Where Are They Now?
Heather Carino - Company Member 1984-2000
Heather Carino is currently the lead in the Award Winning Musical "Wicked" in Germany as Glinda. The following is an article published by the Trib in 2007 on Heather. We are very excited and proud of her on all of her success!!
An Alle-Kiski native's own artistic yellow brick road is yielding an ocean of promise.
An ocean -- the Atlantic -- is exactly what Heather Carino of Hyde Park had to cross to follow her muse to the biggest break in her young show -- business career so far: being named to the worldwide cast of the multiple award-winning show "Wicked," the prequel to "The Wizard of Oz."
The Broadway equity offering, hailed by The New York Times as one of the most successful shows in the history of the Great White Way, is officially opening its German production Nov. 15.
Carino, a 2005 musical-theater graduate of Penn State University, and a 2001 alumna of Leechburg High School, has been in Stuttgart since September for intensive language study, as well as other preparations. That includes recording the cast album in German. The entire show is sung in German, a language with which Carino had no background. She studied Spanish in school.
Her dad (attorney Anthony Carino) bought her the book "German for Dummies" for the long flight to her first dream job, an 18-month contract won after nine auditions, which also eventually could lead to opportunities with the Australian company, which will open in July.
It's all still one big, happy blur for Carino, at 24 the youngest member of the cast. "I am very excited. It's amazing," she says over the phone. "For me, being so young and doing a Broadway equity show overseas is pretty incredible. It's like the kick-off of your career. The people in the original lead roles were 37 and 38. To actually hone in and be able to understudy some of the roles is incredible," she says.
Carino is understudying several parts. She expects to be filling in regularly. "It is a very strenuous show with a lot of dancing and singing, and the singing is very demanding on the voice. Actors might take off three days at a time," she says.
While working in regional theater from her New York City base, she auditioned for "Wicked" over a two-and-a-half year period. There is considerable competition for the job, she says.
"It's sort of like 'Phantom of the Opera,' a show everybody wants to go see, and there's pretty much no chance of it closing in the near future," she says. That gives actors the stability of always having a paycheck, she adds.
She seems to like everything about "Wicked." "It's a musical that has a great book, a great story to it," she says. "A lot of Broadway shows don't have that. It combines amazing dancing. There is an unbelievable choreographer, a great director and amazing music by (Academy Award winning) Steven Schwartz (whose credits "Godspell," "Pippin," "Pocahontas" and "The Prince of Egypt"), she says. "Wicked" has won 15 major awards, including three Tonys, a Grammy and six Drama Desk honors, including best musical.
Then there's Europe itself, a place Carino always wanted to visit. "It's pretty nice to be there, getting paid to do what you love to do and being able to travel," she says.
While acknowledging the bittersweet aspect of being separated by such a great distance from their daughter, her parents, Anthony and Jill Carino of Gilpin, express delight at Jill's happiness.
"We are very proud of her," Anthony Carino says. "I'm just so happy she finally has a good-paying job in her field, a very tough nut to crack getting a start on Broadway. She couldn't be more pleased with the way she is being treated. They've rolled out the red carpet for her."
It is exciting, adds Jill Carino, a fifth-grade teacher at West Hills Elementary School. "She has been working toward this a long time, hoping something broke soon," Jill says. "With shows today, you can't be just one dimensional. She is pretty much equally talented across the board acting, dancing and singing," Jill says of her daughter.
It is very definitely her biggest opportunity of her career to date, says Heather Carino. "It's not very often you get a break that you can go and do a Broadway show right off the bat, People work so hard for that," she says.
She says she has been blessed to have the solid support of her family. "My parents and grandparents come to everything I've ever done. It's amazing to have a family backing me the entire way and to know this is the start of my career, and who knows where it will take off to, maybe eventually film and television," she says
Her family and other friends plan to travel to Germany over Christmas to see her perform. Seeing your daughter on stage is very special, Jill Carino says.
