WELCOME
to the
 
 


A THEATRE AND DANCE SCHOOL WHERE
 PROFESSIONALISM & CREATIVITY TAKE  CENTER STAGE AND STUDENTS PERFORM!

The THEATRE ARTS CENTER, founded in 1985, is located in Doylestown, PA in Central Bucks County and in NEW YORK CITY, Queens.  It has grown to include a large selection of theatre and dance classes, a comprehensive Summer Performing Arts Workshop, Children's Theatre, and a Junior & Senior Performance Ensemble and Acting Company.

Classes in acting, musical theatre, voice & music skills, dance (jazz, tap, lyrical, hip-hop), on-camera, mime, and other theatre arts are offered throughout the year in Bucks County.  Both locations offer  professionally based summer workshops for children, teens, and young adults.  All teachers and directors are working theatre arts professionals with extensive experience in teaching and directing.

 There are classes beginner to advanced so there is something for everyone! 

 
Theatre Arts Center, Bucks County  

offers classes and workshops year-round.  The summer camp is unique in that it is the resident children and family summer performance company at Bristol Riverside Theatre and Sellersville Theatre, both professional theatres.  Students also perform throughout the year at special events and concerts.  The performance company was the opening act for Andrea McArdle's Millennium First Night Concert and students have performed with the Times Square BID KIDZ and many others.  Many Theatre Arts Center students have worked on Broadway, commercials, TV, and film, and continue their studies at conservatories and performing arts programs.

 

 
Theatre Arts Center, New York City, Queens

 is currently in summer residence at the Professional Performing Arts Center at Queensborough College and the Shadow Box Theatre, conveniently located in Bayside.  The summer workshop has experienced substantial growth and success and attracts students from throughout the Metropolitan region, out of state, and even international.  Graduates of the workshop have gone on to LaGuardia High School of the Performing Arts (Fame H.S.), Frank Sinatra H.S., The Professional Performing Arts School,  performing arts conservatories and colleges, as well as Broadway, film, & TV.

The summer camp includes Musical Theatre, Dance, Teen Acting, and a Cabaret vocal workshop.   

  MEET THE DIRECTORS  [CLICK HERE]

  MEET THE TEACHERS  [CLICK HERE]

 

TAC NEWS
T
heatre Arts Center
is proud to share the successes of many students, teachers, directors, and alumni.  Here are just a few recent examples.

Congrats to John Fisher of Buckingham, PA and TAC student.  John was featured in the RADIO CITY CHRISTMAS MUSICAL SPECTACULAR playing Patrick in THERE IS MAGIC!  Photo left, John in the TAC production of MULAN JR. MORE CONGRATS TO ANTHONY SCARPONE, of Chalfont, PA.  Anthony was in the 2009 Production of OLIVER at the Walnut Street Theatre and is currently understudying on Broadway in THE MIRACLE WORKER.  Way to go Anthony!  Anthony is seen here in the TAC production of RUGRATS (first row, left).


CRYSTALYN WYNTER
, took FIRST PLACE at the legendary APOLLO THEATRE AMATUER NIGHT competition on Nov. 17.  Crystalyn is a multi-year alum of the TAC NYC Musical Theatre Workshops and the Cabaret Workshop.  Crystalyn is pictured here, upstage center, in the 2009 TAC Summer show.

CONGRATULATIONS TO
MELISSA GOSCINCKI, LONG-TIME TAC ALUM, FOR  HER WINNING PERFORMANCE TO SING A DUET WITH JENNIFER HUDSON ON THE TODAY SHOW / NBC. 
YOU ROCK! 
(May 15, 2009)
SEE VIDEO CLIP:  Jennifer Hudson & Melissa on the Today show

 

KRISTINE LEWIS (3rd from left) and Russell Ochocki (4th from left) pictured here with
LISA LAMBERT (center), the lyricist of the B'way hit, THE DROWSY CHAPERONE, at  the TAC 2009 Performance of the JR premier!

