At Work with Starts Theatre and Dance Academy

Libby Barsky

September 26, 2008

Name: Stars Theatre and Dance Academy

Type of Business: Performing arts studio, all-inclusive of dance, acting, singing and performance arts

Address: 51 Mt. Bethel Road, Warren in Arch Plaza, 2nd Floor

Telephone: (908) 755-3400

Web site:
www.starstheatre.com

Number of employees: 14

Founded: 2002

   Top officers: Tamara Jacobson, owner and creative director; Kelsea Fleischer manager and operating director.

How would you describe your business?

"We are a unique program designed to enlighten, inform and encourage love of the performing arts," said owner and creative director Tamara Jacobson. "Our program trains students from age 3 through adults in acting, musical theatre, singing, and dancing classes in ballet, lyrical contemporary, hip hop, jazz.

"We offer a professional conservatory the Professional Development Company -- for students pursuing lifelong careers in theatre, film, and TV. We also have a travel troupe providing outreach programs and competing with other studios in the area in dance and modeling.

"We also offer classes for special needs students and have a class with a dance teacher and occupational therapist for five students aged 5-7 with mild autism."

What makes your business special?

"What makes us special is our outreach to the community. Our Travel Troupe has performed for synagogues and for residents in assisted living housing like Sunrise in Basking Ridge and the Alzheimer's Unit at Runnels. We will be doing a program in December with a holiday theme including all cultures and it will be performed at the Bridgewater Mall. We will continue to bring our Purim Show to synagogues including Har Shalom in Warren. In January I'll start directing Schoolhouse Rock Junior, based on the TV show, and will produce the show the first show is first weekend in April at the local JCC or Bridgewater Commons.

"Our Professional Development Company also makes us special. We currently enroll 14 students. Members of the program have performed on off Broadway and been on tour. We have weekly classes for children with special needs and a support group for the parents. We also join with other groups in special fundraising drives."

What goals do you have for the business?

"My goals are to enlighten and encourage children of all ages and adults to have wonderful self-esteem. The Stars program is basically an enrichment program -- to raise the individual's confidence in their expressive and speaking skills. We hope this will enrich their lives. I believe that what our students get out of this program is immeasurable."

How has your business changed?

"When I started this studio six years ago I didn't have any children. My life has changed and I now have three children under 5 years old. I have 3-year-old twins and one has cerebral palsy. 

"When I started I offered the only dance program within 12 miles. Today there is much more competition. My direction has been to widen the scope of our classes to include special needs students, maintain an excellent program and reduce the cost of tuition."

What was your most important deal?

"Ending my career in teaching for 14 years to fulfill the dream I had to open a theatre and dance academy. I started Stars Theatre and Dance Academy to share my original love of theatre. I was a child actress. I did off-Broadway. By the time I was 17 I was in hundreds of plays myself. I went to college and studied education and theatre arts. While there I began to have the idea of starting my own school as an extra curricular type of a facility. I taught in the Bronx for seven years then as a staff developer and supervisor at Plainfield High School. I started directing plays and as more and more kids worked with me I began renting out classrooms for a year in Basking Ridge then opened my school in Warren Township."

What changes do you expect in your business in the next 10 years?

"I would like to franchise my business and share what I have learned."

What is the most important thing you've learned in your business?

"To share my talent with others, because I get back so much pleasure. If everyone could take what they are great at and share that with others they too would get so much pleasure and joy.

"I began Stars Academy to share my love of the arts and to train students to be able to go forward in the arts.

"Although most of our students are straight-A students, we check report cards and if their grades start slipping we put them on probation and if they go below a C they are dropped from the program.

"We meet with the families three times a year. We discuss not only their child's report card, but their goals and how they take rejection. It's important for students to keep their grades up and to have other interests and learn that not everything is given to them, especially in the arts."

What advice would you give to someone considering your line of work?

"When I started this business six years ago we were the only performing academy within 12 miles. I now currently have five theatre arts schools within six miles of my building. The competition is absolutely intense. I've had staff members open their own schools and take my kids. The competition will copy your Web site, your course descriptions, and even hire away the teachers. It's a very competitive business."