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Most actors dream of getting even one moment to casually chat with a casting director, but Broadway Borough’s hosts, Candi and Quinn, scored a whole conversation, and some wine and cheese, in this month’s episode.

Merri Sugarman of Tara Rubin Casting invited us into her home and onto her couch for an inside look at how she got to where she is and why she's happy to stay!

A New York native, Merri began her career as an actress and ended up in LA. It wasn't until she came back to NYC that she began the transition from acting on the stage to casting for the stage. "I just kind of started to feel like, 'I'm a good actress and a good singer, but other people do it better.'"

The rest, as they say, is history. Merri has been with Tara Rubin Casting for over nine years and has put hundreds of actors into their Broadway shows, including both Candi and Quinn! "The best part [about being a casting director] is, every day something happens that makes me go, 'I can't believe that this is what I get to do...and what keeps the roof over my head and the food in my belly!'"

That "roof" is over a beautiful and tidy one bedroom apartment in the Upper West Side's Manhattan Valley, a neighborhood so nice even Obama used to call it home! Merri has lived in her apartment for twelve years, longer than any other apartment, and doesn't have plans to leave anytime soon — most of her friends live within walking distance and gather regularly around her working fireplace, a tradition that Merri cherishes.

As special as her home is, Merri pinpoints a fact most New Yorkers know to be true: "I think that most people that live in New York City, because we all live in small spaces, we kind of all live... IN the city. We don't really live in our apartments."

Amen, Merri! And thanks for inviting us into your home and "behind the table!" Join Candi, Quinn, and the Broadway Boroughs team next time in the next borough!

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