The Show Must Go On

Created by a local actress in memory of her late fiancé, PTPT Studio is a place where artists teach artists.

Photography by Bre Burge – The Photo District

Hair, Makeup & Styling by Essentia with Carli

Emilia Torello’s love affair with the theater began as a 3-year-old girl toddling up the steps of Thalian Hall. That Downtown Wilmington stage is where the actress experienced multiple professional and personal milestones, from starring as Annie in Annie and playing Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird the following year to rites of passage like having her first real kiss — and her first real breakup backstage. Most meaningfully, the Thalian Hall stage is where Torello was swept off her feet by her late fiancé, Paul Teal, during a 2022 production of Newsies.

“My whole life has been a dream to accomplish, and it’s all come true at the Thalian Hall stage,” muses Torello.

After graduating from the University of Miami with a degree in musical theater, Torello briefly returned to her hometown to star in the Newsies production. After the show wrapped, she made her way to Atlanta with Teal to pursue acting opportunities there.

“I truly believe Paul is my soulmate,” Torello says. “We were meant to find each other, and we did so much together in the short time we had.”

While the couple was in Atlanta, Teal learned he had stage IV neuroendocrine pancreatic cancer.

“Paul was given a seemingly impossible diagnosis, but never once did he treat it like it was impossible,” Torello says.

Shortly after learning he was sick, Teal told Torello he could not wait for people to know his story and that he hoped to inspire others to challenge what the world deems impossible.

“He never gave up, and he never stopped fighting,” Torello says. “For months after he passed, I was utterly devastated. I was left to grapple with all the love we shared and the things we built our future on that felt gone. But love itself is powerful and doesn’t go away — that’s what ended up bringing me out of it.”

Enter PTPT Studio. Founded by Torello as a “living love letter” to her late fiancé, the Professional Theatrical Performance Training Studio is an elite performing arts school with classes taught by local artists for local artists and based in Thalian Hall, the place where Torello found her two true loves: with Teal and with the art of acting.

“I wanted to create a teaching theatre,” Torello says. “It felt like a sign from Paul and it hit me in the middle of the night — even the name. I was up until 4 am that morning typing things up.”

Torello’s vision for the school encompasses everything that a high-caliber performing arts institution should provide, starting with paying teachers fairly while making class prices accessible for students. They offer classes to educate the arts community in every subject from directing, acting 101 and improv to stage managing and choreography. While most courses and workshops at PTPT Studio are geared for those ages 16 and older, the studio’s dossier also includes a pre-professional program designed for younger performing artists ages 12 to 18.

Once inspiration struck Torello that September night, things moved quickly. She signed a lease at Thalian Hall for PTPT Studio by early December 2025.

“This is something for me and Paul to do together,” Torello says. “We are employing artists to practice their craft and teach others who are just as passionate.”

PTPT Studio is poised to elevate the standard of theater overall, “creating a brave and safe space for artists,” as Torello puts it.

The first resident commercial renter at Thalian Hall, PTPT Studio also works to keep qualified arts professionals in the Wilmington area.

“I know people who have traveled as far as the United Kingdom to learn acting techniques,” Torello says. “These highly qualified people with crazy credentials to teach [performing arts] are working at Starbucks or as bartenders. There are so many qualified people, and they are going to other places to teach. But why not here in Wilmington?”

When it comes to the courses, learning is set up using a classroom model with the classes mirroring what you might find at a BFA program.

“Our goal is not just to create another theatre company but to create a training center and make Wilmington more present as an arts scene,” Torello says.

What’s more, her hope is to enable all people, regardless of means or circumstance, to pursue the arts. Beyond offering reasonable class prices to all students from the jump, PTPT Studio also offers Paul Teal Legacy Funding applications to provide full or partial assistance for those who need it — no proof required.

As for the future of the program, Torello’s vision is for her model to span beyond the Port City.

“I would love for PTPT Studio to be at the point where people are moving to Wilmington for the arts scene,” she says. “And I would love for it to be so well-formed that we can take this model to other cities and help them set it up too.”

As she continues to pursue a better future for performing artists, Torello brings it back to the person who once dreamed alongside her to achieve the impossible.

“Who Paul was is so infused in this studio,” Torello says. “Everything about him and the way he loved me influences how I run this community. Even though he’s not physically here, we are accomplishing our shared dream to inspire and change people’s lives for the better through PTPT Studio. I think that’s how I’m able to find some semblance of peace.”

THE NEXT STAGE
PTPT Studio
ptptstudio.com