Professional Performing Arts School
Encyclopedia
The Professional Performing Arts School or PPAS is a New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 public school.

History

The Professional Performing Arts School (PPAS) was created in 1990 to meet the needs of two groups of students: those who wanted to pursue professional work in the arts as they earned a junior/senior high school diploma and those who wanted to study the arts as an avocation
Avocation
An avocation is an activity that one engages in as a hobby outside one's main occupation. There are many examples of people whose professions were the ways that they made their livings, but for whom their activities outside of their workplaces were their true passions in life...

.

It is the special mission of this small, personalized school to develop, refine, and showcase students in dance, drama, and vocal music while also providing them with a rigorous, meaningful academic curriculum.

Every student auditions for a performing arts major. Performing arts instruction is delivered by professional dancers, actors and musicians through professional studios.

Academic staff give students opportunities for daily study through a rigorous, comprehensive, sequential, fully integrated academic curriculum. The course of study, ending in a New York State Regents endorsed diploma, is centered around an interdisciplinary, multicultural, inquiry based approach to learning which prepares students for college and/or a professional career in the arts.

Applying to PPAS

For the most current information go the Apply to PPAS page at the official site of PPAS.

Notable alumni

  • Shenell Edmonds, Actress ("One Life to Live
    One Life to Live
    One Life to Live is an American soap opera which debuted on July 15, 1968 and has been broadcast on the ABC television network. Created by Agnes Nixon, the series was the first daytime drama to primarily feature racially and socioeconomically diverse characters and consistently emphasize social...

    ")
  • Britney Spears
    Britney Spears
    Britney Jean Spears is an American recording artist and entertainer. Born in McComb, Mississippi, and raised in Kentwood, Louisiana, Spears began performing as a child, landing acting roles in stage productions and television shows. She signed with Jive Records in 1997 and released her debut album...

    . Singer (Winner of 1 Grammy Awards)
  • Eddie Alderson
    Eddie Alderson
    -Life and career:Eddie Alderson was born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, to Rich and Kathy Alderson.Alderson has portrayed Matthew Buchanan on ABC's One Life to Live since May 10, 2001. He was put on contract with the OLTL series in December 2008...

    , Actor (One Life to Live
    One Life to Live
    One Life to Live is an American soap opera which debuted on July 15, 1968 and has been broadcast on the ABC television network. Created by Agnes Nixon, the series was the first daytime drama to primarily feature racially and socioeconomically diverse characters and consistently emphasize social...

    )
  • Kristen Alderson
    Kristen Alderson
    Kristen DeAnn Alderson is an American actress and occasional singer.-Early life:Alderson was born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania to Richard and Kathy Alderson...

    , Actress (One Life to Live
    One Life to Live
    One Life to Live is an American soap opera which debuted on July 15, 1968 and has been broadcast on the ABC television network. Created by Agnes Nixon, the series was the first daytime drama to primarily feature racially and socioeconomically diverse characters and consistently emphasize social...

    )
  • Aleisha Allen
    Aleisha Allen
    Aleisha LaNaé Allen is an American actress.-Early life:Aleisha Allen was born on April 28, 1991 in Bronx, New York City, she went to school along with her other siblings. She went to Sacred Heart School in the Bronx as a child.-Career:Since the age of four, she has been active in television and...

    , actress (School of Rock
    School of Rock
    School of Rock, also called The School of Rock, is a 2003 American musical comedy film directed by Richard Linklater, written by Mike White, and starring Jack Black...

    , Are We There Yet?
    Are We There Yet?
    Are We There Yet? is a 2005 American family comedy film which was produced by Revolution Studios and was distributed by Columbia Pictures, directed by Brian Levant...

    , Are We Done Yet?
    Are We Done Yet?
    Are We Done Yet? is a 2007 family comedy film starring Ice Cube. The film is both a remake of the classic Cary Grant comedy Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House and a sequel to 2005's comedy Are We There Yet? The film was directed by Steve Carr from a screenplay by Hank Nelken...

    )
  • Andrea Bowen
    Andrea Bowen
    Andrea Lauren Bowen is an American actress who is best known for playing Julie Mayer on Desperate Housewives . She has won two SAG Awards.-Biography:...

    , Actress (Desperate Housewives
    Desperate Housewives
    Desperate Housewives is an American television comedy-drama series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. Executive producer Cherry serves as Showrunner. Other executive producers since the fourth season include Marc Cherry, Bob Daily, George W...

