Stage Right! School for the Performing Arts and Professional Theatre Company
They knew what I was going through. They knew how tough it is. They weren’t making it tougher. The Progress Fund made it pretty easy.
People
Christine Orosz’s nonprofit performing arts school had survived a few relocations since 1998, but couldn’t endure another. The century-old school building they’d rented for six months was ideal, with rehearsal space for voice, acting, tap, jazz and ballet, plus a costume room. But just as the 180 students settled in, the landlord decided to clear the building and sell. “Moving the business again,” says Christine, “would’ve killed it.”
Progress
A friend told Christine to call The Progress Fund, which financed many Greensburg developments. “I was like, ‘I don’t know what they do,’” she says. She found out, when The Progress Fund loaned $410,000, enabling her nonprofit to buy the building. Later, The Progress Fund loaned an additional $40,000 to allow Stage Right to pay down the seller financing on their building.
Impact
With five professional shows per year plus student performances, Stage Right! is a major draw for Greensburg. More important is its role in the lives of the kids. “Out here in Westmoreland County, unless you’re into sports, there is no alternative,” Christine says. Her students “walk in that door, and realize: This is where they fit.” She says Greensburg gets not only shows, but “children who have the confidence to be what we need them to be in the future. They’re our future leaders.” The school’s future is also secure. “Now it’s hard to believe that we would be anywhere else.”
The Progress Fund is an equal opportunity provider and employer. View Story as PDF
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