STARS OF TOMORROW 20 acts showcase 10th show

Siblings work together for several of the acts.
By L. CROW
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- New Castle Playhouse will soon host the 10th annual Stars of Tomorrow show, and founder/director Vaughn Hudspath is excited to see how far the program has come.
Hudspath, who has been a teacher for 10 years at Riverside School District in Beaver County, has just acquired the new position of director of human potential for grades K-8, and he loves any opportunity to bring out the best in kids.
"I think performing-arts agencies and community theater should be doing more to promote the talents of our youth," said Hudspath. "I originally organized this event to showcase the kids in Lawrence County but each year expanded the area, first to western Pennsylvania -- Mercer, Butler, Beaver and Allegheny counties -- then into eastern Ohio."
New talent
Hudspath said he is always amazed at the level of talent of the youth in this area. "Most of the performers in this event are high school age, but this year, we have one eighth-grader, Luke Watterson, who is currently dancing with Disney and is on tour with the Radio City Rockettes," he said. "He holds two national dance titles, Dance America and Dance Master. He tap dances with the Rockettes for their Christmas Spectacular tour. We also have a brother-sister team from Pittsburgh, Rocky and Rosanna Potera, who are singers. She is a CLO Mini Star, and he tours with Marvin Hamlisch."
One of the new acts from Ohio this year is a group of four siblings called the Oliver Sisters, Christa, Ja'ne, Jessica and Jerrica. "They do spiritual music and dancing," Hudspath said. "One comes out and starts singing gospel; then the others come and join her. Their dancing is very athletic, but they are classically trained."
There are 20 acts in this year's performance, and Hudspath said he auditioned 60. "There were at least 20 more who were really good that we had to turn down," he said. "Many of them were female vocalists, but we try to showcase a variety of acts, singing, instrumental, and all kinds of dance, from ballet to hip hop.
"One new act we have this year are twin sisters, Jessica and Bethany Shearer, home-schoolers from Ellwood City, who are dueling violinists. They play everything from Mozart, to music from 'The Sting.' We sometimes have to go 'outside the box' to find the really unusual talent."
Open to suggestions
Hudspath said the program has lots of feelers in the community and is open to suggestions from people who can recommend remarkable talents.
One of the groups to be featured is the NCP Mini-Stars, 30 kids ranging in age from 8 to 18, from Pennsylvania and Ohio. "These kids are the 'cream of the crop,'" said Hudspath. "They are doing a 30-minute version of 'Mama Mia,' the musical highlights of the pop group ABBA. They travel around the area and have even performed for Governor Rendell."
Hudspath noted that Rendell attended the Stars of Tomorrow performance last year and issued a proclamation calling this group 'Goodwill Ambassadors of Pennsylvania.'"
In fact, Stars of Tomorrow regularly draws many locally known people who participate as announcers before each act. "We invite politicians, like state representatives, mayors, and also teachers and other important locals," he said. "This year John Holt, executive director of The Youngstown Playhouse, and his wife, Stephanie, who is a regular onstage at NCP, also will be acting as announcers.
Hudspath said, to his knowledge, there are no other local events quite like this, but he adds that every county should be doing it. "One of the aspects that makes this event even more credible is the educational component," he said. "Each year, a scholarship is presented to the senior performer with the highest SAT score."