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Stage Right!
School for the Performing Arts and Theatre
Company Thrives
Stage Right began in 1998
as a school for the performing arts. Located
across from the Westmoreland County Courthouse
in downtown Greensburg, PA, Stage Right teaches
young performers the arts of acting, voice, tap,
jazz, ballet, and musical theatre. From 12
students six years ago, Stage Right has grown
dramatically, today boasting an enrollment of
over 180. Their eight week courses have proven
popular, with classes divided into age groups of
4 to 7, 8 to 12, and 13 to 18.
One year after opening the school, Stage Right
launched a theatre company. A complement to the
school, Stage Right’s theater productions are
professional grade, featuring Equity actors,
many of the same talented faces you would see at
the Benedum, or on the CLO stage. Of course,
Stage Right’s up and coming young talents often
find a place in these productions, with the best
of the best first strutting their stuff on a
Stage Right stage. Plays in 2004-2005 include
Grease, Seussical the Musical, Cabaret, 42nd
Street, and the Rocky Horror Show. You can enjoy
Stage Right productions at The Palace Theatre in
Greensburg and the Ferguson Theatre at the
University of Pittsburgh, Greensburg.
The theatre company employs local, professional
actors and hires from the Western Pennsylvania
area exclusively, occasionally hiring New York
actors with ties to the region. These actors
also serve as guest instructors in the school
for the performing arts. Through its school and
its plays, Stage Right has become a powerful
champion of the arts and creativity in
Westmoreland county.
Stage Right is the dream of the brother and
sister team of Christine Rizk and Anthony
Marino. Children of a local musician, Angelo
Marino, they grew up amid the joys of music and
theater, with a love of performance instilled in
them from their earliest days. After years
working as a manager of medical practices, and
at a time when she found herself out of work,
Chris enrolled in a state funded program meant
to train new entrepreneurs in the ins and outs
of starting a business. Instead of going back to
the medical world, Chris decided to start over
and work with her brother Tony, whose extensive
experience in theatre brought business planning
and practical capability together. The end
result was Stage Right.
Stage Right’s School for the Performing Arts
provides young performers with professional
instruction from actors who make their living on
the stage. There are no competitions, no
performance fees, and students can change their
classes every eight weeks, learning new facets
of stage performance. All training is kept age
appropriate, with students from the three
different age groups working with their peers.
The focus is on providing an instructive and
comfortable learning environment, and classes
are generally non-performance. The only
exception is the musical theatre class, which
rehearses a mini-musical every eight weeks.
Several community outreach programs from Stage
Right have proven popular.
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Stage Right Sensations. This audition group of
45 students performs all over the area,
including Christmas parties, local events, and
they have even appeared at Disney World.
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Books Come Alive. In conjunction with the
Greensburg Hempfield Library, Stage Right actors
take best loved children’s books and produce
them with music, sets, and sounds. These popular
40 minute productions have been seen from New
Kensington to New Florence.
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Kids Take a Stand. This anti-bully program is
offered to schools. Children in grades K through
3 can see the Bully Twins; superheroes who help
kids overcome bullying behavior.
Some of Stage Right’s
first students can now be found working toward
theater degrees at NYU, Penn State, Bucknell,
and Point Park College. Stage Right students
have been chosen to attend the Pennsylvania
Governor’s School for the Arts, and have been
finalists and winners of the Pittsburgh Public
Theatre’s Shakespeare monologue contest.
“When we began the school,” said Chris Rizk,
“our hopes were to give our students a
comfortable place to experience the beginnings
of theatre. It would be worthwhile, we thought,
if they became less self-conscious and fearful
when giving presentations in front of others, or
could participate more fully in school
productions. We have been rewarded beyond our
dreams with some of the talent we have seen from
these young students.” The future is likely to
prove that the seeds of some impressive careers
have been planted at Stage Right.
“What makes Stage Right unique,” Chris
continued, “is that it is a different level of
instruction. We treat the children as
professionals. When some fifty of our kids
appeared in Seussical this year, there was no
“recital” feel to the performance. The children
were impressive by all measure. Every single one
acted as a professional. They were fearless.”
In order to foster even more creativity in the
county, Stage Right has begun a program of
working with young playwrights. The First annual
Young Playwright’s Festival is set for the
Spring of 2005. In conjunction with the
Greensburg Hempfield Area Library, Stage Right’s
Young Playwright’s Festival features two
categories: 8 to 12 year old and 13 to 18 year
olds. Entries will be accepted starting in
November 2004. The top three entries in each
category will be given a public reading with the
best entry in each category given a full
performance in conjunction with the Stage Right
Student Company in May 2005. Submitted entries
must center around the theme of “Friends and
School.”
If you love the thrill of live performance, or
have a child whose irrepressible talent deserves
both an outlet and some professional guidance,
you should give Stage Right! a try. Stage Right
is located at 100 North Main Street, across from
the Westmoreland County Court House, in the same
block as the Palace Theatre.
Bringing affordable, high quality arts
education and entertainment to Westmoreland
County.
For more information call 724-832-7464, or
visit the website at
www.stagerightgreensburg.com.
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