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Musical theater program for special needs students falls on hard times

Musical theater program for special needs students falls on hard times

Show sparks emotions but funds are short
Lake Fong, Post-Gazette
Derek Ross, left, shares a laugh and a hug with Jimmy DiPiero during a rehearsal at a special needs musical theater class at the Center for Theater Arts in Castle Shannon.
Click photo for larger image.
See the performance

The special needs musical theater class recital will be at 7 p.m. April 30 at the Mellon Middle School Auditorium.

Fund-raiser

Parents of the special needs pupils will present a Night at the Races at 6 p.m. May 14 at the Castle Shannon fire hall. Tickets are $15 and are available at the door.


The teachers thought for a moment before they answered the questions: Why do you enjoy teaching musical theater to children with special needs? Isn't it frustrating? Isn't it difficult? Don't you have to know a lot about mental retardation, Down syndrome, palsy and autism?

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Just then, across the room, two students locked in a friendly embrace and the teachers lit up.

"There it is," they answered, pointing.

For three hours a week, instructors Rini Choura, Gwyneth Shahen and Collen Nesbitt lead 60 pupils with mental and physical challenges through song, dance and drama as part of the musical theater classes at Center for Theater Arts in Castle Shannon. The classes give pupils, ages 8 through adult, much-needed socialization, companionship and a chance to shine in the spotlight, just like their siblings or friends may do. At the end of the year, the pupils perform on stage at Mellon Middle School, where the standing ovation is measured in happy tears.

"All you have to do is look at their faces and see what they get out of it," said Corrine Blasca, of South Fayette, whose daughter, Dana, 16, loves the class. "This is a place where they're all accepted and nobody's forgotten."

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Center for Theater Arts runs dozens of classes in the performing arts for typical children, with an enrollment of about 750. But to serve its educational mission, the nonprofit school also has run a special needs program for the past 23 years. Marc Field, the center's executive director, said the program cost $11,496, but classes are free to participants, who already fork out plenty of money for therapy, medication, special equipment and educational items.

"They have a lot of expenses that traditional families don't have," he said.

Lake Fong, Post-Gazette
Ben Lawry sings into a microphone during a song rehearsal with, from left, Shannon Smith, volunteer Jonathan Katz and Jeff Connell.
Click photo for larger image.

But now, the center has a challenge of its own. After decades of corporate funding, the center has lost its grant for the special education program and is dreaming of other ways to raise the money to keep it free for participants.

Originally funded by Westinghouse, the special education program later was perpetuated by annual assistance from Alcoa. But that ended last year. Alcoa spokesman Kevin Lowery said his corporation had given the center $43,035 since it began its gift in 1997. In 2002, Alcoa stopped funding the program so it could allocate money to some other charities that had requested funds.

"We think it is a great program," Lowery said of Center for Theater Arts. "You just can't continue to do those things ad infinitum."

While Field is grateful for Alcoa's help, he and the board now face the daunting task of trying to find another corporate sponsor. They've raised $6,700 selling CDs of its high school musical performance of "Rent" and charging for photos of couples at its annual fund-raiser. They sought donations through the United Way and asked for a voluntary $10 registration fee. They even collected money from donations from a 70th birthday party, and the parents of special needs pupils will run a Night at the Races fund-raiser in May.

But it takes a lot of time and energy to raise money in that manner. Corporate sponsorship makes it possible for the staff and board to focus on the program instead of the wallet.

And it's a program the staff loves.

"It makes me feel as though I'm actually doing something worthwhile," Shahen said.

Nesbitt enjoys watching the pupils succeed. "There's no jealousy. They don't compete with each other. When somebody does a great job, they're genuinely happy," she said.

Field said the program gave the kids something to look forward to. "There just isn't that much for these kids to do. It's really cool for them to be the one who gets the flowers and be the center of attention."

Lake Fong, Post-Gazette
Jessica Andrulonis, left, hugs volunteer Jamie Martina during a rehearsal for an April 30 recital by the special needs musical theater class at the Center for Theater Arts in Castle Shannon.
Click photo for larger image.

While the recitals are fun, the center is more process oriented than performance oriented, even in its typical classes, Field said. The emphasis is on learning, not competing for parts. Each pupil has a speaking part in performances, reducing the likelihood of stage-door parents raising a fuss.

Fridays at the center are dedicated to the three special needs classes, where the groups are working on routines for their April 30 recital. The younger class (age 8 and up) will present selections from "Mary Poppins." The middle class (age 12 and up) will do portions of "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown," and the older class (age 16 and up) will perform a compilation of Broadway songs in a locally written skit.

At a recent class, Sean Dengler, 14, of Mt. Lebanon, energetically took on the title character from "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown." He recited his lines from memory and hammed it up on cue. The teachers worked on the blocking, using a portable barre as the symbolic end of the stage so pupils would realize the stage is smaller than the dance studio.

When the pupils got sidetracked by a cooling fan, by a room divider, the heat or by each other, the teachers would bring them back to the group.

"Focus. Focus. Dominocus," Shahen chanted, twiddling her fingers in the air.

High school volunteers also help in class and during the performance. They hold up performers' arms, extend microphones, support crutches, prompt with scripts and dole out hugs, when needed.

"I love these kids," cooed volunteer Jeana Zamanski, 15, of Mt. Lebanon.

"It opened my eyes in the beginning," said volunteer Adam Moskal, 17, of Canonsburg. "I was scared. It was tough. ... Sometimes I didn't know what to do."

But it wasn't long before he was sharing their feelings, their joy and excitement. He has even formed a special bond with shy pupil Ashley Mallasee, 15, who uses trips to the water fountain as excuses to bond with Adam.

Mallasee's mother, Donna, said her daughter loved the class almost as much as she loved Adam. "My daughter's nonverbal, but they start a song and they're singing," Mallasee said.

First Published: April 7, 2004, 4:00 a.m.

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