"We both cry usually," she says. "It's almost an overwhelming feeling seeing other people clap for your child. There are almost no words for how proud and exhilarated you feel."
As early as age 2, Heather Carino's drive, determination and talent caught the eye of her instructors. "She wouldn't leave the classroom; she wanted to stay; she just loved being at the studio," recalls Sandra Lynn Clark, owner of Sandra Lynn's School of Dance, Vandergrift.
Clark is not surprised Carino has landed the "Wicked" opportunity. "She worked very hard and had fun doing it. When she was performing, you saw confidence in her face, somebody who enjoyed entertaining. She could get everybody to look at her just from her expressions," Clark says.
Carino went on to win national dance competitions and, at 17, was the subject of a major cover story in Dance Spirit magazine.
It seemed to be her destiny to be a performer, adds Michelle Clark, director of competitive dance at the school, and Carino's former dance partner. "I always felt she would be very successful in her future, just from all the hard work she did when she was younger. She's a very nice person, and we're still very good friends," Michelle says.
Vandergrift native Tera Clark Luedde, now of San Diego and a judge of dance competitions nationally, was Carino's instructor from age 2 through 18.
"From day 1, she was an amazing student. A lot of kids come through the doors who are very talented. You only have a handful of really successful ones, and we knew that about her right away. She wanted to learn everything she could, and she was a perfectionist," recalls Luedde, who remains artistic director of the school's nonprofit Western Pennsylvania Performing Arts companies.
From the start, Luedde adds, Carino had important vital elements on her side that built the foundation for success: "fantastic" support from her parents, a strong work ethic and natural talent.
The Carinos also supported Luedde and her efforts to help their daughter's talent grow. "A lot of parents don't necessarily support the teacher anymore. But they always trusted me in what I was trying to do with Heather, to challenge her and push her to grow into the dancer she could be," she says.
Luedde believes that Carino was born with a unique quality with which many students struggle: the ability to perform.
"It cannot be taught. From an early age, she had an amazing performance quality. Her face lights up when she is on stage. Her ability to interpret music and her style is brilliant. When she would perform, the audience would go silent, and they would hang on her every movement," Luedde says. "She has a way of capturing her audience and leaving them hungry for more. People would come up to her after every performance and compliment her. Heather was always very deserving of the compliments and would be very gracious. She loves performing, and she loves inspiring the people she is performing for."
Carino says when she is on stage, any jitters go away. "How many professions do you know of that when you are done, people clap for you and give you a standing ovation? I have a pretty great job."
Read more: Gilpin entertainer gets Broadway break -- in Germany - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review http://pittsburghlive.com/x/valleynewsdispatch/s_535994.html?source=rss&feed=31#ixzz1RXwNPKad
An Alle-Kiski native's own artistic yellow brick road is yielding an ocean of promise.
An ocean -- the Atlantic -- is exactly what Heather Carino of Hyde Park had to cross to follow her muse to the biggest break in her young show -- business career so far: being named to the worldwide cast of the multiple award-winning show "Wicked," the prequel to "The Wizard of Oz."
The Broadway equity offering, hailed by The New York Times as one of the most successful shows in the history of the Great White Way, is officially opening its German production Nov. 15.
Carino, a 2005 musical-theater graduate of Penn State University, and a 2001 alumna of Leechburg High School, has been in Stuttgart since September for intensive language study, as well as other preparations. That includes recording the cast album in German. The entire show is sung in German, a language with which Carino had no background. She studied Spanish in school.
Her dad (attorney Anthony Carino) bought her the book "German for Dummies" for the long flight to her first dream job, an 18-month contract won after nine auditions, which also eventually could lead to opportunities with the Australian company, which will open in July.
It's all still one big, happy blur for Carino, at 24 the youngest member of the cast. "I am very excited. It's amazing," she says over the phone. "For me, being so young and doing a Broadway equity show overseas is pretty incredible. It's like the kick-off of your career. The people in the original lead roles were 37 and 38. To actually hone in and be able to understudy some of the roles is incredible," she says.
