About Us
When we began this journey we saw kids struggling to get into college theatre programs without access to the resources they needed. ACTAbove was founded in 2012 as a family business dedicated to helping local students get into college. We wanted to help them achieve the success they deserved. With our combined backgrounds in voice, theatre, and education and our connections locally and across the industry, we built ACTAbove to provide those resources to others. We took that experience and created a flexible system designed to help reduce the burden on families and students during the process. As we’ve grown we’ve expanded our services to assist students across the country. Whether you’re in our backyard in Bucks County or anywhere in the country we are here to help!
Meet the Team
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Paula Barson
FOUNDER/CEO
Paula Barson, MA, CCC-SLP is a speech-language pathologist in the Center for Childhood Communication at Children’s hospital of Philadelphia with 35 years of experience. Paula specializes in voice with a particular speciality working with pre-professional and professional performers. In addition to her experience as a speech-language pathologist, Paula has been a musical theater director for over 30 years, working with students at the elementary, middle and high school level as well as adult professionals. She is the lead on the hospital’s World Voice Day event and works as a member of the hearing loss/cochlear implant team. Paula received her undergraduate degree from the Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) and her graduate degree from Temple University. Other areas of interest include autism spectrum disorders, apraxia, and language disorders.
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Lee Barson
ADMISSIONS DIRECTOR
Lee Barson, PMP
Lee was born and raised in the Philadelphia area. For most of his career, Over the last 35 years, Lee has been working with Fortune 500 companies with a focus on organization, structure and project management. In recent years he has seen a growing need for this type of assistance to students and their families in the college audition process.
Lee enjoys working with students and their families to try to streamline the college application and audition scheduling process - with less stress, confusion and anxiety for all..
Being a two-time college audition parent survivor combined with his organizational background provides Lee with a great opportunity to offer comprehensive guidance to students and their families through the college audition process.
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Molly Barson
HEAD COACHING COORDINATOR
Molly Barson (They/Them)
Molly Barson is an experienced director, musical director and coach. They have worked with students at the elementary, middle, high school and college level on choosing audition material, improving acting and vocal technique and character development. In the summer of 2014, Molly founded Silver Focus Productions, a theater company based in Bucks County PA focused on producing full-length musicals for young actors. The company has produced 6 shows including Into the Woods, Pippin and Urinetown. In their other life, Molly is an Account Supervisor at Situation Interactive, an advertising agency working on Broadway and Off-Broadway shows in NYC.
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Remy Barson
REPERTOIRE DIRECTOR
Remy Barson is a director, choreographer, playwright, performer, and educator from Bucks County, Pennsylvania. A graduate of Wagner College with a BA in Theatre Performance and Minor in Dance, they have directed and choreographed at Wagner, The University of Pennsylvania, and Elon University. They currently work as a teaching artist with the Tony Award Winning Paper Mill Playhouse, Bucks County Playhouse, and Wolf Performing Arts Center, teaching courses in Musical Theatre Performance, Acting, Dance, and Stagecraft. Their plays have been produced in New York with Emerging Artists Theatre and New York Theatre Festival. Favorite directorial/choreographic credits include Mamma Mia!, Into the Woods, and Pippin. Favorite onstage credits include “Ursula” in The Little Mermaid, Mr. Rich in Celebration, and Margaret Meade in Hair.
