Teacher Standing Ovation: Spotlight on Amanda Faria

BroadwayWorld is excited to shine a spotlight on Amanda Faria in our Teacher Standing Ovation Series for her dedication to arts education! She was nominated by her students Ava Giglia and Jessica Ardolina.

Amanda Faria has been a teacher, arts educator, and director in Monmouth County, NJ for the past 8 years. She is also the Artistic Director and a founding member of Capital Productions INC, a regional theater company in the same area. She is a graduate of DeSales University, where she received a BA in Musical Theatre and Secondary Education with a minor in English. Amanda was a choreographer and English teacher at Henry Hudson Regional School in Highlands for five years, and now serves as the Drama Teacher/Play Director at Middletown High School North. She currently serves as the advisor for the district's Arts Academy, a prestigious program (similar to a college major) that requires students to audition to participate in higher level arts courses. She is also the Director/Choreographer and founder of the Drama Club at Shrewsbury Borough School. She was recently named "Best Director of a Musical" in Broadway World's Regional Theater Awards (NJ 2021) for her production of Hello, Dolly! with Capital Productions.

When she's not teaching at school, Amanda has spent the last eight years directing community theater productions in the area. Amanda loves bringing her community and regional theater outside perspectives into the classroom to engage and inspire students to be the strongest performers they can be.

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Meet Amanda:

How do you feel being nominated by your former students for the Teacher Standing Ovation Series?

Amanda: I am humbled and honored to be nominated by these students. I show up to work every day to teach theater and have fun, not truly understanding the impact I'm making day in and day out. I am beyond touched that they would feel inclined to nominate me.

What is your favorite thing to teach your students?

Amanda: Teaching theater and arts education in general is exciting, but my absolute favorite thing to teach them is audition prep. I believe this is something that gets pushed to the wayside more often than not, and leaves performers anxious with what directors are looking for. And for those students who don't pursue theater post-graduation, it sets them up with the same skills for job interviews in any field! I love to challenge them and give them real world feedback, better preparing them for secondary education and the workplace. It definitely helps calm the nerves and makes more well-rounded performers.

Why is arts education important?

Amanda: I can't even begin to imagine where I'd be without arts education. It quite literally changed and shaped my entire life. There is so much going on in these kids' personal lives...arts education is such an incredible outlet to explore, perform, get in touch with your emotions, and create something in the non-traditional sense of the word. Creativity needs to continue to be valued in our society. Without it, I don't know where we'd be.

If you could offer one piece of advice to your students, what would it be?

Amanda: Be humble. Accept the opportunities given to you with a smile, but know we can always continue to grow, strive, and achieve more. Performing arts is a journey, and there is no need for arrogance. Hard work will always pay off.

Anything extra you about yourself would like the world to know?

Amanda: Well, I am currently directing "A Chorus Line" at Middletown High School North. It will actually be the first full blown musical at this school in the last 3 years since the pandemic began. The show goes up March 18th and 19th. I can't believe I'm working on such a challenging piece with high schoolers, and they are knocking it out of the park! I figured, if we were going to come back into this, we need to knock everyone's socks off! Ava Giglia is actually one of the actresses in the production. I'm hoping we can get this one up. These kids really deserve this show.

Meet Her Students:

Why do you feel Ms. Faria should be featured on BroadwayWorld?

Ava: Ms. Faria should be featured on BroadwayWorld.com because of her resilience during this uncertain time when theatre has been suffering. Ms. Faria has provided her students safe outlets to be able to act, sing, and dance during COVID-19 and she is a big reason many students kept their passion for theatre. She is a role model to her students and she allows us a comfortable space to be vulnerable while still learning how to harness out emotions into the roles we play on stage. Ms. Faria's ability to connect and spread her knowledge of theatre has made her more than a teacher to her students.

Jessica: She's done a lot of work during the pandemic to maintain the arts and maintain the arts academy program at our school. She balances lots of different theatre programs to make sure kids in and out of our school are getting an immersive theatre experience. Ms. Faria always does her absolute best to make sure we are getting involved in the arts in whatever way we feel connected to them the most. She's helped a lot of people find their way.

