Taking your child's art to the next level

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Abby Ciabaton, 17, dreams of Broadway. On the road to that goal, the North Naples teenager strives for parts in local productions and plans auditions for college. It’s a highly competitive field, so Abby knows she needs all the help she can get to succeed. That’s why for the last few years she has gone beyond group lessons and theater camps and invested in private instruction.

“I think in the group lessons and group productions you really do learn a lot from all the people around you, but doing it privately is just a completely different experience because you just have one person working on exactly what you need to work on,” Abby explains. “If you have a specific audition coming up or you are struggling with a certain note in a song, it can help.”

Each week Abby takes an hour of private dance instruction, an hour of acting lessons and 30 minutes of vocal lessons.

“I work on the exact audition piece with my vocal coach and my acting coach, so I am really well prepared,” she says. “I am getting a professional opinion on my audition before I even audition.”

College musical theater programs require prospective students to send a video of their work.

“So having private coaching in all three categories really helps,” Abby says. “You can work with each person individually to get a separate audition video for singing, acting and dance, and you get the experience from people who know what they are looking for. My goal is just to have a successful career in musical theater.”

Private lessons are costly, so Abby works to earn money for her instruction.

“She got a job at Artis—Naples to help pay for her private lessons,” explains her mother, Dayanna Ciabaton. “She has been doing those now since the beginning of the school year. She wants to get ready for her auditions for college for musical theater programs, and she wants the experience and the guidance. She is very motivated.”

Abby’s voice teacher, Carolann Sanita explains that lessons aren’t just about hitting the right note and singing on key; it’s about voice health and technique.

“You can have a natural talent and a natural ability, but you can learn to take that talent and turn it into a skill,” Carolann says. “The only way you can do that is to learn the proper technique to use your voice.

"You have to learn how to sing properly in order to keep your voice. Those on Broadway sing eight times a week. Vocal fatigue is a huge factor in that. My technique is based in the classical background. It has helped in my career to know how to use my stamina. I never let them do anything that can have them hurt themselves. There is an actual technique and people study for years to learn the proper technique.”

Finding the right person means doing research to make sure a private teacher has the needed qualifications. Carolann has a master’s in opera from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. She was in the first national Broadway tour of “The Music Man,” playing the lead role of Mary. She toured Europe and Asia playing the lead role of Maria in “West Side Story.” She is currently an adjunct voice professor at Florida Gulf Coast University, yet she says learning never stops.

“I have been singing for a very long time. But I also go for a touch up,” she says.

Carolann teaches her students to have a flexible voice singing both softly and belting out the lyrics.

“If you can be flexible, then you can make money in the industry,” she says. “I feel with my classical background I am able to do all of that.”

Emily Feichthaler, 11, of Cape Coral, takes voice lessons with Carol Nabatoff. She says it helped her get the highest platinum rating in a recent voice competition.

Emily says her instructor not only helps her practice for auditions but also helps her choose the right music.

“If you are trying out for ‘Bring It On,’ it is a happy play,and if you sing a sad song not a bright song you won’t get a good part,” Emily says. “She helps pick songs and work on auditions.”

Carol says for youngsters who are serious about singing,private lessons are a must.

“I think it is imperative,” she says. “I have a lot of students involved in doing shows in schools that do musicals, but they are not getting the training in technique that they need. You need the guidance. You need the technique, which you can’t get in a class with 20 people. You need that individual training.”

Carol started voice lessons when she was 5 years old. She has a master’s degree in musical theater and an undergraduate degree in opera.

“I was an opera singer,” she says. “I did a lot of professional singing. I won tons of awards. I sung opera in Europe, in Germany, the Netherlands and England. You always need someone to listen to you and fine tune your voice. You need the tools.”

Carol has seen her students succeed.

