Men, and The Magnificent Seven. On television, he appeared in Lonesome Dove, Rectify, AMC's The Son, and HBO's Love & Death. His recent work includes the independent film El Tonto Por Christo and a role in the Austin-set, Matthew McConaughey/Woody Harrelson series Brothers.

Matthew Posey was born July 31, 1958, in Houston, the youngest of five children of Marvin R. Posey and Mary Louise Wrba Posey. His family says his gift for performance appeared early, with him staging "interviews" with vegetable at age four. By his sophomore year at Coronado High School in Lubbock, he had found a bigger audience as the emcee Click Dark in a class play based on American Graffiti.

He was remembered as a beloved partner, brother, uncle, friend, and artistic father figure.

"He was a unique and unforgettable person whose humor, creativity, stories, and larger-than-life personality made an impression on everyone who knew him," the theater said in its obituary.

Posey was preceded in death by his parents. He is survived by his life partner, Suzanne Thomas. He is also survived by his sisters Marlis Hodges and Candis Posey, his brothers William Marvin Posey and Richard Daniel Posey, and numerous nieces and nephews, countless friends, and his cats Chet and Etta.

"His family will remember Matthew not only for the life he lived, but for the memories he created and the love he shared," says the theater's obituary. "His presence will be deeply missed, but his stories, his work, his humor, and the memories he gave to those who loved him will remain."

A celebration of life is being planned, and details have not yet been announced. In lieu of flowers, the family asks for donations to Ochre House Theater at OchreHouseTheater.org.

fair park theater obituary