FOR MORE INFORMATION
Drew Sherman (914) 363-8489
drew@drewu.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 1, 2025

THERE AND BACK AGAIN: FAME KID COMES HOME TO IGNITE OTHERS’ DREAMS WITH A VISUAL & PERFORMING ARTS SCHOOL IN QUEENS

(Glendale, NY Jan. 1, 2025) Ask Drew what he wanted to be when he was a kid and he couldn't tell you.

"I didn't think like that. I was just into what I was into. But it was all creative. I have my mom to thank for what she did. She lit the spark that blessed the rest of my life.”

That spark was the Book of the Month Club subscription she got for him. The stories fueled his imagination. But the books themselves triggered his engineering sense, developed later by his dad, a craftsman with a couple of patents to his name.

“I was reading chapter books at around five or six. I had some early classics. Charlotte’s Web, Stuart Little, The Borrowers, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, stuff like that. I built a two shelf library in my closet. Dewey decimal numbers on the spines, card catalog, the whole thing. I kept it nice. I’d rather be upstairs doing that than hanging out with the other kids.”

Reading turned to writing, and his parents parlayed a novel he'd started into a scholarship to Rhodes Preparatory School. At that time Rhodes School was in a wood-lined mansion off Fifth Avenue, at 11W 54th Street. It was a place young Bobby De Niro spent some time as well. There, in sixth grade, Drew discovered acting. He found memorization easy. That gave him liberty to get past the words and right to the part. He loved the craft. He was in.

“I was kind of drafted actually. Ms. Felice, our upper school drama teacher, asked if I’d dress up in a bunny costume and go class-to-class promoting their upcoming production of Harvey. Someone must have thought it hilarious to take some fifth grader and parade him around like that. I have no idea why she asked me. I had no lines, I just stood there while they announced the show. It was kind of weird but I went along with the bit.

"Next year I’m in the Drama Club performing the Chorus in Antigone. That opening monolugue, sheesh! Talk about devotion to a task. It had me.”

Had him indeed. A few years later, in the mid 70's, Drew got into the High School of Performing Arts as a drama major. He credits the rigor of his training there to his heightened sense of creativity and self-assurance, and with strengthening his language and communication skills. "It prepared me for anything."

Another lifelong passion started in high school -- percussion. There was modelmaking too, which was a constant at the time. He even started on a model of his famous school. "Yeah, the stone work and windows are done. I might finally be at a time I can finish it. Sure would be nice."

Digital entered his life, through work, in the early 80's. He was all over it. Word processing, graphic design, 3D rendering and animation, he couldn’t get enough. He started pre-Windows in the days of DOS, so he began with version 1 of most Windows programs. He honed in on a DOS skill though that he’d later turn into a course on how to master your PC using only your keys, aptly entitled LeaveTheMouseAlone.

So what does one do with all this lifelong mastery?

"Give back, of course. Knowing how is great. But sharing it's better. So I built a fun little classroom for my students, when they're ready. I found my voice early. While I can, I'd like to help a few others find theirs. Be prepared though, I'm Simon strict. I'm serious about development with my chosen few, being one myself.

"Life's led me through some strange, unexpected journies that somehow brought me right back to the foot of the castle I grew up in, where my tiny collection of adventures led to me finding all of life's greatest treasures. I didn't write it, but I recognize being part of the story.

"I’ve been inspired by so many. When people say I inspire them I feel I got something right.

"I guess I do know what I want to be when I grow up.

“Just as I am.”

About Studio Drew Built for production, education, and entertainment, Studio Drew sits at the edge of Forest Park, a mile from Broadway Stages in Glendale.

It's near 7 bus routes and "within a nice walk" from the Continental Avenue MTA and LIRR stations in Forest Hills.

“Around the Crescent and up the block, in Glendale by the Stop & Shop”

More information on both studio and school can be found at www.drewmagination.com and www.drewu.com

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