'Westmoreland Night of the Stars' gets encore with new producers

Mar. 1—Less than two weeks after founder John Noble announced the demise of Westmoreland Night of the Stars, the annual showcase of county school musicals is getting an encore.

Tony Marino, founder of Westmoreland Performing Arts, said his organization will take over producing the show, to be staged May 3 at The Palace Theatre in Greensburg.

"We are moving forward on this show, with details like ticketing to be finalized," said Teresa Baughman, director of operations and programming for The Palace.

Noble will return as the emcee.

"John would still like to host it and do the fun parts with the kids," Marino said. "We will step up and take care of the back end part of it.

"We'll work with the schools to try and get kids to come out and hope that all the schools that had intended to do it this year will come out and do it again," he said.

Noble said he is thrilled and surprised by Marino's plans.

After announcing he would not continue with Night of the Stars, Noble said he was contacted by eight people possibly interested in taking over.

"Once I outlined how much work it was, there was no follow-up," he said. "I always felt that Tony was the only one who knew how much work it would take."

Marino was stage manager for the production for the past 15 years or so, Noble said.

"I didn't think anybody else could step up — or would step up — but I didn't think Tony could, given how full his plate is with starting his new theater company from scratch," Noble said.

Marino and his wife, Renata, opened their new performing arts school about a year ago, after 23 years with Stage Right in Greensburg, which they also founded.

Group effort

Night of the Stars was too important to the school theater groups and the community "to let go by the wayside," Marino said. "It's a fantastic representation of our community when it comes to theater and features the most important commodity we have, which is our young people."

He said he hopes WPA can produce the event not just this year but for years into the future.

"I hope we carry on as part of a coalition. It would be fantastic if it could be a group effort," Marino said. "We're open to working with other organizations in the area, other arts organizations, who want to be a part of it, as well."

As in the past, each participating school will present scenes from their spring musicals.

"It will be the same exact thing, the same exact spirit," Marino said. "I think what (Noble) created was perfect, and we have no interest in tampering with that."

One thing that is uncertain this year is whether each participating school will receive $1,000 for its theater program, as in past years.

"There may be people who will be interested in making donations, as they have in the past," Marino said. "That would be our hope, but the first gift we want to give the kids is the opportunity to perform on The Palace stage.

"Any other help we can provide to those fantastic programs and their incredibly dedicated directors we will do our best to make happen," he said.

Westmoreland Night of the Stars debuted in 1997 with seven county schools presenting snippets from their spring musicals at The Palace Theatre. Over the years, it grew to feature 18 high school, middle school, home and cyber school groups performing for two nights in May.

"The community wants this, the families want it, the kids want it; but we'll see if people want to do the work," said Noble, who estimates he spent more than 4,800 volunteer hours preparing for and running the shows over the years.

Though Noble, 67, continues to work as a mediation and arbitration attorney, he said he intends to use the extra free time "to enjoy my current good health, family, grandchildren, travel, friends, retirement, etc., on my terms."

"I hope the Night of the Stars continues long enough, and I live long enough, to see my grandchildren in the Night of the Stars," said Noble, whose grandsons are 1 1/2 and 3.

Shirley McMarlin is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Shirley by email at smcmarlin@triblive.com or via Twitter .