THANK You FOR VISITING ATS!

 Taryn Gilbert (Managing Director): began performing as a dancer in NYC where she toured with the Shadow Box Theatre. Out of her love of dance and performance grew Sing for America Presents, a charitable group whose purpose is to bring Light to the world through entertainment. Taryn has experienced many aspects of the arts including film, stage, print, and television and loves to share the stage and what she has learned with her casts at ATS.

A Thousand Spotlights Experience offers a unique program that was developed and honed by its founders. Our innovative approach to helping students reach their full potential as performers and artists is what really sets ATS apart from similar programs you may find. Students are challenged to think outside the box and to create in a way that allows for inner discovery which produces a more well-rounded and intense experience. The teams goal is not just to instruct students on how to sing and dance in a particular show, but to give each actor the tools to be true artists and find what makes him or her exceptional in a world where the allure of Broadway is ever-growing. Instead of culminating in a showcase for parents, students will perform alongside professional actors in two full-scale musical productions and be given the opportunity of a lifetime.

ATS History

A letter from us:
“Sing for America Presents…” was born of nothing more than a dream and a faith in that dream. Our plan was to shoot for the stars with as much passion as we could find within ourselves, and that’s exactly how this journey began: with passion. Every actor who has performed return engagements with us shares this fire, shares this love of performance and yearning to be greater. Burk Hudson said “Perfection is a road, not a destination.” We believe in the perfect effort. An actor who is willing to be pushed [expand title=”READ MORE”]  physically, mentally, spiritually, and creatively will thrive, will unlock potential and strength, and will produce a product infinitely superior to the alternative, because that product will contain soul. Our process is like no other and we say that with full confidence. New methods of producing a show from rehearsal style to promoting to fundraising and everything in between are constantly being tested here. We have our hands deep in our community where we pull great talent but are not just a locally maintained company as our performers have come from around the country. Our interest is not in walking a well trodden path effectively yet not exceptionally, our interest is in paving a new path laden with beauty and growth. At the beginning of every rehearsal process adults and children, professionals and amateurs, high class and under served, blacks and whites alike look around the room to realize they are immersed in an incredible culturally and creatively diverse environment. We then work together to produce a stunning show, learning from those we never knew could teach us, appreciating our differences, understanding the heartbeat which makes us all the same, becoming a cast, becoming a family. If you are an actor who’s more interested in playing puppet and less so in being an artist then this experience will not be within your comfort range. We create productions rooted in relationships founded in partnerships. Every show is a unique collaborative experience. Our twofold mission of serving the men and women in America who serve us, and opening up a color- blind world on and off stage heightens each SFA member’s sense of accountability. When you become a part of our team you will be expected to adopt personal responsibility to self, to cast members, to audiences, to fellow man. Art is not simply entertainment, it is so much more. It is human connection. What we do here matters. If you share this inclination we have no doubt that in our program you will evolve as a performer and as a person. [/expand]

 

        ATS ColorBlind Casting

A Thousand Spotlights uniquely casts all productions colorblind. We choose actors based on talent, experience, and ability to portray a role. We will reveal a world on stage where people are seen as people and not labels, so we can live that truth even after the curtain is closed. Through experiencing a colorblind world onstage we will live it off- stage, spreading that way of life throughout the world.

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