Amazing, I love this place as a student one star reviews they are being very extra

My daughter loves it

My kids loved their friends at BAPA, but they were so scared of Marsha Newton. They would come in the car crying because they were afraid of being yelled at by her. They are now at Orbit Arts Academy and are extremely happy, and learning much more.

If you’re looking for the worst theatre place in Cobb County, look no further than British Academy of Performing Arts. The reason the reviews are this high thus far is that the director of the program sent an email to her students demanding that we give a 5-star review. The ratings were very low before this, as they should be. Although most of the teachers do an ok job with the dance program (this is why a lot of kids left the theatre program and strictly went to the dance program) the musical theatre program is run by Marsha Newton, who is only lovely when you first meet her. After she takes your money and signs you up, you will see her real personality. She is very mean and constantly yells at the students. She is dismissive and very rude to the students parents. She has her favorites, and the favorites are the kids whose parents come in and do free labor for her because she does not want to spend money and pay people for proper work. Costuming is a disaster, they charge you huge fees and you typically do not get any costumes. They make the parent volunteers dig through extremely dusty bins of old, thrift store clothes that they piece together to make costumes with. Most of them are stained, dirty, never been washed, and extremely unhygienic. They make kids share wigs without wig caps. For example, she told us we can’t lose our wigs because she’s been using them for 10 years and she will need them back, which would be fine if they were somehow sanitized, but they clearly were not. She doesn’t measure for costumes. She has a bin of them and makes everyone grab something that will hopefully fit them, and if it doesn’t fit you’re out of the number. Don’t worry about your tuition or commitment to the show, just due to Marsha’s poor planning and extreme frugality, your kids lose their parts. She is also very unorganized. One time, she forgot to mention out loud that auditions were happening this week, and more than half the students were unprepared. Now, let’s talk about casting. Casting is solely based on favoritism, and not talent. Her son Jahnay, gets the lead parts every time, without coming to the auditions or any rehearsals. She always makes excuses for why he’s not there, but in reality, it’s obvious he doesn’t want to be there. When he does come, he refuses to learn the choreography and sits on his phone the whole time. If other kids so much as look their phone during class they get reprimanded, but Jahnay is allowed to sit on a chair (while the other kids sit on the floor) eating, taking naps, refusing to rehearse, and bringing down the morale of other students that pay tuition and come to rehearsal every day. He takes away parts from the other hard-working students, without even having to audition. The atmosphere at BAPA is extremely toxic. Kids are bullies to each other, and the staff ignores it. If someone starts to cry, whoever they accuse immediately gets in trouble and Marsha will not listen to your side of the story. I witnessed a very bad injury happen, and no one attempted to help or call their parents. Miss.Jey, the tap teacher, was even laughing when they fell and constantly bullied them and other students. She has put her hands on several students, pushing them out of the way, causing them to fall and get hurt. She yells at students and is very mean, and all the kids are afraid of her. She smiles and is very fake when parents come around.Now, let’s talk about the props. There are none.Marsha urges all the parents and students to come into the back room, which is very dusty and I have witnessed multiple kids suffer from allergies and asthma, to make props out of cardboard boxes. Marsha sends out threatening emails that if she doesn’t get props from parents then their kids will be cut from the number. This is always done last minute, in a very frantic way, days before the show. I witnessed a 5-year-old child come up to Marsha crying because she had diabetes and her blood sugar was dropping and she needed a snack, and Marsha would not let her go until she maturely spoke to her. Dont send your children.

Wonderful place where your childs love of theater and dance will be encouraged and supported.

We are very grateful to BAPA during the quarantine time. They very quickly pivoted to online classes bringing their excellent instruction into our homes. In this time where many of our normal activities have fallen away, our young performer has been able to connect with the talented teachers and staff to continue her training. This has brought normal to our unusual circumstances. BAPA has done a wonderful job keeping the kids excited and engaged! Thank you for truly caring for our kids and keeping them connected!

Terrible. What a waste of time. Your kids are taught nothing. It is just a money making operation.

Ive been going to BAPA for almost 5 years now and Its been absolutely Life-changing. The staff are amazing and the production quality is stellar. Dont listen to those one star reviews from those entitled parents who think their child is so amazing that they cant be disciplined or learn anything new. Those one star reviews come from parents and students who give up after a few months just because their child got scolded once. The students here earn their parts and work extremely hard and the staff push students towards success. And by the end of the year we all make new friends and connections and have a great time doing it.

