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As curtain closes on 2017, stage is set for Sights & Sounds list

7 min read
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It’s time for list-o-mania!

OK, that reference might have worked in the 1840s, when composer Franz Liszt was working his fans into frenzies all over Europe. Or for a week or two in 1975, when The Who’s Roger Daltrey starred in Ken Russell’s film about the Liszt phenomenon before theaters dropped it in favor of something like “The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes’ Smarter Brother.”

RIP, Gene Wilder.

Anyway, we hope you enjoy this particular list of performers and performances that helped shape South Hills Sights and Sounds during 2017.

”The Heist”

Bethel Park High School’s fall play not only was set locally, but it was an original work by the play’s director.

English teacher Cortney Williams wrote “The Heist” during a six-week stretch over the summer, with the story based on an event from Bethel Park’s history: the nation’s first armored-car robbery in 1927. Members of a gang known as the Flatheads made off with more than $100,000 – that would be close to $1.5 million in today’s money – after holding up a vehicle carrying a mine payroll.

Williams included roles for 27 performers in portraying how events leading up to the robbery impacted members of a fictional family, with senior Greydon Tomkowitz playing the lead character.

More at tinyurl.com/HeistBP.

Nadia Huber at Point State Park for a WYEP-FM photo shoot.

Nadia Huber

The self-taught musician, now a Mt. Lebanon High School senior, joined collaborator Jeremy Levin of Murrysville in a performance to open the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh’s Teen Media Awards in August.

The two met at the 2016 ceremony, when he won first place and she was runner-up. This year’s event marked the first time they actually played live together, having done most of their previous collaboration online.

Nadia recorded an EP, “Ages,” a seven-song collection of originals featuring vocals, acoustic guitar and percussion. The title track was selected for WYEP-FM’s 2016 Reimagination CD of recordings by area teenagers, and she also earned the opportunity to perform during that year’s Three Rivers Arts Festival.

More at tinyurl.com/NadiaMtLeb.

Adam Meyers rocks during his CD release show to benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

Adam Meyers

The 2009 Peters Township High School graduate recorded a five-song extended-play album, “Motive,” with the intention of holding an EP release party to benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation of Western Pennsylvania.

The event, held at Pittsburgh’s Hard Rock Café in July and emceed by Star 100.7 on-air personality Melanie Taylor, contributed to him raising more than $4,200 toward the cause.

A nurse by profession and musician by avocation, Meyers helped care for cystic fibrosis patients at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC during his four years of working there.

Jaywalker, a band the guitarist-vocalist formed with some high school classmates, also has recorded an EP, “Drawing Board.”

More at tinyurl.com/MeyersCF.

Harry Funk / The Almanac

Harry Funk / The Almanac

Ariel Radinovic’s performing name is Ariel Cameroe.

Ariel Radinovic

The South Fayette Township High School student had the opportunity to perform “The Star-Spangled Banner” at a Pittsburgh Pirates game in July as winner of the team’s “Oh, Say Can You Sing?” contest.

Prior to that experience, she had sung the national anthem to start several Pittsburgh Riverhounds soccer games at Highmark Stadium.

She adopted her performing name, Ariel Cameroe, when she was 10 and entered her first competition, finishing as a semifinalist in St. Barnabas Charities’ Kean Quest Talent Search.

An avid singer for as long as she can remember, she has played Belinda Cratchit in Pittsburgh CLO’s “A Musical Christmas Carol” and during the summer was in the cast of Little Lake Theatre’s “Schoolhouse Rock Live! Jr.”

More at tinyurl.com/ArielCameroe.

Tim Mulhern is a Bethel Park High School graduate

Some Kind of Animal

Bethel Park High School graduate Tim Mulhern’s band had the honor of the first album released on Get Hip Recordings’ Folk Series, by the longtime Pittsburgh independent label owned by Mt. Lebanon residents Gregg Kostelich and his wife, Barbara Garcia-Bernardo.

The eponymous “Some Kind of Animal” features 11 original songs composed by Mulhern and fellow band member Anthony Jardine, who are joined by the rhythm section of David Rocco on drums and Rich Condon on bass.

They cite as their musical influences the likes of Local Natives, Band of Horses, Fleet Foxes and the late Jeff Buckley, and listeners may hear sounds reminiscent of ’60s-era Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees The Band, Byrds and Buffalo Springfield.

More at tinyurl.com/TimSKOA.

Eleanor Bailey / The Almanac

Steelesque’s Rob Eldridge

Steelesque

Led by Rob Eldridge, the boys’ varsity soccer coach and a teacher at South Fayette Township High School, Steelesque released its latest CD, “Toro Toro,” in June.

The album features six songs written by Eldridge, who sings lead vocals and plays guitar, keyboards and banjo. Joining him are his next-door neighbor, Sam Baldigowski, on mandolin and lap steel guitar; Ron Castelluci, percussion; Jerry Courtney, bass and backing vocals; Eric Drake, lead guitar and backing vocals; and Bruce Virtue, drums.

Eldridge describes the CD as rock ‘n’ roll with blues elements, with a sound that draws in part from his favorite musical influences, especially early Rolling Stones.

A self-taught musician and songwriter, Eldridge has more than 100 published pieces.

More at tinyurl.com/Steelesque.

Ann and Woody Talman in the documentary film “Woody’s Order”

Ann Talman

The Upper St. Clair High School graduate and veteran actress returned to Pittsburgh in February to debut her one-woman play, “Woody’s Order!”

She wrote the script about her relationship with her brother, who was born with cerebral palsy.

Having established an acting career in her late 20s into her early 30s, including an acclaimed role on Broadway in “Little Foxes,” Talman found herself in the position where she was caring for her aging father along with her brother, a situation that figures prominently in her show.

In September, she appeared at Pittsburgh’s fifth annual ReelAbilities Film Festival in conjunction with the screening of a 16-minute documentary about her story, also called “Woody’s Order!”

More at tinyurl.com/AnnWoody1 and tinyurl.com/AnnWoody2.

Harry Funk / The Almanac

Harry Funk / The Almanac

Val Williams teams with a singing youngster during a “Songs for Young Whippersnappers” performance at Pittsburgh’s Market Square.

Val Williams

Since graduating from Peters Township High School, the current Mt. Lebanon resident has continued to display versatility in the performing arts.

Her self-scripted “Songs for Young Whippersnappers: Live!” show, an extension of her CD for children, provides fast-paced entertainment to keep everyone alert and engaged.

She also puts on shows that draw from her deep knowledge of 20th-century musical history, such as “Over There” and “As Time Goes By,” featuring songs from the two world wars, and “Vintageous,” a tribute to chanteuses including Peggy Lee, Doris Day and Rosemary Clooney.

Williams takes it to the stage, as well, with a recent turn as one of the five cast members of the historical drama “Belfast Girls” during its run in Carnegie.

More at tinyurl.com/ValW01.

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