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Porch Light Studio, Stage & Schools

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Glen Rock NJ, Enrollment is in full swing for our fall programs and classes are filling up! Register now to start building characters at Porch Light today!
Our Academy season kicks off with Seussical Jr (Grades 1-5) and Legally Blonde (Grades 6-12), with tons of exciting studio classes for ages 5+ – Acting, Improv, Musical Theatre, Acting for the Camera, Playwriting, Songwriting and Technical Theatre! Inquire about private lessons, in-school theatre programs, workshops, birthday parties and so much more!

Register online today – https://porchlightproductions.org/education/

Porch Light Studio

555 S Broad St
Glen Rock, New Jersey

(201) 857-3520

 

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Ali Stroker Makes History as the First Performer in a Wheelchair in a Broadway Show

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MAY 31, 2016 – 9:14 AM

Ali Stroker says that her life took a radical turn the summer she was 7. Her next-door neighbor decided to direct a backyard production of Annie and cast Stroker as Annie. “It was a really special summer. I remember my life beginning,” says Stroker. From the time she was 2, a car accident left her paralyzed from the chest down. “I felt like my identity was around my wheelchair for so long” she says. “Once I started performing I was someone else. I could be an actress and singer and not just a girl in a wheelchair.”

From that Annie production, Stroker was hooked. Playing different roles, becoming a variety of people was healing. Performing bolstered her confidence. “It served different purposes not only in my career, but also helped me become the person that I am today,” she says. She also took voice lessons finding singing to be totally liberating. “Being paralyzed my body doesn’t necessarily always do what I want it to do,” Stroker explains. “But with my voice there are no limitations. It’s not held back by anything.”

https://parade.com/480945/jerylbrunner/ali-stroker-makes-history-as-the-first-performer-in-a-wheelchair-in-a-broadway-show/

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Broadway ‘trailblazer’ Ridgewood’s Ali Stroker to lead master class on Yale campus

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April 21, 2016

“An Open Conversation and Master Class with Ali Stroker, Broadway Trailblazer” will be presented on Friday, April 29 by the Shen Curriculum for Musical Theater at Yale, in partnership with the Provost Committee on Resources for Students and Employees with Disabilities.

The event, which is part of the Fridays @ Five series, will take place from 5 to 7 p.m. in the Ballroom at 220 York St. It is free and open to the public.

The class will include a conversation and Q&A with Stroker, after which she will give a short performance and lead a master class with Yale performers.

Stroker recently appeared in the acclaimed revival of “Spring Awakening” on Broadway. When she was cast in the Deaf West Theater’s production, she became the first actress in a wheelchair to appear in a Broadway show. Stroker has been paralyzed from the chest down since the age of 2 when she was injured in an automobile accident. Alterations to the Brooks Atkinson Theatre were made so that Stroker could use the backstage areas of the theater. On stage, the actress used a specially constructed “period” wheel chair to fit in with the late 19th-century setting of the show. Stroker participated fully in the show’s elaborate choreography, using her chair to dart around the stage and substituting “wheelies” for some of the leaps called for in the dances.

https://news.yale.edu/2016/04/21/broadway-trailblazer-lead-master-class-campus

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SPRING AWAKENING’s Ali Stroker On Turning Obstacles Into Opportunities

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October 8
12:21 AM2015
by Michael Dale

SPRING AWAKENING’s Ali Stroker caught the acting bug at age seven, five years after being paralyzed from the chest down in a car accident.

“I was a little girl in a wheelchair. And then when I started to perform, I felt like I was now an actress and a singer. And it gave me another identity. And it made me feel really good.”

Stroker talks with CBS Evening News about her road to Broadway.