My child has been coming here for a little over a year. The productions are great! If your child is interested in Theater or Dance this is a wonderful arts home.

Toxic environment with bullies for teachers and classmates.

I have adored my experience here. I have only been going for a year and have improved more then I could have ever imagined in my dancing(my dancing has come so far), acting, and singing. I love Miss. Marsha, she is the best director ever and I have been in over twenty musicals with a lot of different directors. I plan on staying until I graduate because I know I am getting the training I need to reach my goals.

This place was my home for years. I met some of my best friends here and learnt the most important skills of my life behind those doors. I could not thank Marsha enough for helping me find my passion for the theatre. If you need a dance/theatre/singing academy, this is the place for you.

This place was my home for years. I absolutely adore Marsha and the staff. She takes care of the kids like they’re her own and I couldn’t have asked for a better place to grow and learn as a performer!

My daughter loved the camps she went to this summer. So much that she is switching out of an intensive travel sport to do the musical theater company here. The only issue I have (not enough to take away a star) is that emails are never answered. Could be that mine goes into spam for some reason though.

My daughter has been at BAPA from almost one year and is part of the ballet company (ADC) and is in musical theater classes. She loves going to class and has made many friends. Her skills are increasing as a result of being at BAPA.

My daughter has loved bapa and has only been here for a year. She doesn’t want to go anywhere else as much as she does bapa. Great for musical theatre and any form of dance.

Run by a corrupt family. Seem nice at first, but eventually treat your child poorly and do not listen to what they need. The classes are extremely sub par and do not teach the children anything. Do Not take your kids here.

Awful place.

I wish I could leave zero stars. My child was treated absolutely terribly here, and the family who runs the place is not who they initially seem to be. Marsha, specifically, spreads lies and rumors about children that attend to the parents of other students, which is the most unprofessional thing I can think of, being a teacher myself. Not to mention it is all just a huge scam for money and the dance classes barely help at all unless the child is in ADC. Overall, it’s an unprofessional, toxic environment run by people who have poor nurturing skills. No mother would want to put her child in a place like this.

Marsha Newton is a consummate acting and performing arts professional. She is highly skilled, passionate, and fun! My children have all thrived under her tutelage in acting classes. Think of BAPA as a creative arts studio where your childs confidence will grow through his or her passions. Marsha knows how to channel it those passions with skill and ability.

My daughter has been attending classes at BAPA for 2 years now, including voice lessons with the very talented Ms Samantha. During that time my daughters acting, singing and dancing skills have all progressed tremendously. The environment here is inviting, friendly and encouraging while at the same time these kids are learning the reality of what it takes to be a part of a musical theater production. Lots of hard work and fun!Marsha Newton and her staff are simply the best.

My daughter has been active with BAPA now for over 3 years. She really enjoys the close relationships with her friends, other performers and the staff. All of the staff (especially Marsha) are amazing! We could not be any happier!!!

Walked in on a rehearsal to drop something off, Marsha was screaming and students were in tears. My daughter was not happy here. Enough said.

This place is the worst!!! Casting is based solely off of favoritism and the teachers do not try to improve skills they just put the people who are better in front and do not care about anyone else. I wish I could give negative one stars but unfortunately that is not an option.

Terrible! Cannot believe anyone would rate more than one star. Students are treated terribly by staff! Productions are underdeveloped and poor quality for the ridiculous amount you have to pay. Completely unprofessional.

The best theater and has a great family feeling - Avery

Our daughter has enjoyed attending multiple Summer Camps over the last five years and every week weve seen improvement! We love BAPA!

I love BAPA I go every day except Saturdays and of course Sundays I love the newtons and all the teachers and students are really sweet I hope to join Academy Dance Company (ADC) but Im currently in musical theatre company I dont really like it but all of the other people in company like it its just not for me But I love taking dance and everything else their

I have 5 kids taking various classes here. Great place, family friendly, excellent quality.

I would give them a 0 star if I could. extremely unprofessional people!

This is annika Curtis l might Be coming back next year so see you then bye

I have not been here before but I might come here on summer brake!!!!I dont know yet but I might come soon!