Carino is understudying several parts. She expects to be filling in regularly. "It is a very strenuous show with a lot of dancing and singing, and the singing is very demanding on the voice. Actors might take off three days at a time," she says.
While working in regional theater from her New York City base, she auditioned for "Wicked" over a two-and-a-half year period. There is considerable competition for the job, she says.
"It's sort of like 'Phantom of the Opera,' a show everybody wants to go see, and there's pretty much no chance of it closing in the near future," she says. That gives actors the stability of always having a paycheck, she adds.
She seems to like everything about "Wicked." "It's a musical that has a great book, a great story to it," she says. "A lot of Broadway shows don't have that. It combines amazing dancing. There is an unbelievable choreographer, a great director and amazing music by (Academy Award winning) Steven Schwartz (whose credits "Godspell," "Pippin," "Pocahontas" and "The Prince of Egypt"), she says. "Wicked" has won 15 major awards, including three Tonys, a Grammy and six Drama Desk honors, including best musical.
Then there's Europe itself, a place Carino always wanted to visit. "It's pretty nice to be there, getting paid to do what you love to do and being able to travel," she says.
While acknowledging the bittersweet aspect of being separated by such a great distance from their daughter, her parents, Anthony and Jill Carino of Gilpin, express delight at Jill's happiness.
"We are very proud of her," Anthony Carino says. "I'm just so happy she finally has a good-paying job in her field, a very tough nut to crack getting a start on Broadway. She couldn't be more pleased with the way she is being treated. They've rolled out the red carpet for her."
It is exciting, adds Jill Carino, a fifth-grade teacher at West Hills Elementary School. "She has been working toward this a long time, hoping something broke soon," Jill says. "With shows today, you can't be just one dimensional. She is pretty much equally talented across the board acting, dancing and singing," Jill says of her daughter.
It is very definitely her biggest opportunity of her career to date, says Heather Carino. "It's not very often you get a break that you can go and do a Broadway show right off the bat, People work so hard for that," she says.
She says she has been blessed to have the solid support of her family. "My parents and grandparents come to everything I've ever done. It's amazing to have a family backing me the entire way and to know this is the start of my career, and who knows where it will take off to, maybe eventually film and television," she says
Her family and other friends plan to travel to Germany over Christmas to see her perform. Seeing your daughter on stage is very special, Jill Carino says.
"We both cry usually," she says. "It's almost an overwhelming feeling seeing other people clap for your child. There are almost no words for how proud and exhilarated you feel."
As early as age 2, Heather Carino's drive, determination and talent caught the eye of her instructors. "She wouldn't leave the classroom; she wanted to stay; she just loved being at the studio," recalls Sandra Lynn Clark, owner of Sandra Lynn's School of Dance, Vandergrift.
Clark is not surprised Carino has landed the "Wicked" opportunity. "She worked very hard and had fun doing it. When she was performing, you saw confidence in her face, somebody who enjoyed entertaining. She could get everybody to look at her just from her expressions," Clark says.
Carino went on to win national dance competitions and, at 17, was the subject of a major cover story in Dance Spirit magazine.
It seemed to be her destiny to be a performer, adds Michelle Clark, director of competitive dance at the school, and Carino's former dance partner. "I always felt she would be very successful in her future, just from all the hard work she did when she was younger. She's a very nice person, and we're still very good friends," Michelle says.
Vandergrift native Tera Clark Luedde, now of San Diego and a judge of dance competitions nationally, was Carino's instructor from age 2 through 18.
"From day 1, she was an amazing student. A lot of kids come through the doors who are very talented. You only have a handful of really successful ones, and we knew that about her right away. She wanted to learn everything she could, and she was a perfectionist," recalls Luedde, who remains artistic director of the school's nonprofit Western Pennsylvania Performing Arts companies.
