New Jersey School of Dramatic Arts in Bloomfield to offer free classes

The New Jersey School of Dramatic Arts is hosting their Winter Open House and Sample Class Day on Saturday, January 21 from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and on Sunday, January 22, 12 pm to 2pm. Classes are being held at their studios located at 593 Bloomfield Ave. in Bloomfield.

Sample classes being offered for adults and teens include Intro to Acting, Intro to Improvisation, Intro to Musical Theater and TV Commercials. Kids (grades 1-3) can sample Ready, Set, Act! and Broadway Juniors. Older kids (grades 4-5) can sample Young Actors Workshop and Musical Theater Kids. Sample classes for Tweens (grades 6-8) include Tweens Acting, Musical Theater and Improv Comedy. All sample classes are approximately 30 minutes long. The current schedule and all class descriptions can be found on the website at njactors.org

Directors Beth Baur and Bob Sapoff said, “The wonderful thing about the sample class day is that anyone interested in trying a class or finding out about acting or musical theater can do so in a safe environment with no obligation to register for classes. It is so much fun and absolutely stress free. Students often tell us that they loved the opportunity to meet the teachers and find out if NJSDA was going to be a good fit for them.”

The school is in its 13th year in Bloomfield. Many of its students have gone on to have careers in television, film and on stage. The school offers six levels of acting, a multi-level musical theater program and one of the top improv programs in the state. It is the home of three professional improv troupes and its professional Encore Theater Company for advanced acting and musical theater students. In fact, their Encore Theater troupe will be presenting SPRING AWAKENING on January 6- 8 at the Westminster Arts Center at Bloomfield College.

All of the teachers at the studio have extensive experience as performers as well as years in the classroom. They include the directors:

Beth Baur, who recently received an Honorable Mention in the 2016 Tony Award's Excellence in Theatre Education category, has been a professional actor and educator for more than 30 years. She has worked with such luminaries as Tommy Tune, George Burns and Lanford Wilson and has performed in national tours, Off-Broadway, regional theatre and in over 200 commercials works including national TV commercials, corporate industrial films, voice-overs and print. She is also the director of the acting program of the Performing Arts Academy at Memorial High School in West New York, NJ. In addition to this, she is an adjunct professor in acting for the film department at Montclair State University. She directed the independent film, REEL WOMEN. Beth received her BFA at the Conservatory of Theatre Arts at Webster University and was selected to be included in that year's "Who's Who of American Colleges".

Robert Sapoff has been profiled on ABC News, CNN, NY 1 News and in the Star Ledger, Herald News, and Daily Record. A professional actor for over 25 years, his theatre credits include the role of Harpo in the Off-Broadway revival of "The Cocoanuts", which was named one of the 10 best Off-Broadway productions of the year. Bob has appeared on Nickelodeon and in countless television commercials (including a Clio Award winner) and print work nationwide. He created and directed "On The Spot", a professional improvisational comedy troupe and is the founder and executive director of NJSDA's own professional improv troupe, "Nutty By Nature", which tours the NY/NJ metropolitan area. Since 2008 he has been an adjunct professor in the film department of Montclair State University where he teaches "Acting for Filmmakers". Bob has also lead corporate workshops in the use of acting and improvisation in the workplace and is part of Rutgers Business School’s annual orientation workshop, Improv-ing Your Professional Image.

For more information call New Jersey School of Dramatic Arts at 973-566-9700 or email at info@njactors.org. The current class schedule and all descriptions can be found at www.njactors.org. New Jersey School of Dramatic Arts is a nonprofit educational organization.