    )
  • Claire Danes
    Claire Danes
    Claire Catherine Danes is an American actress of television, stage and film. She has appeared in roles as diverse as Angela Chase in My So-Called Life, as Juliet in Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet, as Kate Brewster in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, as Yvaine in Stardust and as Temple Grandin in...

    , Actress (My So-Called Life
    My So-Called Life
    My So-Called Life is an American teen drama television series created by Winnie Holzman and produced by Edward Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz. It originally aired on ABC from August 25, 1994, to January 26, 1995 and was distributed by The Bedford Falls Company with ABC Productions. Set at the...

    , Stardust, Golden Globe Award
    Golden Globe Award
    The Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign...

     for Best Actress in a Television Drama Series in "My So-Called Life")
  • Billy Crawford
    Billy Crawford
    Billy Joe Crawford is a Filipino-American recording artist, singer-songwriter and philanthropist.Crawford is a Bilingual Filipino Singer. His second language is English and he is conversational in French. Crawford not only lived in New York City, USA, but also in Paris for five years and for one...

    . Singer/Actor
  • Melonie Diaz
    Melonie Diaz
    Melonie Diaz is an American actress who has been appeared in many independent films, including four shown at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival.-Biography:...

    , actress (Raising Victor Vargas
    Raising Victor Vargas
    Raising Victor Vargas is a 2002 film directed by Peter Sollett, written by Sollett and Eva Vives. The film follows Victor, a Lower East Side teenager, as he deals with his eccentric family, including his strict grandmother, his bratty sister, and a younger brother who completely idolizes him...

    , Be Kind Rewind
    Be Kind Rewind
    Be Kind Rewind is a 2008 American comedy film with dramatic elements from New Line Cinema, written and directed by Michel Gondry and starring Jack Black, Mos Def, Melonie Diaz, Danny Glover and Mia Farrow. The film first appeared on January 20, 2008 at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. It was later...

    , Feel the Noise
    Feel the Noise
    Feel the Noise is a drama film written by Albert Leon, directed by Alejandro Chomski and produced by Jennifer Lopez. It was released on October 5, 2007 and stars Omarion, Giancarlo Esposito, Victor Rasuk and James McCaffrey.-Plot:...

    )
  • Elena Satine
    Elena Satine
    Elena Marié Satine is an American film actress and singer.-Early life:Elena Satine was born on November 24, 1987 in Tbilisi, Georgia and raised on the Black Sea Coast of the Russian Riviera. She is a descendant of Georgian Nobility, "House of Orbeliani" and a classically trained pianist...

    , Actress/Singer
  • Jesse Eisenberg
    Jesse Eisenberg
    Jesse Adam Eisenberg is an American actor. He made his screen debut with the comedy-drama television series Get Real from 1999 to 2000...

    , Actor (The Social Network
    The Social Network
    The Social Network is a 2010 American drama film directed by David Fincher and written by Aaron Sorkin. Adapted from Ben Mezrich's 2009 book The Accidental Billionaires, the film portrays the founding of social networking website Facebook and the resulting lawsuits...

    , The Squid and the Whale
    The Squid and the Whale
    The Squid and the Whale is a 2005 American drama film written and directed by Noah Baumbach and produced by Wes Anderson. It tells the semi-autobiographical story of two boys in Brooklyn dealing with their parents' divorce in the 1980s. The film is named after a giant squid and sperm whale diorama...

    ) (Academy Award Nominee for Best Actor
    Academy Award for Best Actor
    Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...

    )
  • K. Foxx, Hip-Hop radio personality, video star.
  • Josh Peck
    Josh Peck
    Joshua Michael "Josh" Peck is an American actor, comedian, director, and voice actor best known for playing Josh Nichols in the Nickelodeon live-action sitcom Drake & Josh. He began his career as a child actor in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and became known to young audiences after his role on...

    , actor (Drake and Josh, The Amanda Show
    The Amanda Show
    The Amanda Show is an American live-action sketch comedy and variety show that aired on Nickelodeon from November 6, 1999 to September 21, 2002. It starred Amanda Bynes, Drake Bell, and Nancy Sullivan, along with several performing artists who came and left at different points, such as John Kassir,...

    ) voice actor, comedian, director, producer
  • Alicia Keys
    Alicia Keys
    Alicia Augello Cook , better known by her stage name Alicia Keys, is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and occasional actress. She was raised by a single mother in the Hell's Kitchen area of Manhattan in New York City. At age seven, Keys began playing the piano...

    , singer, pianist (Winner of 15 Grammy Awards)
  • Julianna Rose Mauriello
    Julianna Rose Mauriello
    Julianna Rose Mauriello is an American actress. She starred in LazyTown, and has appeared in various Broadway musicals such as Oklahoma!, Gypsy and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.-Personal life:...

