Nancy Helms is a professional singer-actor who studied at the University of California, and trained with Jacques Lecoq, Kristin Linklater, Bonnie Raphael, Warren Robertson and John Strasberg. She is a Professor in the Department of Theatre at Concordia University where she has taught Acting, Singing, Dialects and Theatre Voice. She performed in opera, music theatre and theatre productions in the United States, Canada and abroad; and coaches business professionals and professional actors in stage, television and film as interpretation coach, dialogue and dialect specialist.
She was dialect consultant for a number of film and TV series, working directly with performers including: Jim Sturgess, Gerard Butler, Hiro Sanada, Penelope Cruz, Jeremy Irvine and Remy Gerard. She worked as dialect coach to launch Assassin's Creed Unity in fall, 2014 with Ubisoft, and was dialogue coach for both seasons of Helix.
She has performed with the Opera de Montreal and the National Arts Centre in Ottawa in many productions including: Romeo and Juliet, Aida, Mefistofele (Boito), Manon Lescaut, Carmen, Don Giovanni, the Magic Flute, Dialogues des Carmelites, Faust, Cosi Fan Tutte, Tales of Hoffman, Pagliacci, Carmina Burana, La Traviata, Don Carlos, Manon, La Boheme, The Marriage of Figaro and La Gioconda. She recorded relaxation CDs as the "Angel Voice" with RHC Productions, including "The Silent Path", which received gold status in the US and Europe, and "Prelude to Infinity".
She performed in a number of musicals in Canada and internationally including: Anne of Green Gables (which toured to Hong Kong Performing Arts Center); Jeanne la Pucelle, which played at Place des Arts in Montreal, and at the Capitole Theatre in Quebec City; and My Fair Lady, a co-production which played at the Centaur Theatre in Montreal and the Neptune Theatre in Halifax.
She sang in The Man of La Mancha at the Segal Centre, and played Lady Doyle in Houdini at Theatre Outremont in the Montreal Jazz Festival. Acting roles include Madeline in Les Fes Ont Soif, Maxine in 84 Charing Cross Road, and Dr. Livingstone in Agnes of God. She also performed in Dead Zone, Durham County, Category 8, Inheriting Trouble, Last Best Chance, Burden of Evil, and Fatal Trust.
She directed productions including: The Owl and the Pussycat; Amahl and the Night Visitors; The Boyfriend; Under Milkwood; Albertine in Five Times; Pericles, Prince of Tyre; Perfect Relationships (a musical revue), Anything Goes at Banff Arts Centre and Berlin to Broadway (the story of Kurt Weill).
She presented papers and/or workshops for the Speech Communication Association Convention in San Francisco, ISETA Conference in Florida, the "Creativity and Discovery" Conference in Newfoundland. As part of her research into Sound Therapy for the Performer, she presented papers at the Arts and Humanities Conference in Hawaii in 2003 and again in 2004. She presented a lecture/workshop for painting and drawing students at the University of North Carolina entitled "SoundImage". Currently, she leads voice warmups for Tom Todoroff's intensive workshops in Montreal, coaches business professionals, coaches reporters with CTV and works regularly as dialect/dialogue coach for film and TV.