The environment of the Theatre Arts Centre was so relaxed and supportive, it was no wonder their production of The Drowsy Chaperone was such a treat. Clearly the kids felt free to be inventive and adventurous. They were a joy to watch. The pace and comedy of the show was perfect, I had a terrific time watching the show”

Lisa Lambert

Composer, Music & Lyrics for Drowsy Chaperone

 

 

"I was very impressed with the production of 
THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE, JR. I saw at Theatre Arts Center.  Having started in educational, summer and youth theatre myself, I am well aware of the importance and value of introducing young people to the art of live theatre.  I would have been happy to see a group of young adults having a good time and falling in love with the art form.  They did all that -- but they also put on a darn good show, that the audience enjoyed watching as much as the cast enjoyed performing.  As an author, I was gratified to see that.  And who knows?  One of those young actors might end up creating (or starring in!) a Tony Award-winning musical one day; I started where they did, and it was the impetus for my career on Broadway."

Dick Scanlan
Tony Award Nominee
Book & New Lyrics
Thoroughly Modern Millie

" 

MORE STUDENTS ON STAGE!

Congratulations to TAC students working in the professional theatre:

MARIELLE BARSTOW, a long-time Bucks County student, was selected for the SIXERS 2008/09 Junior Dance Team.

TYLER HALL, was cast in the National Tour of MARY POPPINS.  Break a leg, Tyler!

DALON BRADLEY & SAMANTHA KRONENFELD appeared in A CHORUS LINE on Long Island in Dec. 08.  Dalon also starred in YOU'RE A GOOD MAN CHARLIE BROWN, appearing with MICHAEL NOBLE. They are all multi-year NYC Musical Theatre and Cabaret alum and have been busy in numerous shows and continued training.

 AKIYA HENRY, Stars Company '07 & '08, appeared at the world famous LA MAMA theatre Off-Broadway in Mary Siedman & Dancers piece MAMA--A Modern Folktale.  She also has appeared in Law & Order Criminal Intent and McDonald's Gospel Fest.

JADE VIAGGIO, '08 NYC Teen Acting Ensemble, appeared in the documentary Freakonomics - by Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me).  She was also hired as an actress to work with the Directing class at NY's School of the Visual Arts.

ALEX KLEIN & RUSSELL MACLIN (longtime Bucks County students) were cast in the Bristol Riverside Theatre's production of Chris Durang's Mrs. Bob Cratchet's Wild Christmas Binge.  (Bristol is Bucks County's only Professional Actors' Equity Theatre.)

JOHN FISHER appeared in the Walnut Street Theatre production of Peter Pan.  He is a Bucks County Student.

STEVE BUTLER, acting and musical theatre student, appeared in Jesus Christ Superstar for Midnight Productions at the Keswick Theatre and was accepted to the Governors School Summer Theatre program.

COLLEEN SMITH appeared in Narnia at the Bucks County Playhouse.

Brooke Weinberg, NYC Teen Acting Ensemble, got the part of "Nora" in "A Doll's House," at the Great Neck Library (summer '07).  

Alexa Blaise Sandberg,  Junior Company, performed at the Gateway Playhouse in Bellport, Long Island (summer '07) as part of the company ensemble in the world premiere of "Cold As Ice," an original on-ice, Broadway-bound musical (by Frank D'Agostino and Dean Anderson) starring Olympic Gold medalist Oksana Baiul.

WE ARE PLEASED TO ONCE AGAIN WELCOME DENNIS DEAL TO THE NYC WORKSHOP STAFF.  DENNIS WROTE AND DIRECTED THE INTERNATIONAL HIT, NITE CLUB CONFIDENTIAL, AND IS A FEATURED SINGER IN THE AWARD WINNING A'CAPELLA GROUP, THE ACCIDENTALS.

DENNIS WILL BE THE 2010 MUSIC DIRECTOR FOR THE NYC MUSICAL THEATRE WORKSHOP AND THE CABARET WORKSHOP.

