I first met Sayesha when she auditioned for The Florida Super Singer in Orlando. I was working on the show as vocal and performance coach and pointed her out to the executive Producer Phillip Deems saying,'Dear God please let her sing well'. We were literally just talking about how to bring the local show to the next level. I had mentioned to him that the trick would be to find a performer that looked like a model, so that if they won, they could easily get signed by a major label and catapult our local show to national prominence. Little did I know, that she would not only win our show, but go on to place in the top 3 of American idol! I had the privilege of working with her during the finals. My job on the show was to try and hone the final performances into a national level presentation. So I gave feedback on performance, movement, stage presence and vocal technique in an effort to improve her performance for camera. ( with Sayesha it wasn't hard!)
4 members of The Heartbeat Boys have trained at The Pop Shop.before auditioning for Maurice Starr manager of New Kids On The Block and New Edition......Patrick Hoover, Emile Doles, Ryan Findlay and their newest member Anthony Sacco. Maurice is also starting a new Latino group called The Barrio Boys and has selected Paul Begossi and Stefano Begossi as two of the members of that group. Paul was one of our original members of The Pop Shop. He was with us for almost 5 years and is truly one of the most creative, committed and aggressively athletic young dancers I have ever met. Stefano is Paul's younger brother and was a wonderful young performer that came to The Pop Shop a few years after Paul and not only danced well but had a great talent for comedy in some of the skits we created.
She is currently competing on the new reality show called High School Musical Get In The Picture. She also appeared as a contestant on Discovery Kids 'Endurance' and actually shot part of her audition tape at The Pop Shop. She is one of the 14 finalists on Triple Threat the reality show we are in the process of shooting.
You can view more photos, read more about Briana, and watch videos about the show on Discovery Kid's Endurance website by clicking here! Look for the link on the right that says "Endurance Fiji Contestants" to see Briana's profile!
I met Daniel while working on The Florida Super Singer. i encouraged his mom to have him tryout for The Pop Shop. Daniel competed as a finalist on Pursuit of a Dream, also became a finalist on Triple Threat and actually appeared on This season's America's Got talent with another Pop Shop performer Jamie Harris, when they made the cut at The Orlando Auditions. Daniel was selected as one of the final 2 Danny in VH-1's The New Partridge Family
Alexis was a girl that flew down from Michigan to study atone of our summer camps. She had one of the most wonderful voices I had ever heard. She also made it to the final 2 as Laurie Partridge on VH-1's The New Partridge Family
Patrick came to us having just finished a successful season in Middle School baseball. He had never danced before or acted at the time.After several years of training actually was one of the original Heart Beat Boys, and in my opinion, the best. He worked with them for over a year, learning all the dances and songs shooting the first tow videos and doing hundreds of live shows. Patrick had become such a good dancer that he actually began helping as a dance captain to show some of the other kids how to learn their steps. He left the group after 18 months to pursue his acting and music career. Patrick even landed a speaking role in the SAG movie Ace Ventura Jr. slated for release in 2008 and he is currently writing and recording his own songs.
Kimberly Dunn Kimberly was overlooked at The Florida's Super Singer but was cast as a finalist in our TV pilot called Pursuit of a dream and won! She is also now a finalist our new reality show called Triple Threat. She also won the national anthem contest and sang on national television
ALL IN 1 is an after-school TV Special featuring the comedy of Emmy award winning, Joe Manno, as he plays all the silly, funny, and zany teachers at Blue Ridge Middle School!
Doug Bailey, owner of The Pop Shop, casted the actors for this movie which included 20 Pop Shop kids. Two of the lead roles were Pop Shop kids.
Ashley is a finalist in Triple Threat and played our Gabriella in our review we did with High School Musical. She won a talent competition and was invited to perform at The House Of Blues in LA where she was discovered by the same guy that originally worked with Vanessa Hudgens of High School Musical!