How has Ms. Faria impacted your life?

Ava: Ms. Faria came to my high school at the same time as me. When I was a freshmen in 2019-2020, Ms. Faria was starting her first year at MHSN. This made it very easy to relate to her because we were both new to MHSN. The spring musical that year was Chicago and I was not expecting to get a big role because I was an underclassmen, but I wanted to try my best and I worked every day to be confident in my audition. Ms. Faria decided to allow me the chance to play Velma Kelly. I felt incredibly honored to be chosen and I felt as though my hard work was paying off. Throughout my years at high school, Ms. Faria has shown her students that putting work into what you want will create amazing outcomes, no matter the obstacles in your way. Unfortunately, my freshman year was 2020 and Chicago was shut down a week before opening. The experience and what I learned was worth every rehearsal, even if I did not get to perform the show. I am eternally grateful to Ms. Faria for giving me the opportunities to get to play some of my dream roles. She has allowed me a platform to be able to come into my craft and celebrate learning from any hardship.

Jessica: This year, I realized that I want to pursue stage management as a career. I've always been on stage so it was a huge shock to Ms. Faria when I told her I wouldn't be auditioning for the spring musical. When she pulled me aside to talk about it, I confessed my change of heart in what I wanted to do in the future. She was immediately supportive and offering ways for me to get experience both at school and outside of school. Since the day I met her, Ms. Faria has pushed me to work harder and be more confident in my talent.

What is one memorable story about Ms. Faria?

Ava: Aside from working at MHSN, Ms. Faria is the director for the musicals at Shrewsbury Borough School District. This year, she invited me to help her with music direction for Frozen Jr. I was excited to work with the kids, and excited to be on the other side of production world. With this newfound opportunity, I was also invited to join Ms. Faria through the audition process. Watching the kids audition was a great chance to see theatre in younger ages. I knew that Ms. Faria was doing the same for these kids as she is for the students at my school and I knew she would inspire them to continue theatre through high school. The most interesting part of the audition process was watching Ms. Faria craft the cast list. It was amazing to see her methodically place people into roles that would make the show the best it could be. Though I love being on the stage, watching Ms. Faria in her strength taught me a lot about directing and was very fun to see.

Jessica: In my freshman year, on the first day of school, I walked into Ms. Faria's classroom for Drama Workshop. It was my first year of high school and her first year teaching at North as a full time drama teacher. Just as she was getting into the curriculum and telling all of us how exciting this class was going to be, the phone rang. Scared, she jumped up and screamed "JESUS GOD". It was definitely a first impression.

If you could say anything to Ms. Faria right now, what would you say?

Ava: I would thank Ms. Faria for giving me the opportunities she has given me and so many others. I have never truly expressed how much I look up to her work ethic and drive. I know that Ms. Faria works extremely hard on all she does and I want to thank her for all of it. Ms. Faria always makes a point to show how much she cares about us. She is making a difference in so many student's lives and she deserves to know it.

Jessica: If I could say one thing to Ms. Faria right now, I would thank her for all of the hard work she has done to make sure our drama program stayed alive during these hard times. I would thank her for the continuous motivation and support she gives us. I would thank her for creating a safe space that thrives with creativity. I would thank her for bringing together our drama club, our family. So thank you Ms. Faria. The Middletown North Arts Academy and Drama Club appreciate you very much.

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Do you have a teacher in the arts that has impacted your life as an artist in an unforgettable way? A teacher that has shaped your life in such a way that you wish you could thank them right now? A teacher you believe deserves a standing ovation? Now is your chance to let them shine!

BroadwayWorld is welcoming all submissions from past and current students to feature their favorite arts teacher for a published article online. Whether you are an actor, director, stage manager, writer, or current student, we encourage you to submit all teachers that have shaped your view as an artist. Please contribute your story (or stories) about the one teacher that changed your life in the best way.

BroadwayWorld will be accepting submissions on an ongoing basis. To submit your teacher, please click here.