PITTSBURGH - When actress and Tony Award-winning choreographer Ann Reinking was thinking about an idea for a short ballet about two piano keys falling in love, she chose a small, not-so-well-known university in this city to try it out.
The suggestion to experiment with Point Park University students came from longtime friend and composer Jeff Saver, a teaching artist-in-residence. It was a decision Reinking didn't regret.
"A little miracle happened today and it happened in Pittsburgh," Reinking told the students after choreographing and rehearsing the ballet's finale a day before the recent performance. "It makes me want to come back to Pittsburgh. This is what makes choreographers want to hire you."
This 3,500-student university is gaining a reputation for turning out talented stage performers. Point Park says at least 18 former or current students are working in Broadway shows including "Cry-Baby," "A Chorus Line," "Chicago," "Curtains," "Mary Poppins" and "Gypsy."
The school, located in several downtown buildings, merged the film, dance and theatre departments in 1999 to form the Conservatory of Performing Arts. It has grown from about 350 students studying performing arts in 1998 to about 750 at the conservatory, where one in 10 applicants gets admitted.
The conservatory has three student theatre companies and one professional company putting on more than 250 performances annually. Five world premieres were slated for the 2007-08 school year, and the school's US$210 million expansion plan includes a new theatre downtown.
Key to the students' success is its teachers, the university says.
"These aren't academics who used to do something; they're all professional artists," said conservatory dean Ronald Allan-Lindblom. "This isn't a place you come to study criticism."
Alumna Nili Bassman, appearing on Broadway in "Curtains," said, "They were training me to have the skills necessary to be a working actress."
Many of Point Park's alumni aren't household names - its best known grad, Melina Kanakaredes, plays Detective Stella Bonasera on "CSI: NY" - but the talent at the university wows many.
"They're wonderfully trained . . . incredibly talented," said Broadway dancer and choreographer Krissy Richmond, who helped Reinking direct the ballet. "I'm overwhelmed. I didn't know this (talent) existed outside New York City."
Tome Cousin and Rob Ashford are two of the school's success stories.
Choreographer Ashford won the Drama Desk award for "Cry-Baby," which opened recently on Broadway, and he's also been nominated for a Tony for the show. He won a Tony for "Thoroughly Modern Millie" in 2002, and was nominated for "Curtains" and "The Wedding Singer." He made his directorial debut last year with "Parade" in London, where he also choreographed "Guys and Dolls" and "Evita," and was nominated for several Laurence Olivier awards - the British equivalent of the Tony. He will make his Broadway directorial debut next year with a revival of "Brigadoon."
Cousin will direct a new company of "Contact" for Broadway director and producer Susan Stroman at the North Shore Music Theater near Boston in June. Cousin also wrote the libretto/musical book for "VanDerZee (The Picture Takin' Man)," about famed Harlem Renaissance photographer James Van Der Zee, and hopes to have a reading of his work this summer on its way to Broadway in 2010.
Cousin and Ashford are also among several artists who visit Point Park to conduct master classes, lecture or direct productions.
At a master class last month, musical theatre major Shannon Denney got to perform for Stephen Flaherty, the Tony Award-winning composer of "Ragtime," the first Broadway show that made her cry.
"He's probably the only composer who has made such a strong impression on my life," said Denney, 21. "He was so genuine, so giving, so wonderful. ... It was probably one of the best experiences of my life."
More than a dozen performing arts seniors got to showcase their talents last month to casting directors, producers and directors in New York, before heading for a first-ever Los Angeles showcase, presented by movie producer Jimmy Miller, a Point Park alumni.
Saver, the teaching artist-in-residence, was hired by Point Park last fall. He composed the musicals "Dodsworth" and "Time After Time," and worked on 13 Broadway shows, including "Kiss of the Spider Woman" and "A Chorus Line." He also directed music for the original Broadway production of "Into the Woods" and the revival of "Chicago," starring Reinking and Bebe Neuwirth.
Saver's friendship with these performers proved a boon to his students this spring.
When two-time Emmy-and Tony-winner Neuwirth came to perform with the Pittsburgh Symphony in March, she attended Point Park's production of the Stephen Sondheim musical "Assassins."
The next day, Saver's students got to watch her rehearse. They saw a Broadway, TV and film actress prepare for a show and listened to her vibrant voice fill the theatre as she performed songs from "Chicago" and "Cabaret," as well as two Kurt Weill compositions arranged by Saver.
Later, they peppered her with questions about succeeding in show business.
"Practice and audition," Neuwirth advised. "Don't be like anybody else. All of you are gifted. . . . Get on stage as much as you can - bad jobs, good jobs. Don't turn up your nose at anything."
In April, the dancers worked for about 21 hours with Richmond and Reinking, who couldn't have been happier with the result - a cheeky, playful piece in which the characters are piano keys and the two centre keys fall in love.
"I'm astounded by these kids," Reinking said. "I don't think I could have gotten this much out of 30 people on Broadway in such a short time. They're very brave and they're very funny. It takes great craft."
Actor Bill Nunn also picked Point Park for his experimental project - dramatizing an African folk tale to be performed at several schools to expose children to theatre.
"The amount of acting going on (at Point Park) is incredible and they're eager to expose their kids to more. . . . The kids are phenomenal," said Nunn, who appeared in the "Spider-Man" movies and four Spike Lee films, including "Do The Right Thing."
One afternoon, dance professor Ronald Hutson choreographed moves Nunn could use in the performance and the students threw themselves enthusiastically into learning the routines.
"Just being able to work with (professionals) shows you can be in that position," said Jocelyne Ditumona, 20, a theatre major from Congo. "It inspires you to move to achieve what you want in life."
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