 

 

 



CONGRATS TO ROBBIE ROBY,
Guest Choreographer, now appearing on Broadway in
 BILLY ELLIOT.


YALE UNIVERSITY MASTER OF VOCAL PERFORMANCE

Of 13 students enrolled in Yale's Master of Vocal Performance, two are TAC Alumni.  Congrats to Zach Borichevsky and Emily Righter.


RESIDENT PLAYWRIGHT RECOGNIZED

John O'Hara, who has written and directed many plays for TAC, was pleased to see a workshop of his POCAHONTAS presented at the Orlando New Play Festival as part of their Theatre for Young Audiences program. It went well and John is very grateful to every POCAHONTAS cast member and director over the years. 

John was also nominated for a Barrymore Award as Best Supporting Actor in a Musical for Remember When The Music... The Barrymore Awards are presented every year for performances in the Philadelphia Area.  He can also be seen in a national advertising campaign.


READING RAINBOW on PUBLIC TELEVISION

Several Theatre Arts Center students were cast in READING RAINBOW on Public TV.  Congrats to Madison Kelley, Alyssa Pesce, and Jamie Gunkel, who's episodes have already aired!


GUEST ARTIST ON BROADWAY

Karen Mason  joined the Broadway cast of HAIRSPRAY as Velma early in 2008 and played the historic final performance in January.  She will again be directing the TEEN CABARET WORKSHOP in 2010.   

 


GUEST ARTIST ON NATIONAL TOUR

Amy F. Karlein, a regular Guest Artist in both NYC and Bucks County ('04-'06), just completed the National Tour of Monty Python's SPAMALOT.   Amy also recently got married so we wish her and her husband the best!
  


SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL


Kristine Lewis, TAC Founder and partner in Lewis & Fox Casting was the Casting Director on the film, LOVE, LUDLOW--screened at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival. 



OFF BROADWAY

Kristine Lewis was the Executive Producer and Casting Director for BURLEIGH GRIMES, which performed  spring & summer 2006.  Angelo Fraboni was the General Manager.  Kristine also was the Casting Director of the recent (2008) Off-Broadway show MINDGAME, directed by Ken Russell.


SELECTIONS FROM THE DISNEY COLLECTION

Three TAC students were cast in Music Theatre International's
 Selections from the Disney Collection. Over 150 students from the east coast were selected to audition. Only 45 were cast.  These productions were part of the development of three new Disney musicals that will be available for lease from Music Theatre International in the future.  Fully staged productions were produced in Manhattan Spring '04!


HBO FAMILY


Five TAC students were cast in an HBO Family production,
STORIES OF ME.
Congratulations to
Isabella DeVivo, Ndeja Brooks, Emily Joyce, Chloe Mondesir, &
Stephanie Queiroz!
 




BROADWAY

ISABELLA DeVIVO, made her Broadway debut in Feb. 2006 as  young Chita Rivera in the new Broadway show,
CHITA RIVERA--THE DANCER'S LIFE
at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre.  Isabella trained for two summers at Theatre Arts Center in NYC.  

Alum SRIRAM GANESAN created the role of Sweetie in recent Broadway production of 
 
BOMBAY DREAMS
 
NOMINATED FOR BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A MUSICAL, 
Outer Circle Critics Award! 

 He was a member of the Bucks County Musical Theatre Ensemble and played the lead in the TAC production of Pirates of Penzance.






AMERICAN GIRL THEATRE

New York City


Three-Year TAC Student, Chloe Mondesir, has been featured in Manhattan at the new American Girl Theatre on Fifth Avenue.  She played Addy and  Laura/Singing Bird.




