‘More than just a class’: Westmoreland Performing Arts offers support, community through special ability theater group

Isaac Klimchock knew what to do when his castmates missed their cue.

He had just finished a scene with Chris Henderson, and audience applause echoed off the walls of Science Hall Theater at Westmoreland County Community College.

Klimchock and Henderson waited, and waited, for fellow actors to join them for the next scene in a comedic adaptation of “The Nutcracker.” A quiet fell across the auditorium.

Director Renata Marino’s voice cut through the air.

“Alright everyone, let’s do that again!” she hollered from the back of the room, eliciting lighthearted laughs from the audience.

Klimchock, 27, of Latrobe did not let the setback faze him.

“Sorry about that everyone,” he said to the audience, “but can you do that applause again?”

The audience obliged, and the show went on.

Klimchock and Henderson, 28, of Irwin are two of the 12 actors who performed “The Nutcracker” last week through the Big Dreamers Broadway Squad — a self- described special abilities theater class for all ages run by Westmoreland Performing Arts.

Learning the lines, lyrics and choreography for a performance is no small task, and Marino is careful to address the actors’ concerns and keep the process fun.

“You’re allowed to use your script on stage, guys,” Marino said just before the curtains opened. “These songs are hard.”

‘Fun and joyful’

In Marino’s experience, the actors often feel confident enough to leave their scripts backstage.

She encourages actors to express their ideas and improvisations in class rehearsals.

“That was really cute,” she said to the group during one of several weekly rehearsals held before the one-night-only performance on Dec. 13. “Let’s do it one more time so we feel confident with our choices.

“I love what you’re doing. Let’s build on it.”

The actors’ ideas often make their way into the performance, said Marino’s assistant, Michelle Tomcheck.

“They amaze us with every single thing they do, because … what you see in rehearsal is never what you see on stage,” said Tomcheck, of Harrison City. “Every time we think it’s going to be a horrible flop, they somehow come up with something amazing by the time they put it on stage.”

Big Dreamers Broadway Squad started in 2014 after Marino was invited to lead a series of acting exercises for a group of children with autism. The hour and a half went by in the blink of an eye, Marino said.

“I did a lot of improvising and I did a lot of playing with them, and it was really fun and joyful,” said Marino, of Greensburg. “It was just playing, really, for me.”

The rehearsals and performance provide a sense of community and purpose to Alex Grubisa, who joined the group in 2016.

“It makes me feel more included, more accepted by all my peers,” said Grubisa, 30, of Greensburg.

With the group’s help, Mackenzie Daisher has overcome her fears of performing. Now, she writes and shares original songs.

“That’s scary — making original stuff and putting it out there,” Marino said. “Why is it scary?”

“Because I’m worried people will laugh at me,” replied Daisher, 22, of Greensburg.

“And do they ever laugh at you?”

“No, they love me,” Daisher said with a smile.

Support for adults

Tomcheck, whose daughter was a longtime student of Marino, got involved after the group’s inception to help Marino understand the actors’ behaviors and ways of communicating.

Tomcheck facilitates programs in group homes for people with developmental disabilities, but she has worked the gamut of jobs in the special needs world throughout her career. She has experience as a teacher’s aide and a supports coordinator, a role where she connected individuals with disabilities to relevant resources.

Marino planned to open the Squad to individuals 18 years old and younger until Tomcheck offered a different perspective, calling to mind a beloved student, Nathan Cieply.

Cieply, who died at age 26 in 2021, often followed his brother to Marino’s classes. It was not long before he got involved in the action himself.

“We would be doing a community performance somewhere and he would just grab a microphone out of whoever’s hand and start singing,” Tomcheck said. “He didn’t care. He was the biggest ham ever. He would just take over.”

But Cieply would have missed out on the Squad if not for Tomcheck’s intervention.

“I said ‘So you’re going to start this class because of people like Nathan who you love, but you’re going to exclude him from that class because of his age?’” Tomcheck said. “And (Renata) went ‘Oh, I can’t do that.’”

Community groups are especially important for individuals with disabilities who have graduated from high school, Tomcheck said.

“When kids are in school, they get a lot, a lot, a lot of services. And then once they age out of school, that kind of all goes away,” Tomcheck said. “So I see a lot of kids go from being in school all day and being busy to just sitting at home doing nothing.”

Transition programs

County support organizations such as Regional Integrated Human Services connect with individuals with disabilities years before they graduate high school to make the transition into adult life as smooth as possible.

RIHS determines who is eligible for the programs and funding available to individuals with disabilities, said Amanda List, developmental services program manager.

Determining eligibility is a lengthy process, List said.

“There’s no immediate way to call us, be eligible, be connected to a supports coordination organization and be identified for funding and have services in place in a week. It’s months,” she said.

“Families feel … like ‘I don’t need another thing to do or another person in the house or another thing to keep up with, because the education system is meeting my needs.’ But the importance of that overlap is then the supports coordination organization can start to plan for the future.”

Eligible individuals are then connected by Westmoreland Developmental Services to one of eight supports coordination organizations to identify and address their specific needs.

The agency assists about 1,600 people, according to Sherrie Thropp, intellectual and developmental disabilities deputy administrator. Nearly 1,000 are receiving financial support through one of the county’s three waivers and about 100 are receiving base funding from the state.

Westmoreland Developmental Services distributes about $140 million annually among its 90 providers, Thropp said, which offer accommodations such as assistive technology, education support, caregiver training, medical support, residential services and community participation support.

“We want individuals to feel they are part of the community and that they are contributing to their community,” Thropp said. “I feel like with the theater group they definitely feel like they are contributing to the community, they are entertaining the community.”

‘They’re more than just a class’

Without the actors realizing it, the class helps the actors maintain friendships and social skills such as communication and eye contact, Tomcheck said.

No matter what stage fright they felt when they joined Big Dreamers Broadway Squad, each actor has come out of their shell over the years, Marino said.

“They’ve been scared from their first show and then they get through it and there’s something in all of them that just clicks,” Marino said. “They just want to do more and more and more, and they’re more brave and they’re very proud, which they should be.”

Marino said she has grown right alongside the actors.

“I’m better because I’m with these people. They’re more than just a class. They’re all my friends.”