The remnants perform at The Saint in Asbury Park. From left, Steve, Ralph and Glen.
By Chris Spiewak
Success is something everyone strives for. Every school child wants a good score on a test, every athlete aspires to win the trophy in his or her sport. Every artist toils to create performances to be enjoyed by the masses.
Fortunate are those whose talents allow them to succeed in multiple facets of life. Eatontown resident Ralph Colombino was blessed with a high level of creativity, combining his loves of acting, teaching and music to garner success for himself, his band and his many students.
Colombino was exposed to the bright lights at an early age. His father was a member of The Hi-Lads in the ‘60s and ‘70s, whose brand of popular music and entertainment met with great success. They had fans here in the Northeast and as far away as Las Vegas, where they performed regularly.
At Point Pleasant Borough High School, he was bitten by the acting bug and went on to star in the school’s production of “Oklahoma.” As talented behind the desk as he was on stage, Colombino said his acceptance to the distinguished Mason Gross School of the Arts on the campus of Rutgers University “changed everything” for him. During college, he and childhood friend and bassist Steve Cole thought they might put a music group together. Deciding on the name “the remnants” (now presented in all lower-case letters due to another band of that name), the two began writing original music. Just after Colombino’s graduation in 1991, they met drummer Glen Fittin and their music would soon flow in a confident and energetic manner.
Upon graduating college, Colombino considered his options and moved to Hoboken to take a job at the late, great night club Maxwell’s. Maxwell’s owner Steve Fallon developed a stellar reputation among the bands he hired for treating everyone fairly. As a result, Colombino was able to interact with all of the big ‘90s groups like R.E.M., Joy Division, Nirvana and The Smashing Pumpkins. When Fallon sold the club in 1995, Colombino decided it was time to take his talents to the 9-to-5 world and secured a position as an adjunct professor in the Department of Music and Theatre Arts at Monmouth University. Teaching during the day and writing and performing music at night was a good life, but he wanted to do more.
In 2005, Colombino tried something different. He founded Actors Playground School of Theatre in Eatontown (now in Freehold), where he took potential young stars and provided them with what they needed to become legitimate actors and actresses. To date, he has mentored dozens and dozens of students who have been featured in TV commercials, TV shows and major motion pictures. One of the many special Actors Playground stories involves his student John D’Leo. D’Leo was selected for the 2013 movie “The Family,” and he starred alongside Michelle Pfeiffer, Robert DeNiro, Tommy Lee Jones and Vincent Pastore. D’Leo asked Colombino to accompany him on the film shoot in Normandy, France, and the two spent a month in the beautiful countryside while filming. D’Leo, like many other students, has several movie and TV credits on his résumé. When Bruce and Patti were searching for a theater school, they decided to send young Sam Springsteen to Actors Playground for several years. Even though Sam is now a Jersey City firefighter, there is no telling what he might do after retirement.
Of course, the music was always there, and the remnants have continued to write and record some fantastic alternative rock songs over the years. Some 30 years later, Colombino, Cole and Fittin still perform several times a year. If the Beatles met The B-52s, The Clash and The Smithereens and jammed one night, they would make a wonderful noise à la the remnants. In 1996 they released the album “Northern Songs” and in 2000 the album “Rainy Days Revisited” was presented to their fans. After a few years of focusing on business, the boys have been busy with the release of the EP “CinemaScope” in 2015 and the EP “Rise Up” in 2020. There is new material coming later this year, an EP entitled “Hope Road,” with some special assistance from the Broadway pit. Cellist Adele Stein (“Wicked,” “Dear Evan Hansen”) and John Dinklage (yes, Peter’s brother and lead violin in “Hamilton: An American Musical”) were invited to lend their expert talents in the studio for these eagerly awaited songs. We all hope the country continues to regain normalcy and the boys can return to their “home away from home,” The Saint in Asbury Park, in the near future.
With the help of Steve Cole and Glen Fittin on stage, and the assistance of his skilled staff at Actors Playground, Colombino has certainly attained the unofficial position of “Virtuoso of Creativity.” Please visit actorsplay.com for the school in Freehold and his new courses at The Basie in Red Bank, and also theremnants.org for upcoming dates – a show at The Vogel is in the works – and additional info on the band. It seems that multitasking is all in a day’s work for this talented and humble man, a friend to ev- eryone he meets.
This article originally appeared in the May 20, 2021 print edition of The Two River Times.
