Alumni revue to raise cash for theater
- Place:Boardman Performing Arts Center
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7777 Glenwood Ave., Boardman Township
By GUY D’ASTOLFO
BOARDMAN
Alumni of Boardman High’s theater department will return for a musical revue that will raise money for the Boardman Performing Arts Center (BPAC).
“Celebrate the Arts” will be May 7 at 7:30 p.m. in BPAC, the school’s theater on Glenwood Avenue.
The goal is to raise $25,000 to replace the theater’s aging public address system. “The sound system was state-of-the-art at the time the theater opened, but it isn’t anymore,” said Tom Costello of the Celebrate the Arts steering committee at a press conference Tuesday. The $4.6 million BPAC opened in 2000. It seats 1,624.
The PA system upgrade, which will include a new sound board, has a pricetag of close to $50,000. About half of that amount has already been raised, said Mark Huberman of the steering committee.
Boardman High’s theater department takes pride in its long history of staging full-blown Broadway musicals and its reputation for quality. “We’re the best high school theater company around here, and it’s time we started blowing our own horn,” said Larry Moliterno of the committee.
Moliterno and Huberman are putting together the May 7 musical revue, in which alumni will reprise their performances from past shows. Dozens of alumni, some of whom have gone on to theater careers, have agreed to participate. The list includes John Scachetti, a Broadway dancer who recently completed a run of “Gypsy” with Patti LuPone. “He is the top name,” said Huberman. “He is one of the greatest dancers to ever come out of Boardman.”
Other participating alumni include Todd Hancock of Easy Street Productions, Chris Fidram, Ashley Senary, Michael Mraz, Trevor Coleman, Sarah Turner, Tim Welsh and Huberman.
Boardman High’s tradition of musicals began in 1965, with “Annie Get Your Gun.” Since then, the school has produced just about every major Broadway musical, including “Footloose,” “Peter Pan,” “Chicago,” “Guys and Dolls,” “Once Upon a Mattress,” “South Pacific,” “Camelot,” “Lil Abner,” “West Side Story” and “Beauty and the Beast.”
To place an ad in the “Celebrate the Arts” program booklet, go to celebratebpac.org. Tickets and more information are also available at the site.
Tax-deductible contributions can be made by sending a check made out to “Boardman Local Schools — BPAC” to 7410 Market St., Boardman, OH 44512.