Teachers

Emily Floyd, Drama Director and Teacher
Emily is proud to have earned a B.F.A. in Drama from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in 2008. She began her acting, singing and dancing career as a child in Columbia, SC, where she performed in numerous community theater productions. She has performed in multiple New York City productions, both while studying at Tisch and since her graduation. Previous roles include Peter Pan (Mrs. Darling), George M. Cohan: In His Own Words (Ethel Levy), What Fairy Tale Is This Anyway? (Princette), Hamlet (Ophelia), and Crossing Brooklyn (Madeline).

Emily is also a 'triple threat' teacher, having taught singing, dancing and musical theater to children and teens at Broadway Bound Theater Company in Columbia, SC. She joined the teaching staff of CurtainUp Kids in spring of 2007, and in the summer of 2007 became their Drama Director and Teacher.

Martha Cataldo, Founder and Artistic Director, Dance Teacher
Martha began her theater career at age 5 at the King-Coit Children's Theatre in NYC, performing in such classics as The Tempest. As a teen she performed at the Chase Barn Playhouse, an Equity summer stock theatre in NH. After receiving her Bachelors at Columbia University, she performed in Showboat, George M, Oklahoma and Fiddler on the Roof in dinner theatre and summer stock. She then joined the 1st National Company of Fiddler on the Roof, playing major cities including the Majestic and Shubert Theatres in Boston and Philly and the Place des Arts in Montreal. Off Broadway, Martha performed in Finian's Rainbow, Paint Your Wagon, Fiorello and The Apple Tree. She choreographed six musicals for the St. Barts Theatre, NYC and the Gallery Players in Brooklyn. Most recently, as a member of the Off Broadway Woman Seeking Theatre Company, she performed in five of their productions, including Midsummer Night's Dream (Bottom, Starveling, Moth) and Wild Dust (Marian-lead role). She also choreographed two of their productions and performed in Midsummer at the OOBR Awards Ceremony at the Daryl Roth Theatre, at which Woman Seeking was honored.

Martha earned an M.A. in Dance Education from Teachers College, Columbia University and is a NYS Certified Performing Arts Educator. She taught dance and theater in the NYC public schools for over 20 years, presenting hundreds of children's dance and musical theater productions. She is Co-Founder of the New York City Dance Educators/UFT, for which she produced Citywide Dance Festivals, bringing hundreds of children together to perform. She founded CurtainUp Kids in 2006.

Barry Solowey, Music Director and Teacher
Barry received a B.A. cum laude from Queens College, C.U.N.Y., and attended graduate school at the University of Chicago, studying composition with the late Ralph Shapey. In New York, he studied piano with the legendary pianist Kurt Appelbaum, was a member of the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop, and was choir director and pianist for the Presbyterian Church of the Ascension, East Harlem.

Barry taught music at the nationally recognized public elementary school, Central Park East 1 from 1978-2004. The CPE Music Program included an annual performance by the CPE Opera Company. Among the notable out-of-school performances by the CPE Mixed Chorus were concerts with Pete Seeger, the New York Choral Society in Carnegie Hall, and annual concerts at the Museum of the City of New York. Barry is also on the faculty of Philosophy Day School as music teacher. The PDS Chorus has appeared in public concerts as recently as March 15, 2008. He joined the staff of CurtainUp Kids in 2007 as Music Director and Teacher.