About Alan

 

Originally from Royal Oak, Michigan (even though he loves to say he's from Detroit), Alan studied at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, NJ (P-Town-South) and has had the opportunity to sing on numerous occasions at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center. After college, Alan moved to New York City and studied musical theatre at The American Musical & Dramatic Academy.  A dream come true.

 

Alan played his dream role, Chris, in the North American Tour of "Miss Saigon,”  giving over 950 performances between 2002 and 2005 throughout North America— from 45 glorious states to 7 Provinces in Canada. Alan also played Steve Baker in the National Tour of "Showboat" as well as The Specialist in " The Who's Tommy" in Tokyo, Japan. Throughout his twenty years as a professional actor in New York City, Alan has performed all across the country and the NYC area in venues including Goodspeed Opera House, Westchester Broadway, New Provincetown Players, Bergan PAC, Downtown Cabaret, NYMF, Musicals Tonight, Fringe Festival, 54 Below, Lincoln Center, and Carnegie Hall.

​

Alan was the principal singer aboard Silversea Cruises, which took him around the world,  circumnavigating Africa, visiting India and the Middle East (yes, he swam in the Persian Gulf!), and throughout the Mediterranean. Alan then spent two years aboard The Disney Dream portraying one of his favorite Disney characters, Hades, in “Villains Tonight,” and the lead role of Dr. Greenaway in "Believe."

​

In December of 2014,  Alan married the love of his life, Michelle Kimberley Gillespie, in Key West, Florida, and has just started his next adventure in life. In 2017, after living in New York City for 20 years, Alan and his wife relocated to downtown Orlando so Michelle could attend grad school at UCF for Speech Therapy.

 

Since moving down to Florida, Alan has played Sam in "Mamma Mia" at Sierra and Maples Repertory Theatres, Thomas Weaver in "The Story of My Life" at The Studio Theatre, crooned as Bing Crosby in "It Was a Very Good Yule-1940's Edition" at The Mad Cow Theatre, and Black Stache in "Peter and the Starcatcher and Dr. Frederick Frankenstein in "Young Frankenstein" at the Waterfront Playhouse in sunny Key West. Alan played Jerry Lukowski in "The Full Monty" where he won Best Actor from BroadwayWorld Kansas City Awards and Norm Petty in "The Buddy Holly Story" at Maples Repertory Theatre.

​

In 2020, Alan and his wife relocated to Downtown Sarasota where Alan was a Teaching Artist at Florida Studio Theatre and is the Entertainment Supervisor at The Sarasota Jungle Gardens. In 2023, Alan played Nelson Chaney and The Continuity Announcer in "Network" at Florida Studio Theatre. In the Fall of 2023, Alan joined The Players Studio as a Teaching Artist and in 2025 Alan joined The Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall specializing in teaching adult assisted living facilities. Alan opened his own private studio in 2023, where he is teaching voice and acting in private and group settings. Alan is currently playing Bob Crewe in Jersey Boys at Florida Studio Theatre from March 28th till June 1st!! Tickets are available at https://www.floridastudiotheatre.org/

​

​

THE    STUDIO

​

The Alan Gillespie Voice and Acting Studio opened in the Fall of 2023. Alan is bringing his years of experience of being an actor and classical singer to help inspire his students and lead them on their path to become an emotionally connected actor and artist. Alan specializes in providing private voice and acting lessons to students of all levels. All sessions are taught in a safe and supportive environment located in the Indian Beach Neighborhood and private classes are also available online. Please email Alan on his website or at agillespienyc@msn.com if you have any questions and to reserve your spot in an upcoming class or for a private session.

​

​

PRICES

Private Voice AND Acting Lessons $70 Hr & $40 1/2 Hr

​

​

REVIEWS

​

Alan Gillespie is the epitome of masterclass teaching. Every lesson is a personalized adventure of bettering yourself in both acting and self-confidence. His warm-ups alone get you invigorated for learning and expressing your talent! 

-Sammy C

​

I have been taking classes led by Alan for almost a year now and I have grown so much as a performer since then. When I first started taking classes, I had never done any sort of acting before. I have been a timid person all my life and I had terrible stage fright but now I am more confident in myself and my abilities. Something I love about Alan is that he will always create a safe and comfortable environment to explore your creativity and talents. He gives great feedback and his criticism is always helpful and never hurtful. I’m truly grateful that my first introduction to acting was through such a respectful, talented individual as he’s given many tools to continue pursuing this craft. I would recommend him to anyone as he will meet you at your level whether you are a beginner like me or a more seasoned performer.

-Val R

​

Do you want to become a better actor and/or singer? Alan Gillespie is your guy! He brings his professional experience and enthusiasm to every class. Alan stepped in as a substitute in an acting class I was taking in late 2022, and I immediately liked his approach, energy and relentless support of everyone in the class. I’ve continued taking more of his classes, especially loving his smaller intensive monologue and scene series. With Alan guiding and challenging me, I’ve been able to do some fulfilling work that I feel good about! Then, when I turned my attention to my singing, Alan was my first thought for voice lessons. I performed in over 50 musicals from my 20s into my 50s, but had let my voice fall into neglect over the past decade. Alan is using his classical voice training and musical theatre experiences (including New York and national tours) to help me “get my vocal mojo back” by introducing me to many new-to-me warmup exercises and helping me navigate my “new” older voice. Plus, he’s also helping me pick and work audition songs. Alan truly wants his students to succeed in their individual journeys within the acting and singing performance fields. I know I’ll work with him more, and encourage anyone wanting to explore and improve their talents to work with him! You’ll be glad you did.

-Mary A

​

​