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/VIDEO-SPRING-AWAKENINGs-Ali-Stroker-On-Turning-Obstacles-Into-Opportunities-20151008#

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Two teens mix business with acting in their Ridgewood camp for young thespians

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Two teens mix business with acting in their Ridgewood camp for young thespians

AUGUST 17, 2014    LAST UPDATED: SUNDAY, AUGUST 17, 2014, 1:21 AM
BY CHRIS HARRIS
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD

RIDGEWOOD — Many of the summer jobs available to teenagers can be a grind. That’s not the case for two acting aspirants, Myriam Burger and Christian Jerkovich.

A weeklong acting camp in Ridgewood that the 15-year-old partners began in 2009 will culminate today with an exclusive performance of “Time Warp,” an original play set in 2214 that they wrote together this spring.

The production, which includes three musical numbers, is by invitation only, orchestrated for parents, friends and relatives of the camp’s 20 participating thespians.

“It’s amazing watching them grow,” Myriam said of the elementary-school-age campers during a run-through of the play on Friday afternoon. “Over the course of seven days, some of these kids really blossom and come out of their shells.”

The play, which will unfold in the ornately decorated back yard behind Christian’s Circle Avenue home, will feature microphones and sound effects that were not available in previous years, the teens boasted.

Myriam and Christian first launched their operation, known as Camp Dragonfly, when they were 9 years old. The two were inspired to start the camp after appearing together in a school-sponsored production of “Seussical.”

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/education/2-teens-mix-business-with-acting-1.1068553#sthash.fXEUfRbl.dpuf

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NJ lawmakers want more tax breaks for movie, TV studios

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Ridgewood film festival

NJ lawmakers want more tax breaks for movie, TV studios

TRENTON — Lights. Camera. Legislative action.

The state Senate’s Economic Growth Committee today approved a bill intended to make New Jersey more attractive to film and video production companies by expanding a tax credit program.

The bill (S1952) would remove a $10 million limit on incentives for film production, as well as a $5 million incentive cap on digital production.

The advance of the legislation by a vote of 4-0 comes less than a week after industry insiders, speaking on a panel at the Montclair Film Festival, said New Jersey is losing its appeal as a filming location because it is not offering competitive incentives.

Christine Peluso, an attorney with Tax Credits LLC – which helps studios secure tax credits – told lawmakers that incentives were her clients’ “number one consideration” when considering shooting locations.

“In order to attract filming, you have to have an incentive,” Peluso said.

New York, by contrast, offers $420 million a year in credits. (Friedman/Star-Ledger)

https://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2014/05/nj_senate_panel_wants_more_tax_breaks_for_movie_tv_studios.html#incart_river

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Two film festivals cross cinematic paths

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Two film festivals cross cinematic paths

APRIL 20, 2014, 3:40 PM    LAST UPDATED: SUNDAY, APRIL 20, 2014, 3:40 PM
BY JIM BECKERMAN
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD

Two festivals at the same time? Not so good if you’re a kid, and your birthday comes on Christmas. Very good, if you’re a movie fan in North Jersey, and you have two events to choose from.

The Ridgewood Guild Film Festival ( tickets https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/632575 ), on Wednesday and Thursday, this year coincides with a special presentation by the Northeast Film Festival on Thursday.

Expect movies, personal appearances and a chance to see work by Hollywood’s future Scorseses and Spike Lees.

“They’re previewing films by unknown filmmakers who in a couple of years may be very well known,” says Tony Damiano, president of the Ridgewood Guild. “These are films that people would never ordinarily see.”

Two screens, on two nights running, will be given over to the 4th annual Ridgewood Guild Film Festival at the Bow Tie Cinemas. On Wednesday, student filmmakers from Allendale, Bergenfield, Ho-Ho-Kus, Ridgewood, Cresskill and New York will see their work on the big screen for the first time. There will also be a reprise of winning student films from previous years, and a new film, “Shutterflies,” from past winners Spencer Muhlstock and Hayes Walsh of Ridgewood. “It’s about a boy’s adventures, through his love of film and camera,” Damiano says.

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/arts-and-entertainment/two-film-festivals-cross-cinematic-paths-1.999815#sthash.UuqJaVI1.dpuf