If you want proof that a lot of people in western Pennsylvania take high school musicals as seriously as they take high school football, look no farther than Wednesday's annual Westmoreland County Night of the Stars.

Greensburg lawyer John Noble, who founded the event in 1996, played emcee to a Palace Theatre crowd of more than 1,300, as fourteen Westmoreland County high schools presented excerpts from their spring musicals.

Now in its 12th year, the Night of the Stars is a showcase rather than a competitive event like Allegheny County's Gene Kelly awards. Cash awards are given to each participating school, and 11 performers are selected to receive summer scholarships to the Stage Right School for the Performing Arts. Noble said he distributed $14,000 in awards and over $5,400 in scholarships this year.

Each school presented a medley of song and dance highlights from its show, sometimes with full costumes and student orchestras. Between the school presentations, Noble and students from several of the schools performed comic bits drawn from musicals.

Margaret Colosimo, who co-chairs the Westmoreland Cultural Trust's committee for Party at the Palace, said she used to produce Greensburg Central Catholic's musical and helped Noble come up with the idea for the Night of the Stars.

"We wanted something like the Kellys, but without the competition aspect," she said backstage. "Everybody gets to do their thing. It's a reward for all the students' hard work."

Aside from being an expression of community support, the three and a half hour Night of the Stars is for many seniors a long good-bye to their high school musical experience. Greensburg Central Catholic's Elizabeth Dowling, who played the Queen in "Cinderella," is a senior and said she would miss the friends she's made. "I'm probably going to cry by the end of the night."

School highlights included the barbershop quartet song "Lida Rose" from Norwin's "The Music Man," a duet by the two Olivers of Belle Vernon's "Oliver!" and Kiski Area's collection of favorites from "Wizard of Oz," complete with a real dog as Toto.

Other high points were Greater Latrobe's "Luck Be a Lady Tonight," which showed off the school's strength in talented young men (all too rare in high school musicals), and Derry Area's drum-pounding "Ugg-a-Wugg" number from "Peter Pan," which was greeted by roars of approval from the crowd.

Penn-Trafford came last in the line-up with "Anything Goes," which featured every member of its cast tap-dancing to the title song.

Keeping with tradition, Mr. Noble opened the show with a musical theater number turned on its head. Entering as the godlike Father from "Children of Eden," his role call of schools was interrupted by a company of students singing a number from "Hairspray."

He and dog Toto were later "pursued" by the Wicked Witch from Kiski Area's "Oz," but he foiled her by revealing he was wearing ruby slippers behind the podium. Choreography for the opening and closing numbers was by Greensburg Salem's Marissa Auer.

Judging from the hugs and hellos backstage, many students enjoy the opportunity to spend time with friends from other schools, while others pointed out the event is an opportunity to see other schools' musicals.

But Norwin junior Corinne Oplinger, who played Marian in "Music Man," noted she doesn't watch others' musicals with an eye to comparing them. "Competition isn't the right word. You want to do your best."

"We're proud of the show we have and we want to show it to other people," added fellow Norwin junior Nicole Jones, who played Zaneeta.

Night of the Stars usually ends with the seniors from each show returning to the stage to sing "Can You Hear the People Sing?" from "Les Miserables," which often provokes tears from performers and audience alike. This year, there were also additional numbers from "Les Mis," sung by student performers who participated in Stage Right's All-County musical, which ran at the Palace last week.

Hempfield juniors Jillian Ranker and Breanne Pompei, who both played wives in "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat," agreed the night was a good way to say good-bye. "The end of the show isn't the closure," said Ranker. "This is the real closure."