When the house lights dimmed in the Sto-Rox High School auditorium Friday afternoon, it was the signal for students to let those on stage something that hadn't been tried there in nearly a decade.

The students knew it was something special, and the crowd never failed to deliver loud applause for each of the acts in their classmates' Interactive Theater presentation titled, "What Will Happen Next?"

The variety show format included skits, songs, dance and theatrical prose. Students Joe Janicki and Robert Moeller played guitar. Josh Papst played drums. Katie Especto, Bill Carlin, Katie Hanlon, and Laura Graham sang.

Another six cast members acted in a variety of short skits and dance performances. Twelve other students worked as visual artists and the technical crew.

A second performance was held Friday night for the parents, friends and family.

	Steve Mellon, Post-Gazette Sophomore Laura Graham on Friday 041505 sings "Island in the Sun," part of a show called "What Will Happen Next" by Sto-Rox High School Interactive Theater. Accompanying her were sophomore Jessica Davis, left, and junior Katie Hanlon. Click photo for larger image.

It's been eight years since Sto-Rox has had a theatrical performance during school, but whatever worries teachers and administrators might have had were eased when the audience laughed on cue, shouted encouragement to friends and "shushed" each other so that they could hear.

The Community Outreach Partnership Center at Point Park University has been helping to coordinate theater programs at the Sto-Rox Elementary School for three years. Last year, district Superintendent Anthony Skender and high school Principal Kim Crummie asked Point Park to put something together for the high school.

With grant money from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, COPC Director Pat Moran said Point Park was able to provide professional directors and university student assistants to coordinate the program.

Point Park chose McKees Rocks because of its proximity to the university and because the university believed the community to be at risk and in need of cultural learning opportunities.

The McKees Rocks Focus on Renewal program also supported the high school performance.

In January, about 40 Sto-Rox students were recruited to be a part of IT, a program of Interactive Theater. The students, whose numbers dropped to about 25 cast and crew members, met for an hour and a half after school twice a week to work with co-directors Jerry Jumba, a musician and composer from McKees Rocks, and Charles Hall, a Point Park music accompanist. Sto-Rox art teacher Lu Ann Prill served as art director.

After the show, Sto-Rox science teacher Joe Krajcowic thanked Jumba and said, "This wouldn't mean as much somewhere else. The audience loved it, and these kids are just beaming."

Jumba said the students had reason to feel proud. Not only did they perform well, but they also were responsible for developing and writing much of the program.

"It's been an incredible experience," he said.

Jumba believes the directors and instructors were able to achieve exactly what they set out to do, which was to provide the students with the opportunity to participate in the whole creative process of a collaborative theatrical project.

"Incorporating their own personal experiences into the performance really lifts them up," said Jumba.

He pointed out that much of the language and situations were drawn from their own experience. Video games, cell phones and expressions like "Dude," "Whoa Man" and "Chill out" were laced through the production that included an eclectic mix of performances.

In addition to the original prose readings and skits, students played rock and jazz, sang a country ballad, a Disney tune and several pop hits.

Ninth-grader Tom Mixter performed in several skits and did a Carpathian stamp dance feature.

"Learning the dance was the biggest challenge," Mixter said.

Point Park students Shannon Murphy, Erin Polanshek and Shawn Smith worked with Mixter and the other Sto-Rox students.

"They were great, a big inspiration," Mixter said of the young mentors.

Murphy and Polanshek, both dance majors, enjoyed the experienc, too. The most challenging aspect for them was working with an entire cast of students who had no theater experience.

Whatever difficulties they had with the novice players clearly did not hinder their working relationship. At the end of the performance, several of the Sto-Rox students ran off the stage and nearly dragged Murphy and Polanshek onto it so that they could enjoy the last round of applause.

After eight years...