Acting-A-Part arts center branches out to reach the whole student

Sparta - When teens and pre-teens are passionate about something, it can be nearly impossible to drag them away and parents may be concerned about their school work suffering. As a teacher, Erika Lupo understands that and decided to expand Acting-A-Part to include Learning-A-Part, a tutoring service. “We’re a performing arts center,” she noted in a recent interview, “but I want to give kids the opportunity to do everything.” When she taught in Maplewood and Ramsey, Lupo integrated academics into the plays she directed. Now, she’s doing the same with her business. “Learning-A-Part has several components,” she explained. Tutors provide homework help, lessons in study skills, and tutoring in reading, writing, math, social studies, general science, biology and chemistry, as well as an English as a second language class. Because students stay with Acting-A-Part through high school, Lupo has also incorporated PSAT/SAT preparation classes. Foreign languages classes in Spanish, French, German and Italian are also held. To help meet the needs of the homeschooled children in the area, Lupo also offers a creative writing class geared specifically for them on Monday and Wednesday mornings from 10 to 11 a.m. Creative writing is a particular specialty of Lupo’s. She was nominated for a Best Practices in Teaching awards for creative writing and has just completed writing her first children’s book. The major emphasis of Acting-A-Part hasn’t changed, and moving from its original Main Street location to Woodport Road has allowed Lupo to expand her offerings. “When we were on Main Street, we had 800 square feet, we had to go to the Middle School for our shows. Now we have a stage, lights, sound and a grand piano.” She also has her father, Otto Salamon, a former William Morris agent and Golden Globe and Emmy-nominated writer and producer who is teaching an adult acting class among other things. A Holocaust survivor, he lectures in schools about his experiences as a child under the Nazis, including internment in a concentration camp when he was very young. Adults in the class range from 18 to 45, Lupe said, but one man in his 80s is taking it. Salamon concentrates on both acting and improvisation and has his students do a performance at the end of the class. That’s also the case with the Cabaret Dinner Theatre class which is open for ages 9 and up. The students choose their favorite songs and scenes from musicals and get ready to perform a caberet at the end of the term. A Song Writing and Theory class for all ages teaches basic piano, harmony, chord structure, scales and musical notation. It is an interactive class full of creative group discussions. Students work on their poetry, ideas and stories to create songs from them. An evening performance at the end of the course showcases the songs written during the class. Film Works, a film school for ages 12 and up teaches all aspects of film making using the state-of-the-art equipment, “Final Cut Pro.” Students learn to make documentaries which may be entered in local film festivals. TV Kids is a television production and creative writing workshop for children ages 8 and up which teaches them to develop on-air personalities as well as to set up and conduct on-camera interviews and schedule and audition talent. The show they create is aired on local cable television. Otto Salamon also teaches screenplay and playwriting workshops for ages 10 through 16 and for adults. He leads them to a first draft of their play or screenplay over a 12-week class. Strictly Improvisation covers a variety of improvisation techniques and is open to those 12 and up. For the little ones, a Puppet Theater class is a six-week program for children 2 and 3 years old. Popular demand called for Lupo to institute a Hip Hop Dance class for children 8 and up and for adults. Private piano and voice lessons are also offered. Acting-A-Part produces a number of musicals and plays throughout the year. The upcoming season will feature “High School Musical,” “Narnia” and “Finding Nemo.” In addition, the film crew creates its own variety show.