    , actress (LazyTown
    LazyTown
    LazyTown is a children's television program that was produced in Iceland with a cast and crew from Iceland, the United Kingdom and the United States. It was created by Magnús Scheving, a gymnastics champion and CEO of LazyTown Entertainment, who also stars in the show...

    )
  • Paul McGill
    Paul McGill
    Paul McGill is an American luthier, specializing in classical, steel string as well as the originator of a unique type of resonator guitar based upon the Brazilian Del Vecchio designs of the 1930s....

    , Actor, dancer (Man on Wire
    Man on Wire
    Man on Wire is a 2008 British documentary film directed by James Marsh. The film chronicles Philippe Petit's 1974 high-wire walk between the Twin Towers of New York's World Trade Center. It is based on Philippe Petit's book, To Reach the Clouds, recently released in paperback with the new title...

    , Fame
    Fame (2009 film)
    Fame is a 2009 musical film and a loose remake of the 1980 film of the same title. It was directed by Kevin Tancharoen and written by Allison Burnett. It was released on September 25, 2009 in the USA, Canada, Ireland, and the UK.-Freshman year:...

    , A Chorus Line (Revival)
    A Chorus Line
    A Chorus Line is a 1975 musical about Broadway dancers auditioning for spots on a chorus line. The book was authored by James Kirkwood, Jr. and Nicholas Dante, lyrics were written by Edward Kleban, and music was composed by Marvin Hamlisch....

    )
  • Asher Book
    Asher Book
    Asher Monroe Book is an American dancer, singer and actor.-Early life:Born in Arlington, Virginia in 1988, Asher started working professionally when he was seven years old...

    , Actor, dancer, singer (boy band V Factory, Fame
    Fame (2009 film)
    Fame is a 2009 musical film and a loose remake of the 1980 film of the same title. It was directed by Kevin Tancharoen and written by Allison Burnett. It was released on September 25, 2009 in the USA, Canada, Ireland, and the UK.-Freshman year:...

    )
  • Paul Iacono
    Paul Iacono
    Paul Stanley Iacono is an American actor. He appeared in the 2009 remake of Fame and was also the star of the show The Hard Times of RJ Berger on MTV.-Early life:...

    , Actor, director (The Hard Times of RJ Berger
    The Hard Times of RJ Berger
    The Hard Times of RJ Berger is a United States television comedy series created by David Katzenberg and Seth Grahame-Smith for MTV. The show's central character is RJ Berger an unpopular sophomore at the fictional Pinkerton High School in Ohio who has an exceptionally large penis...

    , Fame
    Fame (2009 film)
    Fame is a 2009 musical film and a loose remake of the 1980 film of the same title. It was directed by Kevin Tancharoen and written by Allison Burnett. It was released on September 25, 2009 in the USA, Canada, Ireland, and the UK.-Freshman year:...

    )
  • Max Ehrich
    Max Ehrich
    Max Ehrich is an American actor singer and dancer. He made his film debut starring in One Easy Job , then had a supporting role as principal dancer in High School Musical 3: Senior Year. Breaking into television, Ehrich was a recurring guest star in Ugly Betty's Season 3, playing the role of Randy...

    , Actor, dancer (High School Musical 3: Senior Year
    High School Musical 3: Senior Year
    High School Musical 3: Senior Year is a 2008 American romantic musical film and the third and final installment in the High School Musical trilogy. Its theatrical release in the United States began on October 24, 2008...

    , Ugly Betty
    Ugly Betty
    Ugly Betty is an American comedy-drama television series developed by Silvio Horta, which premiered on ABC on September 28, 2006, and ended on April 14, 2010. The series revolves around the character Betty Suarez and is based on Fernando Gaitán's Colombian telenovela soap opera Yo soy Betty, la fea...

    )
  • Jessica Lee Goldyn
    Jessica Lee Goldyn
    Jessica Lee Goldyn is an American Broadway actress who most recently performed in the revival of Chorus Line as Val. She played the lead role of Cassie from August 10, 2008 opposite of Mario Lopez who played the character Zack, until the show ended its Broadway revival run on August 17, 2008...

    , actress and dancer (A Chorus Line
    A Chorus Line
    A Chorus Line is a 1975 musical about Broadway dancers auditioning for spots on a chorus line. The book was authored by James Kirkwood, Jr. and Nicholas Dante, lyrics were written by Edward Kleban, and music was composed by Marvin Hamlisch....

