About
“So, Rachel — what do you do?”
Well, I am so glad you ASKED! How much time do you have? :)
Versatile actor and singer Rachel Policar is an NYC-based artist, musician and educator, skilled across many genres, and a sought-after interpreter of Jewish performance art. She has been described as ”spectacular” (LA Times), “arresting” (SF Classical Voice), and “a natural comedienne” (Broadway World) — hey, someone other than her mom thinks she’s funny! Perhaps her favorite bit of press was a performance described simply as 🧈[the butter emoji] without any further explanation - all press is good press, right?!
Rachel has been continually grateful for every opportunity to share a piece of herself through extremely varied performance mediums, often embodying some incredibly strong women - she has recently been seen as Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in Derrick Wang’s Scalia/Ginsburg in productions across the country (Pacific Opera Project, Anchorage Opera, Penn Square Opera) for which she "stole the show with her mixture of bravura, charm and big-hearted humanism" (SF Classical Voice), and Anne Frank in a one-woman Diary of Anne Frank by Grigory Frid with Opera In the Pines. She made her Off-Broadway debut as the titular character in The Golden Bride with National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene to critical acclaim, originated the role of Lizzy in Bryce McClendon’s new play The Smallest Sound, In the Smallest Space at Lincoln Center and workshopped Jake Heggie’s Another Sunrise with The Why Collective at the Streicker Center in NYC, portraying Holocaust survivor Krystyna Zywolska. Rachel also joins the cast of Marian the Musical, a new musical in development about the life of Marian Anderson, directed by Tamara Tunie!
She has performed with the NYU Broadway Orchestra as Dot in Sunday in the Park with George, and as Cinderella/Baker’s Wife/Little Red/The Witch in Sondheim’s Into the Woods and premiered Melissa Dunphy’s ‘Generations’ for the American Guild of Organists National Convention. She is a teaching artist in New York City Public Schools with Opera On Tap and maintains a private studio of voice and piano students!
Occasionally, Rachel even gets to perform with her instruments. Phil, her beloved Ukulele, has been invited to perform with the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene, Pacific Opera Project, St. Petersburg Opera, Opera on the James and has featured prominently in her parody songs and #InappropriatelyOperatic pop covers, often co-written with her husband Paul. Her music videos have been described as “charmingly low-budget” and “unhinged” by her friends and family. She is a pianist and violinist, and dabbles in guitar with her Mini Martin, Beau.
She began her acting career in Film and Television at age 3, appearing in several nationally syndicated commercials, most notably for Skippers and Bank One. She was featured in TV-movie Wild Things (dir. Doug McCallie) before transitioning to the stage. She has performed the National Anthem for The Seattle Mariners, Phoenix Suns and the Phoenix Mercury, and holds Bachelor’s degrees in Classical Voice and Musical Theatre from Arizona State University. A New-Yorker by choice, she has a Masters degree in Classical Voice from the Manhattan School of Music and currently studies the Meisner technique at Matthew Corozine Studio in NYC and improv with Upright Citizens Brigade. Her original work is featured in Matthew Corozine’s book If You Survived 7th Grade, You Can Be An Actor, and she also narrated her work in the audiobook.
She has performed in such NYC venues as Circle on the Square, The Players Club, Skirball Center, Birdland, Museum of Jewish Heritage, The Jewish Museum, Lincoln Center, St John The Divine Cathedral and more. Nationally, she has been seen with Knoxville Opera, Dayton Opera, Asheville Lyric Opera, American Lyric Theatre, Light Opera of New York, Sanibel Music Festival, Seven Hills Chamber Music Festival, Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, and more.
In addition to being collaborative partners, Rachel and her husband Paul are die-hard pop punk fans (you can frequently find them at a blink-182 concert on the front rail 🤘🏻) and devoted theatre goers. Rachel is an avid traveler, and is constantly planning her next destination(s) — Currently: Amsterdam and Iceland. She is an unabashed coffee snob and greatly appreciates a correctly-made cappuccino. Last but not least, she is a Digestive Health advocate and wants to remind you all to get regular screenings!! Colonoscopies save lives!
Actor. Vocalist. Writer. Educator. Traveler. Coffee Lover.