Meet the TPAPnj Team

All of our teachers work to help inspire in your child creativity and confidence through the Performing Arts 

Missy Bonaguide

​Missy Bonaguide is the owner and Artistic Director of The Performing Arts Project NJ, LLC. She has over 30 years experience in the Performing Arts including a degree in Theater and Dance from Skidmore College, training and performing in London and NYC theaters, and creating a successful Theater Company in Manhattan. Over the past 9 years, she has produced/directed the Lester C Noecker 4-6 grade musical, North Caldwell’s Gould School Musical, as well as directed classes, camps, and numerous fully staged TPAPnj production including "You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown," "Mary Poppins Jr," "High School Musical Jr," "The Little Mermaid Jr," "Aladdin Jr,""The Lion King Jr," "Frozen Jr.,” “Into the Woods,” “Descendants,” “Matilda Jr,,” and more. She teaches music and ballet locally, as well as giving private lessons in voice, acting, and dance. Her vision is for the West Essex, NJ area to have a top-notch, quality arts school that embraces beginners and advanced students alike, and provides our area with essential skills all kids need: confidence, the ability to speak in public, to think on their feet, to accept and include all others, to think critically, to question and examine, to be creative and to feel safe doing so.

Nancy Santero

Nancy has been involved in the arts her entire life. Most recently, she has been the Costume designer, Props master, and Assistant Director for the Lester C. Noecker 4-6 grade Musical and North Caldwell’s Gould School Musical, as well as Lead Teacher/Assistant Director for classes, camps, and TPAPNJ’s production of You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown. She is passionate about the positive affects of the Arts on young minds, particularly how experiencing theater together bonds kids of all different ethnicities, backgrounds, and social status. Theater class contributes incredibly toward not just academic success, but also social and emotional maturity and success.
​

Lara Schlachter

​​A summa cum laude graduate from USC's music business program, Lara began singing, and playing piano and violin from an early age. Favorite stage credits include Jasmine in “Aladdin the Musical” (Disney’s Hyperion Theatre/CA), Elphaba in “Wicked" (Japan), understudying the leads in "Rock of Ages" (NYC), “ Vices: A Love Story” (world premiere), and "Happy Embalmer" (NYMF). She has been in numerous national commercials and print campaigns including Applebees, Metro PCS, and MAM baby products. Her voiceover work has landed her roles in "Yu Gi Oh!” cartoons and singing commercials for Mattel, as well as the singing voice of the Princess Anneliese Barbie Doll and A Perfect Christmas Barbie Doll, and singing voice of Melody in the film "Barbie and the Diamond Castle". She spent a couple years jamming on the electric violin every Friday night in Les Poisson Rouge’s “GO 90s with The Fresh Kids of Bel-Air” show (NYC). She is also a "Victory Belle", having performed from Guam to the Ellis Island Medals of Honor Gala and regularly performs with "Song Division", unifying corporate culture with music and songwriting. She has released numerous albums, having worked with award winning songwriters and producers such as Dean Sams of the Grammy award winning group Lonestar. Her songs have been featured in countless films, tv, and compilations, including the 20th Century Fox movie "Diary of A Wimpy Kid 3: Dog Days.” She has been a guest lecturer for USC’s Songwriting class, a Music Teacher for Kidville’s music program targeting 0-5 year olds, and also gives private piano and voice lessons. Proud mommy of two and wife of an amazing husband www.larajanine.com

Gianna Marinello

Gianna is a certified teacher with New Jersey certifications as Teacher of the Handicapped and Elementary Education and has achieved the designation as Highly Qualified in Reading, Language Arts and Mathematics. As well as Deaf Studies and Applied Behavioral Analysis. She taught for 8 years in both public and private schools.
Gianna was encouraged from an early age to develop an appreciation for the arts. To that end she studied dance, theater arts and graphic arts and also piano and guitar. She frequently used these skills during her tenure as a Special Education Teacher.
Gianna brings her love of the arts and teaching experience to TPAPNJ and looks forward to working with the talented students in this program.

Amy received both her BA in Musical Theatre and her Masters of Arts in Teaching, with a concentration in Theatre Education, at American University and did her English and Theatre Student Teaching rotation at a local high school, while Assistant Directing the Fall Play and Spring Musical. Amy then created a theatre day camp for the City of Gaithersburg in Maryland and spent the next few summers as their Director, working with children in K-8 and producing and directing the musical at the end of each session.


Amy's next adventure took her to New York City, where she was a production assistant at Musical Theatre Works, a theatre company for "up-and-coming" lyricists and songwriters, including Jason Robert Brown and Jeanine Tesori, and worked on such shows as "A Class Act". She was also a casting assistant on a few Broadway shows, including "Ragtime" and "Les Miserables".



Amy has enjoyed embodying a plethora of roles throughout college and beyond, including Golde in "Fiddler on the Roof", Sarah Brown in "Guys and Dolls", Bloody Mary in "South Pacific", and Miss Jones in "How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying", as well as an ensemble member in such shows as "Gypsy", "Mame" and "The Pajama Game". She made her New York City debut in a production of "The Roar of the Greasepaint, The Smell of the Crowd" with Musicals Tonight! and was the "Hen" in the National Tour of the children's book, "Are You My Mother", with NJ-based ArtsPower.


When she's not teaching or directing, you can find Amy as a non-profit fundraising and development consultant, after recently spending 11 years as the Northeast Regional Director of Special Events for the Diabetes Research Institute Foundation; prior to that, Amy was with the Make-A-Wish Foundation.



Amy has been a Music Together teacher since 2016 and is thoroughly enjoying her time directing with TPAPNJ! She believes that there is nothing like the true joy in witnessing someone hearing music or seeing theatre for the first time and falling in love with it, just as she had done so many years ago!


Amy resides in West Orange with her husband and daughter, who recently performed in HER first show, "The Lion King, Jr."! Amy looks forward to making great memories with you at TPAPNJ!