|
 Barbara
Schaap is the mentor of "The IJK Club" and the founder
of "It's Just Kids, Inc.", both of which are outgrowths
of "Theater Workshop's Fantasy Playhouse".
CHILDHOOD HISTORY
Born and raised in the New York metro area, Barbara's
musical talents were stimulated at an early age by her family and
her environment. Her first stage was the kitchen table, where on
rainy days she and her cousins were encouraged to "entertain"
the rest of the family. As early as 1949, the family owned a disc
recorder and made dozens of records featuring everyone from the
grandparents singing songs from the "old country" to the
youngest child reciting nursery rhymes. Barbara treasures these
old platters as a musical photo album of the family's history.
EDUCATION AND TRAINING
Barbara studied piano, musical theory and composition
at Juilliard School of Music and voice, drama and diction at The
American Theater Wing under the tutelage of Mme. Nektar deFlondor.
She also studied ballet and tap for 8 years and was active in her
temple religious school until graduation from High School. She was
an Education major at Queens College but, shy of a degree, elected
to marry Phil and have a family.
ON STAGE AT AGE 9
She made her first public singing appearance
at age 9 and in her teens sang and played the organ every weekend
for wedding and bar mitzvah ceremonies. She sang at Madison Square
Garden, Carnegie Hall, Little Carnegie, and many places too numerous
to mention. After her marriage to Phil, she turned to band work
and was the featured vocalist with many bands including Paul Whiteman
and Marty White. As the children were growing up it became more
and more difficult to leave them so Barbara teamed up with her sister
Henrie (Henriette) and formed a successful sister act known as "The
Stoner Sisters". The sisters did extremely well until Henrie
fell ill and could no longer perform.
HER LIFELONG FANTASY BECAME "FANTASY
PLAYHOUSE"
Barbara cannot sit still for very long and within
the year, she formulated a curriculum to teach theater and performance
skills to children. In September of 1967 she founded "The Five
Towns Theatrical Workshop", the only school of its kind at
that time. Her success was instantaneous. In two years Phil built
a small theater on Broadway in Lynbrook, Long Island, New York,
and by 1975 Barbara and Phil renovated the loft above the UA Lynbrook
Movie Theater on Merrick Road in Lynbrook and the nonprofit organization
of Theater Workshop Productions was formed. The name of "Fantasy
Playhouse" was given to the stage where over 35 of Barbara's
original musical have been produced as world premiers.
BACK ON STAGE
The demand for broadway revivals encouraged
"Theater Workshop" to mount full productions of the broadway
titles that the public supported in the evenings. Talented New York
actors appeared on the Playhouse Stage in everything from "Oklahoma"
and "Barnum" to "Camelot" and "Of Mice
And Men". Barbara got back on stage to perform the roles of
Mae Peterson in "Bye, Bye Birdie", Yente in "Fiddler
On The Roof", Mother in "Barefoot In The Park", Miss
Hannigan in "Annie", Mrs. Doyle in "Annie Warbucks",
Belle in "The Fantastiks" and others.
To find out more on "BARBARA'S
MUSICALS"
|