TONY AWARDS


Kristine Lewis (Founder) and Robert Laconi
(Pictured Here at the 2004 Tony's) were Associate Producers on the Broadway Production of  ENCHANTED APRIL.  The show was nominated for TWO Tony Awards--Best Play of 2003 and Best Actress/Jayne Atkinson.  Molly Ringwald, Elizabeth Ashley, Patricia Conolly, Michael Cumpsty, Daniel Gerroll, Dagmara Dominczyk, and Michael Hayden were also in the original Broadway Cast.
Productions are being produced at theatres throughout the U.S.  Look for it  at a theatre near you!  A delightful production was staged at the FULTON OPERA HOUSE in Lancaster, PA

TAC Playwright & Composer Team Up for a Holiday Premier

Act II Playhouse presented the Theatre Arts Center premiere production of "Five Candles," a holiday musical for the entire family, Dec. 27 -30, 2007. 

The show was written and directed by playwright and actor John O'Hara of Skippack with new music and lyrics by Cathy Block of Doylestown. 


NICKELODEON

We've been granted the rights to a NEW show, Blue's Clues--The Most Spectacular Place.  It performed summer 2007 in Bucks County.  Our past connection with Nickelodeon was when Liza Cabrera, graduate of the 2004 Summer Teen Drama Program/Acting Ensemble, was cast in a Nickelodeon commercial.  They  filmed on location at her home in Queens!  
In summer 2008 our Bucks County workshops will be presenting a NEW Nickelodeon show --RUGRATS-A LIVE ADVENTURE!



BROADWAY

GUEST ARTIST AND BROADWAY VETERAN, PAUL CANAAN, was in the original BROADWAY HIT, 
LEGALLY BLONDE.  He is also one of the judges on the TV show, Finding Elle.   CONGRATS PAUL.

ALISA KLEIN, FORMER ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR AND GUEST CHOREOGRAPHER APPEARED IN
 BEAUTY AND THE BEAST along with Connor Gallagher, a new Guest Artist in 2007.





TELEVISION

TAC alum, Hunter Gallagher, has been very busy.  He recently appeared Off-Braodway at the 78th Street Theatre Lab in DEAR MAUDIE.  After a great showcase for Tommy Mottola he put a five piece band together and is playing live shows. Hunter recently recorded his first CD.  Hunter has performed in Atlantic City with Luther Ingram, Patty Label, and Cuba Gooding. He was also in L.A. to open the Steve Harvey Show.   Hunter was a finalist on
NBC's Showtime at the Apollo.



DIRECTORS & GUEST ARTISTS

George Nieves,
guest choreographer, has been busy creating a Musical Theatre program in upstate NY.  He recently completed the National Tour of White Christmas and in 2006/07 he was performing in WEST SIDE STORY throughout the U.S.  He was Assistant Choreographer on White Christmas.  

Mark Enis
was featured on an International Disney Cruise where he performed in several shows.

Mark Martino,
who has appeared on Broadway in OH BROTHER! and in the long-running off-Broadway hits FOREVER PLAID and FORBIDDEN BROADWAY, directed the premier of MOBY DICK-THE MUSICAL (Music Theatre International School Edition) for the 2005 Bucks County Musical Theatre Ensemble

Angelo Fraboni
, guest choreographer, recently appeared with Bebe Neuwerth Off-Broadway and in a national tour.  He is currently producing  a new Dr. Seuss musical for Broadway, The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T.

Gary John LaRosa has been busy directing throughout the U.S.  Summer 2008 he  directed Fiddler at the St. Louis MUNY Theatre, Hairspray at the Music Circus in Sacramento, and a national tour of Footloose.  He was nominated for  Best Director and Best Choreographer for his Connecticut production of  La Cage aux Faux.

Steven Smeltzer has directed and choreographed the National Tour of The Great American Trailer Park Musical, a hilarious musical spoof.  Spring '07 he directed and choreographed AND THE WORLD GOES ROUND in Manhattan.  Steven directed Willie Wonka JR at TAC in 2007.


PERFORMING ARTS SCHOOLS

Congratulations to TAC students...

Madison Kelly & Sammi Schilling
A long time TAC alumni, Madison, and 2007 alum, Sammi,  have been accepted into NYC's Professional Performing Arts School dance and theatre program.

