In 2022, Bay Ridge resident Jill Hudson achieved her lifelong dream: opening her very own performing arts school for children and teens, right here in Bay Ridge!
She started directing shows with kids in her backyard when she was just 7 years old. “Normal kids had friends over to play,” Hudson said. “I had friends over to REHEARSE. It was a very serious passion from a young age.”
After hundreds of backyard performances for family and neighbors, Hudson continued her studies in the performing arts, earning her BA in Theatre and English Literature from Roger Williams University in Bristol, Rhode Island in 2004 and going on to earn her Master’s degree in Theatre just two years later. During her time in undergrad, Hudson began teaching acting classes at a local arts magnet school not far from her alma mater. She continued teaching throughout undergrad and grad school and beyond.
Over the course of 21 years, Hudson taught and directed tens of thousands of students from all over the United States and around the world, and directed hundreds of shows for dozens of theatre companies, schools, camps and arts enrichment programs all over the U.S., from New York to Los Angeles and from Boston to Honolulu.
Starting in 2009, Hudson was the Director of Theatre for the Middle Division at Poly Prep’s Dyker Heights campus for 13 years. Many of her former students have gone on to careers on Broadway, on television, and in major motion pictures, and her work has been featured in Backstage Magazine, Time Out, Playbill, The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Los Angeles Times, Appleseed Magazine and more, as well as on NY1 News, The Parenting Report with Shelley Goldberg, Hawai’i Sunrise Now, Hawai’i Public Radio and much more. And while Hudson enjoyed every moment of this robust career, still, she yearned to take things a step further by venturing out on her own.
“Every year, my husband and I would discuss it,” Hudson said. “Is it the right time? Is it not the right time? And ultimately, we always wound up deciding to wait. Then 2022 rolled around, and I turned 40. And I realized, if I don’t do it now, I never ever will. So I decided to take the plunge.”
And take the plunge she did!
In April 2022, Triple Promise Academy for the Performing Arts opened its doors for the first time.
“The immense growth has been surreal,” Hudson said. “What started out as a once-per-week improv class with 11 kids has now blossomed into a fully-functioning company, with 130 students across eight different programs at two separate locations: Bay Ridge and Staten Island.”
But Bay Ridge will always be Triple Promise’s home.
After subletting rooms from local dance studios for the first two years, Triple Promise landed its own commercial space this past July. The new studio, located at 155 Bay Ridge Avenue, has a full dance studio, an office, a kitchenette and a music room, as well as “The Triple Promise Clubhouse,” a safe and fun space for kids to go after school, to do their homework, have a snack and to hang out with friends from the time school gets out until performing arts classes start at 4 p.m.
Starting in September, Triple Promise will expand to a five-day, after-school program, offering classes in acting, dance, vocal music, improvisation, Shakespeare, musical theatre, stage craft and much, much more. Students can register for single classes or bundled packages. “The more classes you book, the more money you save,” Hudson said.
To date, Triple Promise has produced 16 mainstage shows featuring over 100 children and teens from Bay Ridge and the surrounding areas. Their most recent production, Alice in Wonderland, Jr., was a huge hit. This past spring, they staged an original adaptation of Tomboy, based on the 2011 film by Celine Sciamma, about a gender non-conforming child growing up in the 90’s. “We create real art, and we’re so proud of our students,” Hudson stated.
Hudson runs the company with her husband and business partner, Nicholas Hudson. She also brings in teaching artists who are experts in dance, vocal music and other areas of the performing arts. Hudson is also proud to share that many of her staff are her former students. “I love hiring my former students,” she said. “No interview, orientation or training needed. I just throw them into the mess and they automatically know exactly what to do! My former students are the best, and it is such a surreal feeling to see these young adults running things backstage, helping me spread the joy and magic of theatre-making with the next generation.”
Triple Promise classes and rehearsals take place at their new studios at 155 Bay Ridge Avenue. Their shows are performed at the Fort Hamilton Army Base Theatre. Anyone interested in learning more about their course offerings or productions can do so at the company’s website, triplepromise.com
Triple Promise is one local business to keep your eye on for sure. Their growth has been steady over the past two years, and according to Hudson, this is only the beginning. “I truly can’t put into words how overjoyed I am. Dreams really do come true, and I’m living proof. This is all I’ve ever wanted to do since I was a little girl. Today I can honestly say that my lifelong dream is a reality… which makes my daily reality nothing short of a dream!”
See the advertisement for Triple Promise Academy on page 13.