    )
  • Connor Paolo
    Connor Paolo
    Connor Paolo is an American actor best known of his role as Eric van der Woodsen in The CW young-adult series Gossip Girl since 2007-2011.He became part of the two Oliver Stone films, World Trade Center and Alexander where he bagged his biggest break in Hollywood.He is currently playing Declan...

    , Actor (Gossip Girl (TV series)
    Gossip Girl (TV series)
    Gossip Girl is an American teen drama television series based on the book series of the same name written by Cecily von Ziegesar. The series was created by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, and premiered on The CW on September 19, 2007...

    )
  • Danielle Polanco
    Danielle Polanco
    Danielle Polanco is an American dancer and choreographer. She is probably best known for being the leading lady in Omarion's music video Touch and for starring in the 2008 movie Step Up 2 the Streets, in which she portrayed Missy Serrano...

    , Dancer/Choreographer (Step Up 2)
  • Victor Rasuk
    Victor Rasuk
    Victor Rasuk is an American actor.Rasuk was born in Harlem, New York to Dominican parents. He has one brother, Silvestre, with whom he starred in Raising Victor Vargas....

    , actor (Raising Victor Vargas
    Raising Victor Vargas
    Raising Victor Vargas is a 2002 film directed by Peter Sollett, written by Sollett and Eva Vives. The film follows Victor, a Lower East Side teenager, as he deals with his eccentric family, including his strict grandmother, his bratty sister, and a younger brother who completely idolizes him...

    , Feel the Noise
    Feel the Noise
    Feel the Noise is a drama film written by Albert Leon, directed by Alejandro Chomski and produced by Jennifer Lopez. It was released on October 5, 2007 and stars Omarion, Giancarlo Esposito, Victor Rasuk and James McCaffrey.-Plot:...

    , Stop-Loss
    )
  • Alisa Reyes
    Alisa Reyes
    Alisa Reyes is an American actress , best known for three seasons that she appeared on Nickelodeon's All That ....

    , actress (All That
    All That
    All That is an American live-action, sketch comedy-variety show that aired on the Nickelodeon cable television network featuring short comedic sketches and weekly musical guests. The theme song for All That was performed by TLC...

    , The Proud Family
    The Proud Family
    The Proud Family is an American animated television series that premiered on Disney Channel from September 15, 2001 to August 19, 2005.-Production:...

    )
  • Karina Pasian
    Karina Pasian
    Karina Pasian is an American Grammy Award nominated singer and pianist. She is currently signed to Def Jam.-Life and career:...

    , singer, pianist, (Grammy Award
    Grammy Award
    A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...

     Nominated for album First Love
    First Love (Karina Pasian album)
    First Love is the debut studio album by Dominican-American R&B singer Karina. The album was released on August 19, 2008. The album debuted on #57 on the Billboard 200.The album includes the singles "16 @ War" and "Can't Find The Words"....

    )
  • Gregory Malek-Jones
    Gregory Malek-Jones
    Gregory Malek-Jones also known simply as Gregori is an American singer, dancer and actor. and He has appeared with the New York City Ballet in numerous productions and was best known for playing the title role in George Balanchine's Nutcracker.-Life and career:Malek-Jones attended the...

    , Dancer, Singer (The Nutcracker
    The Nutcracker
    The Nutcracker is a two-act ballet, originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The libretto is adapted from E.T.A. Hoffmann's story "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King". It was given its première at the Mariinsky Theatre in St...

    , Gregori)
  • Mark Indelicato
    Mark Indelicato
    Mark Indelicato is an American actor, singer, fashion blogger, and photographer best known for his role in the ABC comedy series Ugly Betty, as Justin Suarez, the fashion-obsessed nephew of series protagonist Betty Suarez....

    , Actor (Ugly Betty
    Ugly Betty
    Ugly Betty is an American comedy-drama television series developed by Silvio Horta, which premiered on ABC on September 28, 2006, and ended on April 14, 2010. The series revolves around the character Betty Suarez and is based on Fernando Gaitán's Colombian telenovela soap opera Yo soy Betty, la fea...

    )
  • Tru Collins
    Tru Collins
    Tru Collins is an American performance artist, singer, and actor. Singing behind Grammy-winning soul singer Latrice Varrett, she opened for Aretha Franklin at the Nokia Theatre Times Square in 2009. Tru, a PPAS alum, appeared on CBS' Guiding Light as teenage brat Tiffany and recently wrapped the...

    , Singer, actor ("Trans Siberian Orchestra, Guiding Light
    Guiding Light
    Guiding Light is an American daytime television drama that is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest running drama in television and radio history, running from 1937 until 2009...

