Millburn Resident Brings Acting Talents to Teach in Maplewood

A Millburn resident has brought her talents to Maplewood. Emily Bauer's Acting With Emily is a professional-grade film and television training studio on Baker Street.

Bauer is hardwired to perform: At age 8, she had her first professional show  at the Paper Mill Playhouse, where she still teaches. But Bauer has always been close to the local community regardless of her touring demands. Frustrated with the lack of professional-level film and television acting classes available locally, Acting With Emily was born.

"I started to look around our area, and saw that there was an abundance of musical theatre-type schools. There was so much 'razzle dazzle'—a lot of acting factories, so many places offering 75 classes a day, but not a lot of substance, she said. "What if your 12 year old boy doesn't want to be a musical theatre performer? Why should he be pressured into taking a tap dancing class? I wanted to give students and parents a place where they could come for great training and offer it at a great price."

Her students have appeared on Nickelodeon and Comedy Central as well as in national commercials. But, most importantly, Bauer's students "have fun, develop self-confidence, and learn to respect themselves and their fellow students in a safe, creative environment."

If Bauer's voice is familiar to you, that's because you hear her daily as an MTV announcer and veteran of over 100 national TV commercials and countless stage productions. If you (or your kids) watch the Cartoon Network, The WB, ABC, Disney, or PBS, you cannot help but hear her voice.

Bauer has been honored with the Publisher's Weekly Award for "Best Audiobook" for her work on "Life as We Knew It" by Susan Beth Pfeffer. In 2008, she won another award from Audiophile Magazine, and she received in 2009 the ALA's Notable Recording award for her narration of "The Possibilities of Sainthood," a collaboration with Timothy Ditlow, who is responsible for the "Harry Potter" audiobooks.

But there's nothing to it for this mother of two and cum laude graduate of New York University where she majored in theatre and business. A New Jersey native and still-active performer, Bauer now pours all of her experience into the art of teaching children—and their anxious parents—about how to get the kids into show business.

Bauer has recruited four other accomplished instructors to teach a total of 25 classes per week. This fall, the curriculum includes Improvisation, Acting for the Camera, Stage to Screen, On Camera Scene Study, Voice Over Technique and Acting for Commercials.

Her signature course is "Breaking Into Show Business," a 10-hour weekend intensive course covering training, making connections and the all-important parent info session. Bauer is very committed to parent education; the folks are regularly included in sessions with invited agents and managers. "I'm big into parent education," she explained. "I want to answer lots of questions and give people the real view of what's out there."