Meet Andy and Suzanna! This dynamic duo is one of the highlights of our summer kids program. Keep reading to hear what they have to say about their journey as musicians and performers. You can catch Andy & Suzanna performing at the Landing Tuesdays at 10:00am.
1. First off, quick background info! Tell us your name, where you’re from, and what you do.
We are a singer/songwriter/musician duo that does kids classes, lessons, and performances all around the city. Andy is originally from Ohio (though he worked on and off as an actor in NYC as a child) and Suzanna grew up in North Carolina. We both attended NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and have lived here in Long Island City since 2010. We were married in 2015 (at the Foundry in LIC!) and our daughter was born in 2018. We love our neighborhood so much and are so grateful to have this opportunity to perform for the community!
2. How’d you get into performing? How long have you guys been performing together?
We’ve been performing our entire lives, but we started collaborating in 2008. Though we went to the same college for musical theater, it wasn’t until we spent a summer together in Vermont doing a production of Les Miserables that we really connected. We almost immediately started to make music together and when we stumbled upon kids music classes as a day job it quickly took on a life of its own.
3. What’s your favorite thing about what you do?
We obviously love performing and we absolutely adore children. Making kids laugh, seeing them dance, hearing them sing, listening to their hilarious stories, and watching them develop and grow from week to week is such an incredible experience. Owning a small business is tough (especially as parents of a toddler!) but there’s nothing else that combines our passions and talents in quite the same way.
4. How is performing in the park different than your typical venue?
This is a much larger audience than most of our weekly classes. It’s been really fun to hone our concert skills and song repertoire over the last few years performing at the Landing summer series- we focus on interactive songs for a wide age range that don’t require props so that everyone can participate and the more the merrier!
5. When you’re not performing, what is your favorite thing to do in the parks?
Our daughter is a full fledged toddler now, so running up and down hills in the grass is at the top of the list. We know so many people in the neighborhood, so playground hopping or walks by the water are such rewarding social experiences. Gantry State Park is such a beautiful and truly unique area, so we try not to take it for granted and enjoy it as much as we can.