    )
  • Taylor Momsen
    Taylor Momsen
    Taylor Michel Momsen is an American actress, musician and model who portrays the character of Jenny Humphrey on the CW television series Gossip Girl and portrayed the role of Cindy Lou Who in How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and fronts the rock band The Pretty Reckless.-Early life and career:Taylor...

    , Actress, singer (Gossip Girl (TV series)
    Gossip Girl (TV series)
    Gossip Girl is an American teen drama television series based on the book series of the same name written by Cecily von Ziegesar. The series was created by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, and premiered on The CW on September 19, 2007...

    , The Pretty Reckless
    The Pretty Reckless
    The Pretty Reckless are an American rock band from New York. The current members are Taylor Momsen , Ben Phillips , Mark Damon and Jamie Perkins ....

    , How the Grinch Stole Christmas!
    How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (film)
    How the Grinch Stole Christmas, also known as Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas , is a 2000 comedy film from Universal Pictures and Imagine Entertainment, based on the 1966 TV special which itself is based on 1957 book of the same name by Dr. Seuss...

    )
  • Chris Trousdale
    Chris Trousdale
    Christopher Ryan Trousdale is an American pop singer, actor, dancer and former member of the band Dream Street.-Early life:Trousdale was born in New Port Richey, Florida to a Greek American father and an Irish American mother.-Career:...

    , actor, singer (The Biggest Fan
    The Biggest Fan
    The Biggest Fan is a film based around the band Dream Street . The main characters are Chris Trousdale and his "Biggest Fan" Debbie Worden...

    , former group Dream Street
    Dream Street
    Dream Street was an American pop boy band that was formed in mid 1999 by Louis Baldonieri and Brian Lukow. Dream Street later disbanded in 2002 after a legal dispute between the parents and the group's managers...

    , All That
    All That
    All That is an American live-action, sketch comedy-variety show that aired on the Nickelodeon cable television network featuring short comedic sketches and weekly musical guests. The theme song for All That was performed by TLC...

    guest appearance)
  • Lee Thompson Young
    Lee Thompson Young
    Lee Thompson Young is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his teenage role as the title character on the Disney Channel television series The Famous Jett Jackson...

    , Actor (The Famous Jett Jackson
    The Famous Jett Jackson
    The Famous Jett Jackson is a joint Canadian and American Disney Channel Original Series coming-of-age television series for children ages 12–16 about a boy named Jett Jackson who plays a teenage secret-agent on a fictional TV show-within-a-show called Silverstone...

    )
  • Sarah Hyland
    Sarah Hyland
    Sarah Jane Hyland is an American actress, currently starring as Haley Dunphy on the ABC comedy Modern Family.-Life and career:...

    , Actress (Modern Family
    Modern Family
    Modern Family is an American television comedy series created by Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan, which debuted on ABC on September 23, 2009. Lloyd and Levitan serve as showrunner and executive producers, under their Levitan-Lloyd Productions label...

    )
  • Addison Timlin
    Addison Timlin
    Addison Timlin is an American actress. She appeared as Sasha Bingham in season four of Californication.-Career:...

    , Actress (Derailed
    Derailed
    Derailed is a 2005 British-American thriller film based on the novel of the same name by James Siegel. The film is directed by Mikael Håfström and stars Clive Owen, Jennifer Aniston, Vincent Cassel, Melissa George, Addison Timlin, Giancarlo Esposito, RZA and Xzibit. This film was the first to be...

    , Californication
    Californication (TV series)
    Californication is an American comedy-drama that premiered on Showtime on August 13, 2007. The show was created by Tom Kapinos. The protagonist, Hank Moody , is a troubled novelist whose move to California, coupled with his writer's block, complicates his relationships with his longtime girlfriend...

    )
  • Louie Torrellas
    Louie Torrellas
    Louie Joseph Torrellas is an American media personality, Emmy awarded actor, comedian, producer, writer and entrepreneur. Notable films and video games featuring Louie include Jumper, Sponk, Blood and Bone, the popular Rockstar Games Bully and Grand Theft Auto...

    , Actor, Comic (
    Yankees on Deck, Miracle's Boys
    Miracle's Boys
    Miracle's Boys is a six part miniseries based on the novel of the same name by Jacqueline Woodson, shown on The N in February 2005. The series was directed by Neema Barnette, LeVar Burton, Ernest R. Dickerson, Bill Duke, and Spike Lee and was filmed on-site in Harlem, New York...

    )

Partnerships


External links

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