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Bruce Apar

Bruce Apar

Bruce Apar is principal of boutique marketing agency APAR PR. His career in media spans publishing, acting, writing, marketing, digital production, Hollywood, home entertainment, event production, and television hosting. 

As a weekly columnist, he regularly reviews local theater, and also posts them online under “Bruce The Blog Beyond Broadway” (at BruceTheBlog.com). He is listed as a local “mayor” on community news platform Patch.com.

As an actor, Bruce has appeared in local commercials, indie films, web series, and stage plays. 

He has launched consumer and business periodicals, including a home entertainment monthly for 7-Eleven, and was editor and publisher of an award-winning suburban weekly newspaper. 

Currently, Bruce is secretary of the board of Peekskill Arts Center (under construction, due to open 2020), chairs the Yorktown Arts Council for the Yorktown Chamber of Commerce, and manages PR for the Art Industry Media (AIM) Committee of the Hudson Valley Gateway Chamber of Commerce. Bruce sits on the President’s Council of Northern Westchester Hospital. He serves as an occasional MC, including American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life and cabaret venue The Winery at St. George. 

He is the “ghostwriter” for a non-fiction book being published in August 2019 by ForbesBooks, “Fisch Tales: The Making of a Millennial Baby Boomer” by Bob Fisch. It focuses on life and career advice through “mutual mentoring,” based on the author’s experiences as CEO of a major apparel specialty retail chain. 

With wife Elyse and daughter Elissa, he runs a community charity, Harrison Apar Field of Dreams Foundation, in memory of their son, who passed in 2003 at 15. Says Bruce of his son, “Born with a rare dwarfism, very similar to Fantasy Island actor Herve Villechaize, Harrison stood three feet tall, but when he performed on stage, he felt 10 feet tall.” The Foundation is an ardent supporter of local performing arts students and organizations.




LEARN MORE ABOUT Bruce Apar

First Show:

My Fair Lady

Favorite Show:

Sweeney Todd

Favorite Stories:



MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

Review: EVITA Is Ever the Spectacle at Musicals at Richter
Review: EVITA Is Ever the Spectacle at Musicals at Richter
July 13, 2025

In its current incarnation as the mainstage production of Musicals at RIchter (all of whose shows are performed under the stars at Richter Arts Center in Danbury, Connecticut), Evita’s undeniable spectacle remains joyfully intact – along with its other charms that easily hold an audience in its thrall throughout a thoroughly diverting couple of hours that move with potency, delivering numerous delights along the way.

Review: AFTER-PLAY Is Back on Stage, at YCP TheaterWorks
Review: AFTER-PLAY Is Back on Stage, at YCP TheaterWorks
June 20, 2025

How are conversations about death humorous? Ah, leave it to a trouper like Anne Meara to turn that trick, and she does so quite craftily. In this production, she is abetted by a strongly committed cast and director to bring her vision home with impact.

Review: MIRACLE ON SOUTH DIVISION STREET Delights at Penguin Rep Theatre
Review: MIRACLE ON SOUTH DIVISION STREET Delights at Penguin Rep Theatre
June 13, 2025

In the confident and craftsmanlike hands of Mr. Dudzick and director Joe Brancato, the audience is treated to a breezy look at familial relations that is smartly informed by the writer’s abiding sense of balance between lighthearted banter and matters of faith, ambition, tolerance and family secrets that surface and hit home with the force of a torpedo, shattering a lifetime of misbegotten beliefs. 

Review: POPS GOT CHOPS: 'SATCHMO AT THE WALDORF' IS A WONDERFUL ONE-MAN SHOW at Schoolhouse Theater
Review: POPS GOT CHOPS: 'SATCHMO AT THE WALDORF' IS A WONDERFUL ONE-MAN SHOW at Schoolhouse Theater
May 31, 2025

The tightly produced, crisply presented piece directed by Schoolhouse Producing Director Bram Lewis stars Wali Jamal in a thoroughly engaging and formidable performance that also profiles Mr. Armstrong’s lifelong manager Mr. Joe Glaser and another deity straight from the Mount Olympus of jazz, Mr. Miles Davis. Mr. Jamal skillfully presents the three as distinct personalities without overdoing it. He represents them rather than impersonates them, which is a wise choice because there only is one sun in this universe and it is the one and only Satchmo.

Review: THE NANCE Kills at Elmwood Playhouse
Review: THE NANCE Kills at Elmwood Playhouse
May 22, 2025

This is a colorful, nimble tapestry textured with high-stakes pathos alternating with low humor, weaving a spell of superior and highly original stage entertainment. 