Cassidy Rae
I discovered Cassidy off the street. Cassidy's mom walked in the door to an agency that I worked at called The Cassandra agency with snapshots of her daughter. The owner at the time turned her away because of her height. I asked if I could take her under my wing to develop her. Her parents had no money for pictures or classes or anything and were both working two jobs to make ends meet.
About a week after meeting her, I got a call from a friend at Nickelodeon who needed an immediate replacement on a game show. The friend said if I could find a replacement in an hour and get her to the studio she could keep what ever prizes she won. Cassidy was home schooled at the time. I called her mom and said I would give her the opportunity if she promised to use whatever money she won towards her career. She won $500 dollars and ended up using it to shoot her 1st headshot.
I booked her on a Nickelodeon show called 'Clarissa Explains It All' with Melissa Joan Heart. Her big break came when I submitted her for the Disney feature film called Hocus Pocus. She was flown from Orlando to LA by Disney and interviewed with Kenny Ortega
(Director/Choreographer for High School Musical) and she made it out of 50 girls down to 2. While she was out in LA the late Aaron Spelling saw her at and audition, cast her in the last season of Melrose Place and then eventually in Models Inc and Hyperion Bay.
Julianne Morris Julianne was a local actress and Model I worked with in Orlando. She was a dear friend that I was able ot cast in a few local films and Tv shows. Things really hit for her when she made the jump to LA where they really appreciated her beauty and ability. She ended up playing Princess Gretta on One Life To Live as well as many other roles.
Will Devry Will was a young actor I met while working on the set of a Nickelodeon Pilot called 'Freshmeat' that was later changed to 'Welcome Freshman' When I left Nickelodeon to take over the Talent desk at The Cassandra Agency, i called Wil up and invited him to join our agency. He was a great looking guy with undiscovered potential. After a lot of hard work training as an actor and a risky move to Canada, Wil ended up booking substantial work.
He got a dream job and a 3 year contract with Susan Lucci on All My Children. Wil was actually nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award! He was also the 1st financial investor in The Pop Shop and one of our 1st guest acting teachers. He is a loyal friend still today. Here is some of his incredible work
Chelsea Stone
Chelsea Stone is a remarkable 16 year old girl. She went up to Atlanta to audition for American Idol for the fun of the experience with a bunch of friends. She and her friends were shocked when she was invited to the next level! Her friends were shocked and jealous that actually turned and abandoned her. So much for friends! She came to me with the encouragement from Idol that she needed vocal training to strengthen her voice for her exciting future. We have worked almost everyday for a month together, strengthening her voice, discussing song interpretation, stage presence, expanding her vocal range and learning how to take risks and really "go for it."
I am really encouraged by her drive and heart. "Chelsea, we will be praying for you that when you go, you show them who you are inside, what you have as a gift, and really live out the experience with no regrets. You have what it takes, you just have to believe it! The Pop shop loves you. We will be watching , voting and praying for you!
Manwell is a new student that came to us for a vocal check up while he was home in Orlando on a 2 dya break from tour. He is currently traveling the country with Group 1 Crew traveling with the Super Chick Tour. W,e had the chance to introduce some breathing and strengthening exercises to help his exhausted voice. We also offered some herbal remedies to take with him on tour. Group 1 Crew is considered the "Christian Black Eyed Peas" and is taking the world by storm with their infectious beats and rocking melodies. We are very excited to be associated with them and will be praying for Manwell's voice to get rest and be strengthened on the final leg of his tour!
Robert Pierre is a new student of ours. He is 13 years old and just came back from a summer wide musical festival tour that culminated with a performance between "Toby Mac" and Reliant K"" at Universal Studio's "Rock The Universe" We are so proud of him, not only taking on the world at his age but openly sharing his faith and his perspective on life as a teenager! You rock Robert!
Sayesha Mercado
The Heartbeat Boys
Briana Vega
Daniel Bass
Alexis Mero
Cassidy Rae
Chelsea Stone
We have worked almost everyday for a month together, strengthening her voice, discussing song interpretation, stage presence, expanding her vocal range and learning how to take risks and really "go for it."
