METUCHEN — The Forum Theatre Arts Center has become a place for budding performers.
“We are working with amazingly talented people,” said Karin Leone, managing director of the theater.
After three years of traveling around the world producing shows, Leone and her hus- band, playwright and producer Peter Loewy, who has owned the Forum Theatre at 314 Main St. for 25 years, are back.
Loewy had closed the theater in 2005 but revamped the facility and reopened it last summer. The theater has since been thriving with various programs such as A Kids Forum and Stars on Stage. The former returned from its hiatus last summer with “The Velveteen Rabbit,” featuring the Graham family.
Stars on Stage is the Forum’s newest nonprofit program, having kicked off this fall with a sell-out production of “Annie.”
Stars on Stage is offering classes to students as young as 3 years old in acting, dance, scene study, screen writing, film making, stand-up comedy, musical theater and music. The classes are taught by professionals and experienced educators.
Leone said students can work with the likes of rock veteran Ray Anderson, also known as mr. RAY, who teaches “Mr. RAY’s Train to Rock Academy” at the Forum, and they can work with Columbia film graduates Jana Siciliano and Adrienne Seyffert-Berofsky, creating films and starring in a full-scale musical at a professional theater.
“Our teachers have performed on levels that most people only dream about, including Broadway, the opera, movies and TV,” said Leone.
The Forum Theatre has been around since 1928, when it was built as a theater and vaudeville tryout house, and soon after became a neighborhood movie house. In 1982 it was purchased by Marlowe Enterprises, a Metuchen corporation, and was operated by Entr’Acte Inc. During the next 23 years, the theater presented premieres with an emphasis on musical theater, as well as numerous concert events and children’s shows.
Shows headlining at the Forum Theatre this spring from A Kids Forum include “School House Rock Line, Too!” on Feb. 13 and 14 at 11 a.m., Feb. 17 at 10 a.m. and on Feb. 20 and 21 at 11 a.m.; “Alice in Wonderland” on March 13 and 14 at 11 a.m., March 17 at 10 a.m., and March 20 and 21 at 11 a.m.; and “Cinderella” on April 17 and 18 at 11 a.m., April 21 at 10 a.m., and April 24 and 25 at 11 a.m.
Tickets for the shows are $14 each, or five tickets for $50.
Stars on Stage will present “Cinderella” performed by student actors in grades one through six onApril 30 and May 1 at 7 p.m., and on May 2 at 2 and 5 p.m.; and will present “Grease: School Edition” performed by student actors from grades seven through 12 on May 21 at 7 p.m., May 22 at 2 and 7 p.m., and May 23 at 3 p.m.
Tickets for the Stars on Stage shows are $12.
For more information about the upcoming shows or classes, visit www.forumtheatreartscenter. com or call 732-548-5600.