From the start, Luedde adds, Carino had important vital elements on her side that built the foundation for success: "fantastic" support from her parents, a strong work ethic and natural talent.
The Carinos also supported Luedde and her efforts to help their daughter's talent grow. "A lot of parents don't necessarily support the teacher anymore. But they always trusted me in what I was trying to do with Heather, to challenge her and push her to grow into the dancer she could be," she says.
Luedde believes that Carino was born with a unique quality with which many students struggle: the ability to perform.
"It cannot be taught. From an early age, she had an amazing performance quality. Her face lights up when she is on stage. Her ability to interpret music and her style is brilliant. When she would perform, the audience would go silent, and they would hang on her every movement," Luedde says. "She has a way of capturing her audience and leaving them hungry for more. People would come up to her after every performance and compliment her. Heather was always very deserving of the compliments and would be very gracious. She loves performing, and she loves inspiring the people she is performing for."
Carino says when she is on stage, any jitters go away. "How many professions do you know of that when you are done, people clap for you and give you a standing ovation? I have a pretty great job."
Read more: Gilpin entertainer gets Broadway break -- in Germany - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review http://pittsburghlive.com/x/valleynewsdispatch/s_535994.html?source=rss&feed=31#ixzz1RXwNPKad
Megan Arnoldy - Company Member 1983-1994
Megan Arnoldy graduated from Penn State University with a B.F.A. in Musical Theater. After graduation, she performed in two summer seasons with PIttsburgh Civic Light Opera. She then starred in a Korean Tour of the musical "Fame"! She went on to play the role of Sandy in "Grease" at the Carousel Dinner Theater in Akron, OH and at the Marriott Theater in Lincolnshire, IL near Chicago. She also played the role of Peggy Sawyer in "42nd Street" at the Tuacahn Amphitheatre in Ivins, Utah. Other regional credits include Sacramento Music Circus and the Walnut Street Theater in Philadelphia. She then joined the national tour of "The Drowsy Chaperone," which starred Georgia Engel. Following this, she did a world premiere of a new musical "Minsky's" in Los Angeles. Most recently, she performed as Janet in "The Drowsy Chaperone" in Ogunquit, Maine alongside Georgia Engel and Carson Kressley. She is currently the dance captain of a production of "Cabaret" at the Milwaukee Repertory Theater.
We are very proud of Megan and all that she has accomplished since leaving Sandra Lynn's. We enjoy hearing about all of her endeavors. Megan recently got Married and made a beautiful bride!
We are very proud of Megan and all that she has accomplished since leaving Sandra Lynn's. We enjoy hearing about all of her endeavors. Megan recently got Married and made a beautiful bride!
Kelsey Landers - Company Member 1998-2010
Kelsey Landers moved to San Diego CA in October 2010 to pursue a dance career. She was signed with Bloc agency and started auditioning a few months after arriving to the West Coast. She has performed for El Cirque in there Imagination production. Kelsey also auditioned for Season 8's So You Think You Can Dance in LA. Kelsey traveled to Vegas after making it through the LA auditions. Unfortunately Kelsey got injured during the competition and had to leave the competition early. She was estatic to be one of the last 25 girls left in the competition, but sad that she was unable to finish due to her injury. Kelsey did recover and plans on trying out next year.
Knowing that everything happens for a reason it is only fitting that she landed the job of her dreams right after coming home from Vegas. She is currently dancing in "Rock the Ballet" with Bad Boys of Dance, in Europe on a 2 month tour. We are so excited for her and know this is only the beginning of an amazing Dance Career.
Knowing that everything happens for a reason it is only fitting that she landed the job of her dreams right after coming home from Vegas. She is currently dancing in "Rock the Ballet" with Bad Boys of Dance, in Europe on a 2 month tour. We are so excited for her and know this is only the beginning of an amazing Dance Career.