“Jaclyn Neidenthal was in ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ on Broadway,” Carol says of the former student. “She is also in the movie ‘School of Rock’ with Jack Black. Now she is living in New York City trying to get on Broadway again. Jaclyn was only 5 when her mother called me. When I heard her voice, I thought she was amazing. Hopefully my guidance helped.”

Carol has been teaching in Cape Coral for 30 years. She admits that private lessons are expensive. Hers are about $64 an hour, though there are scholarships available.

“A lot of people will sacrifice lessons because they want to be in a show,” she says. “There are so many places now that do musicals. I get it. It is fun. But it does not replace private lessons.”

Many of the youngsters who take voice lessons with Carol also take private dance lessons with Robin Dawn. Robin has also seen her students succeed. Former student Alicia Charles was one of the princesses in the Broadway show “Aladdin.”

“She started with me when she was about 12,” Robin says. “Kirk Ryder from Naples took lessons back in the ’80s and went to Juilliard and went to perform in ‘Guys and Dolls.’”

Robin says it’s important to take lessons from lots of people.

“It is about getting more exposure and getting more teachers to see you,” she explains. “Go study somewhere other than their own studio in the summer.It has to do with making connections. It helps a lot.”

Besides giving private lessons, Robin brings experts from New York and Hollywood to her dance studio in Cape Coral to inspire her students.

“I do a lot of stuff, so my kids get a lot of exposure,” she says as she begins listing some of her guest teachers. “Rachelle Rak has been in Broadway shows. We bring in people that made it.It’s a lot about exposure and educating.”

Robin also teaches her students about the life of an actor/dancer.

“Kids don’t understand how to take no,” Robin says. “They need to learn no. In this day and age, there is no score; there is a prize for everyone. I have a girl up there in New York audition for 68 shows and got only one this year. She is very good. She is very focused. You go to every audition because every audition is an experience.”

Robin knows that private instruction is costly. She says these lessons can cost as little as $25 for 30 minutes or as much as $75.

“It is not cheap,” she says. “It is an investment into your child’s future.”

Robin also advises that students understand when and why to take a private lesson.

“You have to know why you need a private,” she stresses. “A private is to enhance what you already know. It is not to learn something you are already learning in class.”

Kiana Pinder, teaching artist at Florida Repertory Theatre in Fort Myers, says she takes each student’s objective and creates an individualized dance lesson just for them.

“I just took on a new student that wants to work on ballet, turns and picking up routines faster,” she explains. “So I can prepare a lesson for that.”

Kiana says she also incorporates health into her lessons, which cost $60 for one hour.

“It has helped me in so many different ways,” says Macy Magas, 13, who takes private lessons with Kiana. “It helps with preparing for the conservatory shows. Taking the classes helped me up my game with those shows. My ultimate goal is I would love to be on Broadway.”

Katie Cross, an actress and acting instructor with the Naples Players, says it’s important for students to take both group lessons and private instruction.

“When you are in a group setting, the teacher is having to cater to all different levels,” Katie says. “We all have different strengths and weaknesses, but with a private instructor you can hone in on what you need to work on. While group is important, a private helps you focus in on what you need to improve.”

Her experience as a professional actress since 2013 gives her insight to what young actors need to know. She is both a theater and film coach, so she specializes in helping teenagers prepare their college audition video.“I have the equipment to film an audition for colleges,” she explains. “I have the understanding to make sure when you send it in, it is high quality and showcases you best, and that it is properly uploaded and labeled, too.”

Nikki Attanasio, 18, says one of the most important things she learned from Katie was song selection.

“She taught me how to pick a song that is right for my range and the part I was trying to go for,” Nikki says.

Carolann adds one more important piece of advice for students.

“Never letting anybody get you down,” she says. “There is so much rejection that it takes a special person to keep going. Keep your training going. Practice all the time. Go into an audition super prepared and just believe in yourself. If someone asked me to give advice, I would say, ‘Just believe in yourself.’ It will happen to you if you keep putting yourself out there.”

Local resources

This story mentions several resources in Southwest Florida. To learn more about each: