By VASHTI HARRIS
Staff Writer
RED BANK – On a quest to give performing arts students an opportunity to work with Broadway’s best, one performing artist hopes to bring the ‘Big Apple’ to Monmouth County.
Co-founder and Monmouth County native Theresa Fowler Pittius will launch ‘Red Bank Performance Prep.’
The Prep is an educational division of Flipping Fun, an events and entertainment company located in Red Bank, according to a press release.
Throughout the year The Prep will offer classes that include: improv, acting for stage, piano lessons, music theory, vocal arts and audition prep.
The Prep’s faculty is composed of Pittius along with her professional performing arts educators, Jessi Clayton and Thomas Ryan Ward, according to the press release.
Prospective students may learn more about The Prep’s upcoming classes and summer projects while also having an opportunity to meet the faculty on April 22 at 25 East Front St. in Red Bank. from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Pittiu said she has been teaching performing arts students for six years throughout Monmouth County.
Having found success in bringing her Broadway friends to Monmouth County to mentor students, Pittius believes The Prep will offer Red Bank something different.
“I have been bringing my Broadway friends down to the Jersey Shore for the past few years, giving local Monmouth County students the opportunity to train with true professionals, and it has been an incredible success. Red Bank Performance Prep will offer this ‘cool little town’ something it has yet to experience: a conservatory-style professional track training program for all ages,” Pittius said in a prepared statement.
“‘The Prep’ seeks to train performers to become true industry professionals, encouraging them to ‘leave the nest’ and get real jobs within the TV, film and theater industry. I train each of my students to become the very best performers possible. The Prep’s motto is ‘Your Success is Our Success’,” Pittius said in a press release.
Pittius is the facility’s vocal and performance mentor, teaching a class called vocal arts and audition prep, according to the Red Bank Performance Prep website.
Broadway trained and University of North Carolina at Charlotte graduate Jessi Clayton will add to the vocal education team, music theory and piano instruction, according to the press release.
Clayton will specialize in vocal and piano development and will teach piano lessons and music theory, according to the Red Bank Performance Prep website.
A Off-Broadway director, producer, playwright, and actor, Thomas Ryan Ward’s will focus on acting classes for stage and film, Shakespeare, audition prep, and group writing courses,
Ward will teach a class called ‘Let’s Put On A Show,’ is award winning group writing course, according to Red Bank Performance Prep’s website.
For The Prep Ward will be specializing in acting and writing development, according to The Prep’s website.
“If there is one thing I’ve learned, working amongst artists of all ages and career levels…no one is merely an actor, a singer, etc. Since I was a boy, I wanted to know how the sets were built, how to focus the lights, fine-tune the blocking, and more. That’s what ‘Let’s Put On A Show’ offers students a chance to be behind the scenes, in the spotlight, and everything in between. It truly empowers performers on so many levels, and I can’t wait to see what our classes produce,” Ward said in the press release.
Red Bank Performance Prep will offer courses and productions throughout the year and in multiple locations outside of its Red Bank site, Flipping Fun, at 23 East Front Street.
For more information on Red Bank Performance Prep visit www.redbankprep.com or call 732-784-3191.
Contact Vashti Harris at vharris@newspapermediagroup.com.