Samantha Kronenfeld, Patrick Vargas, & Blaise Bayno

All multi-year TAC alumni, have been accepted to LaGuardia High School of the Performing Arts for Fall 2008.  Over 3,200 students auditioned.

Bernadette Schweda
All multi-year TAC alumni in the NYC Teen Acting Ensemble, has been accepted to LaGuardia High School of the Performing Arts Drama program for Fall 2009.

Kaitlin Hoffman & Steven Bhiro
Kaitlin & Steven are returning to Frank Sinatra School of the Arts, majoring in Acting.  Kaitlin received a scholarship to Stella Adler's summer workshop.  They are both long-time TAC alum.

Olivia Smith & Yasmine Sanandaji

Olivia, 2005 & 2006 Graduate of the NYC Teen Acting Ensemble & Yasmine a multi-year alum in both Musical Theatre and Acting, are attending NYC's LaGuardia High School of the Performing Arts in the Vocal Music track.

Mollie Downes
Senior Company, Summer 2005/06 in NYC, was one of 60 students accepted into the Dance Program at the Fiorello LaGuardia School of Music and Arts (High School of the Performing Arts.)

Anthony Alfaro
Also a member of the 2005/06 Senior Company, is in the Acting/Drama program a LaGuardia High School.  He has been accepted to study at Theatre In the Square on Broadway!

Cindy Delaney
4-year Alum
, NYC Summer Musical Theatre Workshop, has  been accepted into New York City High School of Performing Arts (LaGuardia)  in the Acting Program.

Mia Fraboni

Mia, a 2004 graduate of the Summer Drama Workshop in NYC and 2005/06 NYC Senior Company, has been accepted into the Acting Program at New York City High School of Performing Arts (LaGuardia High School).  She was one of 30-some students selected from thousands of applicants.  Summer 2008 she was accepted to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival Workshop.

Remy LeDily
Senior Company 2004 & 2005, NYC Summer Musical Theatre Workshop, has also been accepted into New York City High School of Performing Arts.

Alexandra Parisi
Alex, a long-time acting and dance student in Bucks County,  has been awarded a prestigious vocal music scholarship for the college of her choice.  She is on her way to college and a career in ;theatre and writing in Florida at Echard University.

Charles Nechamkin
 
A 2-year TAC Acting Student, Charles has been accepted into the  New York City High School of Performing Arts class of 2007.  Charles was one of only 80 students accepting into the Acting Program!  He completed the 2004 summer Drama Workshop at TAC and studied acting with Robert Laconi.




THE SOPRANOS / HBO

Juliet Fox appeared in an episode of HBO's hit show,
 The Sopranos.  She also  shot a national TV commercial for a hotel chain.  She  studied at TAC for many years and has been in many TAC productions and the Senior Company.  She is pictured here with Sriram in a Bucks County Musical Theatre Ensemble production of Pirates of Penzance.



Students and Alumni can email their success stories to us at: 
mail@TheatreArtsCenter.com


     CLICK HERE TO ENTER    

THEATRE ARTS CENTER

LINKS TO OTHER THEATRE SITES:

LONG ISLAND NEWSLETTER FOR KIDS & TEENS IN THEATRE:

That's What Kids Do:  http://www.thatswhatkidsdo.com

 Lewis & Fox Casting:  http://www.lewisandfox.com

QCC Performing Arts Center Box Office:  http://www.qcc.cuny.edu/QPAC

Bristol Riverside Theatre:  http://www.brtstage.org

Sellersville Theatre:  http://www.st94.com

Central Bucks School District:  http://www1.cbsd.org/about/Pages/default.aspx

NY Resident Playwright/Watermark Ensemble:  http://www.watermarkensemble.org

Bucks County Resident Playwright:  http://www.playscripts.com/author.php3?authorid=780

The Accidentals/NYC Music Director's Vocal Group:  http://www.theaccidentals.com