Opening May 16: THE FUNDAMENTALIST by Juha Jokela Stars Claudia Godi and John Hickok
Opening May 16: THE FUNDAMENTALIST by Juha Jokela Stars Claudia Godi and John Hickok
May 11, 2025

The Fundamentalist follows the story of Markus, a reformed minister, who is confronted by Heidi, a former student turned religious extremist. As Heidi attempts to 'save' Markus from his loss of faith, the play explores profound questions about belief, identity, and moral responsibility in a divided world.

Review: SHIRLEY VALENTINE is full of heart at Katonah Classic Stage
Review: SHIRLEY VALENTINE is full of heart at Katonah Classic Stage
May 1, 2025

The tour de force of nature that is Andrus Nichols’ portrayal of Shirley Valentine is Katonah Classic Stage’s valentine to their patrons. 

Review: WHAT THE CONSTITUTION MEANS TO ME at Ridgefield Theater Barn
Review: WHAT THE CONSTITUTION MEANS TO ME at Ridgefield Theater Barn
February 7, 2025

Who says learning about history – American history in particular – can’t be entertaining as well as educational? Witness Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Broadway juggernaut Hamilton, or, harking back a few deades, the Peter Stone musical 1776?

Review: Situation Dramedy SIGNIFICANT OTHER at Elmwood Playhouse
Review: Situation Dramedy SIGNIFICANT OTHER at Elmwood Playhouse
January 23, 2025

The lead character, Jordan, is beautifully rendered in a heartfelt, high-energy turn by John Carlos Lefkowitz, who delivers Joshua Harmon's stream-of-consciousness monologues in a lilting voice that is almost musical.

Review: FAITH HEALER Mesmerizes at Schoolhouse Theater
Review: FAITH HEALER Mesmerizes at Schoolhouse Theater
December 13, 2024

When a play is rooted strictly in powerful monologues that are written by a master of the form like Mr. Friel, it demands virtuoso acting, which is precisely what this cast delivers to the audience. 

Review: Stellar Ensemble Stars in THE HUMANS at Elmwood Playhouse
Review: Stellar Ensemble Stars in THE HUMANS at Elmwood Playhouse
November 19, 2024

For that verite vibe to work its magic requires a high order of acting, and veteran director Lisa Spielman has cast Elmwood’s production with that requisite caliber of talent. 

Review: A CASE FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD at Katonah Classic Stage
Review: A CASE FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD at Katonah Classic Stage
October 29, 2024

Mr. Dawson’s staging is highly effective in its simplicity and pacing, holding the audience in thrall throughout. That, of course, also is a testament to the two very fine actors he’s cast. 

Review: STAGE KISS at Harrison Players
Review: STAGE KISS at Harrison Players
October 25, 2024

The real-life director of Stage Kiss, Anthony Valbiro, has brought his reliably effective stagecraft instincts to this polished production

Review: STEEL MAGNOLIAS at Manor Club Theatre Is No Shrinking Violet
Review: STEEL MAGNOLIAS at Manor Club Theatre Is No Shrinking Violet
October 19, 2024

For this perennially popular, bittersweet stage piece, plot really isn’t the point any more than it is on the daytime TV soaps.  It’s all about relationships

Feature: HARD-OF-HEARING APPLAUD CAPTIONING at Elmwood Playhouse
Feature: HARD-OF-HEARING APPLAUD CAPTIONING at Elmwood Playhouse
September 29, 2024

A keyboard operator, known as a captioner, seated in the audience, manually enters exactly what is said, when it is said. The script for each show is downloaded in advance, and the captioner makes adjustments on the fly as the play progresses, precisely reflecting the live action on stage.

Preview: BEST OF CACTUS FLOWERS at Axial Theatre
Preview: BEST OF CACTUS FLOWERS at Axial Theatre
September 22, 2024

One play asks the very timely question, 'Do your elected representatives really live the values they trumpet on the campaign trail??

Review: YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN Is Monstrously Funny at Elmwood Playhouse
Review: YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN Is Monstrously Funny at Elmwood Playhouse
September 17, 2024

The Elmwood cast, directed with the requisite command of comic timing and savvy stagecraft by Director and Choreographer Jason Sommers, is comprised of an impressive array of skilled performers who seem to be enjoying their over-the-top antics as much as the audience does. 

Review: THE STEEL MAN Forges Forth at Penguin Rep Theatre.
Review: THE STEEL MAN Forges Forth at Penguin Rep Theatre.
September 15, 2024

At the center of the orbit of mashed-up relationships is the consummate performance of Sam Guncler. He prowls the stage as a feral Leo with gritty gravitas. He is the “steel man” not just because he lives in Pittsburgh, but also because he has defied death several times, including twice surviving fires, one time while working in a steel mill, so it’s more than a figure of speech to say the steel-spined Leo has been to hell and back.



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