Hempfield senior wins performing arts scholarship, award

Talent is only a portion of what makes a performer successful, says Tony Marino, founder and artistic director of Stage Right School for the Performing Arts in Greensburg.

It also takes hard work, discipline, attitude and integrity — all of which he says Stage Right student/performer Grace Rusnica has in spades.

The 17-year-old Hempfield Area High School senior has papers to prove it. She is the recent recipient of an RWS and Associates/Esther M. Kocevar Scholarship given to a Westmoreland County student planning to pursue higher education in the arts and an Achievement in the Arts Award from Westmoreland Cultural Trust.

She’ll be furthering her studies in musical theater at the University of Cincinnati Conservatory of Music.

Musical roots

Rusnica says she comes by her interests and talents naturally.

“We’ve always been a musical family,” she says of her parents Malinda and Edward Rusnica of Hempfield, and four older siblings. “We all grew up playing instruments and singing.”

Her mother also was a dancer, and Rusnica started dance lessons at the ripe old age of 2. At 7, she performed in a production of “Annie” at the Geyer Performing Arts Center in Scottdale.

“Since then, I’ve been in over 70 musicals,” she says. “Musical theater is my first love. Stage Right has pretty much been my second home since I was 9.”

She started piano lessons at age 4 and in recent years has taught herself to play the guitar. She also writes songs.

Rusnica auditioned for “American Idol” in 2019 and made it as far as the first round in front of judges Katy Perry, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie, where she sang Carole King’s “I Feel the Earth Move.”

The “Idol” experience was her first trip to the West Coast and left her with nothing but good memories, despite her early exit.

“Maybe one day, in a few years, I’d like to try again. Los Angeles was sunny and warm, and everyone was laid back and nice,” she says. “Lionel Richie was just the nicest man ever, very genuine and very helpful.”

Natural talent

The Kocevar scholarship was created by Ryan Stana, another Stage Right veteran and CEO of New York City-based RWS Entertainment Group, in memory of his late grandmother who encouraged his career in entertainment.

The $1,000 award is given annually to a Westmoreland County senior whose high school musical has been part of John Noble’s Westmoreland Night of the Stars showcase and who will be pursuing higher education in the arts.

Rusnica was one of 10 applicants this year, Stana says. The recipient is chosen by a panel including casting agents, directors and Broadway performers.

“I only watched her video after the judges had made their decision,” he says. “It was obvious she is a natural talent.”

“Grace came to us as a little girl, and it was clear that she was very talented,” Marino says. “But sometimes it’s harder for those who are incredibly naturally gifted to succeed, because they can have a tendency to get lazy or arrogant and lord it over their peers.

“That was never Grace,” he says. “She was getting the leads, but she came by them honestly. She was always the consummate professional when it to her work ethic and attitude.

“This is the pull quote I always tell the kids: Talent gets you your first job, but your second job has everything to do with how hard you work and how nice you are to work with,” Marino adds. “Whether from her upbringing or just within herself, Grace was always — to use a pun — gracious.”