Entertainer's career is ready to take off
Marlboro High School grad Shara Strand is multi-talented performer
BY AMY ROSEN
Staff Writer

Shara Strand

If you're going to shoot for the stars the Apollo is a great way to get there. Not the Apollo spacecraft, but "Showtime at the Apollo," a television show that airs on NBC from the legendary Apollo theater in New York City. The Apollo is a place "where stars are born and legends are made," according to the theater's official Web site.

Shara Strand, 24, a Marlboro native, recently had the opportunity to sing on the same stage that has rocketed performers like Dionne Warwick and Alicia Keys to stardom, and she has high hopes that she will follow a similar path. She performed on March 2 and the show aired March 10. It will air again on an undetermined date in June.

Strand, a 1999 graduate of Marlboro High School and a 2003 graduate of the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, said the Apollo audience is known to be the toughest audience an entertainer can perform for.

"It was the scariest experience of my life," she explained. "I had to tell my legs, 'you have to walk onto the stage now,' but after the most amazing and positive response from the first note I said, 'I can do this,' and it went really well."

She said it gave her goosebumps when Whoopi Goldberg, the master of ceremonies, introduced her.

According to her proud parents, Cynthia and Zachary Weintraub, of Marlboro, Shara started performing at the age of 6 when she attended Center Stage Dance and Theatre School in Marlboro. She sang and danced for the next six years in all of the school's recitals at the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank. Her singing teacher said she had talent and passion and encouraged her to continue.

Between the ages of 10 and 12 Strand was a member of The Sensations, a group of girls whose ages ranged from 7 to 14 who sang at local venues including Six Flags Great Adventure, Freehold Raceway Mall and special events in Freehold Borough.

Not only can she sing and dance, Strand is also an actress. A News Transcript photograph from 1995 shows her performing in Marlboro Middle School's production of "The King and I." She went on to perform lead roles in Marlboro High School musicals.

At age 14 Strand landed a role in an off-Broadway production of "Little Kit." For the next two years her daily schedule consisted of going to class at Marlboro High School for part of the day, transferring to Howell High School for classes in the Fine and Performing Arts Academy, and taking a cab from the school to New York City. Strand credits her father for his support during that time.

"Every night for two years my father would stay in the city late after work and wait hours to drive me home," she explained.

When she was at NYU, Strand was chosen to be a solo performer at Lincoln Center for an event that was hosted by Bill Cosby.

Strand's most recent concert took place March 24 when she opened for Pat Benatar at the Bergen Performing Arts Center (PAC) in Englewood.

"Opening for Pat Benatar and performing at the Bergen PAC was amazing and surreal," said Strand. "It was really fun."

She said she was nervous because she had never played a huge concert scenario and the lights were so strong she couldn't even see anyone in the first row.

"Then the audience started clapping along and I knew they were there and wanted me to do well," she explained. "After the first song everyone was cheering. It was very cool. Many people came up to me after the show to tell me how much they enjoyed my performance."

Strand's agent is in the process of negotiating other dates at the Bergen PAC and she is looking forward to performing there again.

Strand commends her parents for never letting her give up.

"My parents are the most supportive people," she explained. "When I perform and something great happens I'm so happy for them as well as for myself. They put so much into this and they deserve to be happy. They're really good-hearted people. They never lost faith in me, even when things were bad. Not everything was always roses. When I graduated college I had no agent, no music and I took a job as a makeup artist at Saks Fifth Avenue" in New York City, where she now resides.

She never let go of her dreams during that rough time.

"Every day I did four things to contact people and get my name out there. Then suddenly there was a break," she said.

She got roles in two motion pictures that were released in 2005. In "Hitch," starring Will Smith, she played the part of Sally, and in "The Interpreter," with Sean Penn and Nicole Kidman, Strand portrayed a Russian interpreter. As a result of her acting, the producer of "Hitch" rewarded Strand with the privilege of becoming a member of the Screen Actor's Guild.

Strand said she has a great team of professionals working to further her career. Her manager is Jesse Boseman of New York City. She is represented for acting through Lisa Price of the Price Group in New York City. She has been working with her promoter and legal manager, Sun Song Productions, since July.

Strand now writes her own songs and practices with her back-up musicians regularly at Ultrasound Studios in New York City.

"The band members are phenomenal, all at the top of their game," she said with pride.

Michael Sapp is the drummer, Faton Madula is the guitarist, Peter Rodgers plays the keyboard and the bass player's name is Tiny.

When asked to describe the genre of music she writes, Strand described it as verging on pop and rhythm and blues. Cover songs are occasionally a part of her repertoire at some shows, too. In the past year she and her band have performed at The Sugar Bar, China Club and Joe's Pub in New York City. Strand has also performed at several venues in New Jersey, including Red Bank's First Night celebration.

Her newest song, "It's Gonna Be Fine," was recently released on an independent label and has already been played on some radio stations in parts of the country. Her album "Young and Free," which is also the title of one of the songs on the album, is currently in the works and should be released in the near future.

With things starting to fall into place, Strand said, "Now I feel really blessed. It took a lot of hard work. I feel like God is looking out for me and I'm very positive for the future."

To find out more about Shara Strand and to hear her music, visit myspace.com/sharastrand1 or www.sharastrand.com.