Pictured (left to right in back row), during their visit to Care One at King James, are Bring It Volunteer Student Traveling Performance Company members Pieter Lootsma, Little Silver; Bobbie Davis, Shrewsbury; Jillian Lamanno, Little Silver; Chase Hintelmann, Little Silver; Jose Rojas, Red Bank; (front row) Danielle Wolf, Shrewsbury; Alex Sosa, Millstone; Kiera Lee, Bradley Beach; Kathryn Flynn, Little Silver; Ashley Houck, Red Bank; Katelyn Johnson, Little Silver, and Tess Hintelmann, Little Silver.
Press release from Red Bank Regional High School
Chase Hintlemann had just begun his freshman year at Red Bank Regional High School as a Visual & Performing Arts (VPA) drama major, when he was also “moonlighting” on the famous stage of the Count Basie Theatre, in a Phoenix Productions staging of Damn Yankees. It was during the “Shoeless Joe from Hannibal Missouri” musical number on the show’s opening night, when he suddenly felt his knee give out.
The resulting injury kept this energetic athlete and performer homebound for a time and frustratingly bored. (“I had to sit in a knee bending machine for four hours a day”) — and it was during that period of extended convalescence that he began to think about starting a student volunteer traveling performance company, to bring entertainment to those who were similarly unable to leave their residences. As a VPA student, he knew a huge variety of gifted performers, all of them with talent to share — and a desire to Bring It.
Tess Hintelmann (Little Silver’s Markham Place School) and her big brother Chase (Red Bank Regional VPA) bring their song and dance skills to an appreciative audience of seniors in Middletown.
“As a performing arts magnet school, RBR is home to some of the most talented kids from around the area,” Chase explains. “Our students are musicians, singers, poets, actors and dancers.”
Chase and his fellow performers chose the moniker “Bring It” for the mission they embraced, which Chase describes as twofold: “To bring an exceptional performance event to a community venue for people to enjoy and to work as a group to share our love of performing for others.”
Once he was fully recovered from his injury in the spring of his freshman year, Chase decided to follow through with his idea. He posted the mission of the endeavor around RBR, organized auditions, and eventually produced shows consisting of 10 to 20 acts.
The student artists meet for five rehearsals before a show. All the performers are from the RBR VPA — with the exception of Chase’s sister Tess, who is still a seventh grader at Markham Place Middle School in Little Silver (but will be joining her fellow troop mates soon).
Over the past twelve months, the Bring It Volunteer Student Traveling Performance Company has performed at Seabrook Village in Tinton Falls, at The Atrium in Red Bank, and most recently at Care One at King James Nursing and Rehab facility, in the Navesink section of Middletown. They are now preparing for an encore engagement at Seabrook Village this spring.
Despite maintaining a very busy schedule in high school, the students truly enjoy this additional activity.
Sophomore and drama major Ashley Houck explains, “I do this because I want to give back. I want the audience to experience entertainment from the comfort of where they live…just seeing their smiling faces during the performance just melts my heart.”
Bring It is available to perform at other community venues. Anyone interested in a visit from the troupe can contact Chase at [email protected].
