I don’t write that headline lightly. Plainville is where I’m from. These are my people.
I went to Plainville High School. But before Plainville, I grew up in Levittown, Long Island — a tough neighborhood — as a shy and introverted kid who spent most of his time humming to himself because he didn’t quite know how to be loud in the world. Plainville is where I landed, where I found my footing, and where I graduated. These are my people.
Performing arts changed that. Slowly, imperfectly, and then all at once.
My mother found an ad in a penny saver. The ad asked: does your child love to sing? She thought about her little boy humming around the house and she signed me up for the Singing Boys of Long Island, a preparatory boys choir. I couldn’t match pitch. I nearly got cut. Somebody saw something in me anyway. And everything that followed — becoming a soloist in that choir, making All-State chorus all four years of high school, earning a place at Carnegie Mellon University on scholarship — all of it traces back to one person who chose to believe in a child who wasn’t ready yet.
I went to New York after Carnegie Mellon. I performed professionally. And then I came home. Not because I had to. Because I wanted to. Because I knew what performing arts had done for a shy kid from Plainville and I wanted to spend my life giving that to other kids who reminded me of myself.
That was 1997. I’ve been doing it ever since.
What Plainville Means to Me
Coming back to Connecticut, back to Hartford County, back to the community where I grew up — that wasn’t just a career decision. It was a homecoming. And working with children from Plainville carries a weight that’s hard to describe.
These are the kids who remind me most of who I was. The ones from tight-knit neighborhoods who are maybe a little unsure of themselves, who have something inside them they haven’t quite found yet. Those are the kids I was built to work with.
Plainville Families Today
Private coaching through Lamb Studios Online means any child in Plainville can work with me personally, online via Zoom, from their own home. No driving. No commute. Just a child who is curious about performing arts and a coach who grew up right here.
For group class options check our current program schedule.
The trial lesson is $65, 45 minutes with me personally. If your child continues within 30 days that $65 goes toward the first month.
Book a Trial Lesson →
A Full Circle
I still hum to myself around the house. Some things never change. The difference now is that I spend my days encouraging others to do the same. To be creative, to find their voice, to stop waiting for permission to take up space and make some noise.
If you’re a Plainville family with a child who has the performing arts bug — this one feels personal. Because it is.
— Michael Lamb, Founder
Performing Arts Programs, Est. 1997
Plainville High School Alumni