Welcome to the new Judith G. Wharton Music Center (formerly the Suburban Community Music Center). We are one of the largest independent non-profit music-schools in New Jersey. Located in its new home in Berkeley Heights, WMC is convenient to most northern New Jersey communities. We offer music instruction for virtually everyone – from three-month-olds to seniors – taught by a faculty of some of the finest artist-educators working in and around New York City today. Experience the joy of music-making through one of our many offerings!

Stagestruck Performing Arts Center in New Providence is merging with The Judith G. Wharton Music Center and will be known as Stagestruck at WMC. Stagestruck, one of the premiere performing arts centers in northern New Jersey, will add an array of performing arts classes to Wharton Music Center’s music focus. Classes offered by Stagestruck at WMC will include voice, musical theater, dance including jazz, tap, hip hop, and ballet/lyrical, cabaret, acting, performance ensemble, and Broadway song and dance.

The combination of Wharton Music Center whose mission is to provide music education and performance opportunities to people of all ages, all abilities and all backgrounds and Stagestruck, who helps students “to explore the artist within”, brings together two educational centers dedicated to enhancing music in the lives of its students and audiences.

Stagestruck was founded by Michelle Oram as a performing arts camp in 1991 in Cranford, New Jersey. Under Ms. Oram’s direction, Stagestruck provided area schools with professional expertise for their theater productions. In 1999, Stagestruck relocated to Short Hills and ran a performing arts program for students ages 3 to 17. As it evolved, Stagestruck started providing after-school enrichment programs in the performing arts for schools in Millburn, Short Hills, Summit, Livingston, Maplewood, Springfield, and Long Hill.

In 2003, after many years of directing summer camps, Ms. Oram decided to open a performing arts center offering classes in art, dance, drama, musical theater, and cabaret in New Providence. Programs have been developed in over twenty schools. Master classes have been taught in over forty institutions, including senior centers, throughout New Jersey.

Today, Stagestruck has brought the arts to many students through its classes, camps and educational programs. At Stagestruck, all classes are taught by professional performers who also love the art of teaching. Stagestruck’s motto has always been "learn by performing and explore the artist within” for experienced and inexperienced students alike. Ms. Oram successfully integrates all of Stagestruck’s classes and programs into its musical theater productions. Art classes produce sets and costumes; dance classes provide movement; drama classes give rise to realistic scenes; and musical theater classes perform the songs and music.

The quality of the Stagestruck arts education allows many of its students to perform at area restaurants such as The Manor and Trap Rock Restaurant and various community venues. Seventh grade students create their own one-hour cabaret acts and perform to rave reviews. Many past students of Stagestruck are currently working professionally, both on and off Broadway and in television, making their names as artists.

Current Stagestruck students, Allie Mannarino and Clifford Gaschler, presented their own cabaret show on June 19 at the Wharton Music Center. Ruby Rakos will present her cabaret show at Wharton Music Center on Friday, June 26 at 7:30 p.m. Some of the productions being performed in the fall by Stagestruck at WMC are: Little Shop of Horrors, 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Aladdin Jr., Dear Edwina, Shrek, James and the Giant Peach, Arsenic and Old Lace, and Disney Broadway Bash.

The multi-talented Ms. Oram is the creative force behind Stagestruck. A graduate of The Boston Conservatory of Music with a Bachelor of Arts in voice, Ms. Oram has been teaching drama, voice, and improvisation for the past twenty years. She uses yoga, tai-chi, Alexander technique, as well as Bel Canto technique in her voice training. She has studied improvisation in New York with Chicago City Limits and directed the first Theatre Sports Olympics in New Jersey. She has directed over sixty shows in Boston and Washington, D.C., and throughout Maryland and New Jersey. In 1994, Ms. Oram founded the Cranford Repertory Company where she directed "Godspell", "Cheaper by the Dozen", "Joseph", "The Diary of Anne Frank" and "Once Upon a Mattress" to sell-out audiences.

Ms. Oram has used her talent to raise money for charities and was honored at the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D. C. for raising funds for an Israeli orphans charity. To raise money for Bridges Outreach, a Summit-based charity that feeds and clothes the homeless, Ms. Oram staged a production of “Godspell”. She set the play in Hell’s Kitchen and made the disciples homeless characters. The scriptures were based on Saturday Night Live skits and characters. To prepare the cast, she took her entire cast and crew to Hell’s Kitchen in New York to feed the homeless and experience first-hand how to create this innovative production using Hell’s Kitchen as the set and background for the musical.

As a director and performer, Ms. Oram has developed many strategies to help the young actor grow theatrically and academically. As part of her work with Stagestruck, she teaches drama and musical theater in many schools throughout Essex and Union Counties. As a professional singer and actress, she has been touring with "Shows-to-Go" and “All That Jazz." Ms. Oram is energized by creating her own arrangements and embracing the non-traditional. In theater, music and musical theater, she likes to make the show “my own” by fusing musical genres and styles.

Always seeking to inspire her students, Michelle Oram is furthering her journey by merging with The Judith G. Wharton Music Center, a non-profit organization

Wharton Music Center has been expanding its offerings to include not only classical music, but also jazz, blues, rock & roll, and world music genres. In addition to private lessons, classes for students of all ages are offered in music technology, audio recording, and music theory. Classes are also available for special needs children. Performance opportunities are offered in orchestral, choral, rock, and chamber music groups.

Just recently the New Jersey Intergenerational Orchestra (NJIO) moved its offices to Wharton Music Center. The proximity of NJIO will encourage members of NJIO to take private lessons at Wharton Music Center and Wharton students to participate in the orchestra. This is good news to Stagestruck performers who dream of performing with a live orchestra.

Says Executive Director Derek Mithaug, “With the addition of Stagestruck, Wharton Music Center offers a complete spectrum of music classes and performance opportunities. We are thrilled to have Michelle and the Stagestruck faculty join WMC.” Mithaug expects synergies to develop among the performing arts and music students and faculty that could not otherwise occur without the benefit of the vibrant community music center that Wharton Music Center is quickly becoming.

Already Stagestruck has collaborated with another performance group at Wharton Music Center. Last week at the inaugural concert of the Wharton Choral Groups directed by Dr. Candace Wicke, Stagestruck tap dancers provided the percussion for one of the songs performed by the chorus. Mithaug and Oram expect to foster other innovative collaborations and are looking forward to providing live music for cabaret and dance performances in the very near future.

Register for summer classes now!

WMC is thrilled to launch the new summer session with expanded camps and classes.  Summer registration forms available here .