Someday, Luke Steinhauer would like to play the role of Tony in "West Side Story" on Broadway. After making his Broadway debut, he envisioned himself performing in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade.

The Mt. Lebanon High School sophomore hasn't made it to Broadway yet, but next Thursday, he'll fulfill his other ambition when he joins about 60 performers for the singing and dancing finale of Macy's annual parade.

"I'd always hoped I would [perform in the parade] later in life, if I get on Broadway," the 16-year-old said. "This early, I never thought I would."

Luke has been involved in theater performances since grade school, appearing in "Les Miserables," "The Music Man" and "Oklahoma." After school most days, he attends the Pittsburgh CLO Academy, where he takes classes and acts in its productions.

He spent last summer at the Stagedoor Manor Performing Arts Training Center in Loch Sheldrake, N.Y., a training center for aspiring actors, singers and dancers.

Macy's asked Stagedoor about sending some of its participants to perform in the Macy's parade, and in September, on Luke's birthday, he got the call inviting him to be a singer/dancer in the group that performs in front of Macy's flagship store on 34th Street for the Santa Claus finale.

"It was a great birthday present," he said.

Rehearsals start Saturday and continue up to Thanksgiving. Luke's mom, Kimberly, will accompany him for the week of rehearsal. His dad, Timothy, superintendent of Mt. Lebanon School District, and his brother, Nathan, 13, will join them later in the week.

The annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, in its 83rd year, is expected to be viewed by 2 million spectators along the route and about 65 million viewers nationwide on NBC. Luke said he is not nervous yet about the performance, which should start at 11:55 a.m. Thanksgiving day.

"I'm just looking forward to that five minutes that we're on at the end for the finale, just to be performing on TV and in front of the spectators in the crowd," he said.

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