Hillman Center for Performing Arts

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Hillman Center for Performing Arts

Address	423 Fox Chapel Rd. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Owner	Shady Side Academy
Type	Provincial
Capacity	641 theater 120 blackbox
Opened	September 2004
Website
www.thehillman.org

The Hillman Center for Performing Arts is a multi-stage performing arts venue on the campus of Shady Side Academy's Senior School in Fox Chapel, a northern suburb of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Featuring dedicated music and vocal practice spaces, the Richard E. Rauh proscenium theater, and the Peter J. Kountz black box theater, the Hillman Center serves as Shady Side Academy's primary performing arts classroom.

Facilities[]

The Hillman Center for Performing Arts includes the 641 seat Richard E. Rauh Theater with full orchestra lift as well as the Peter J. Kountz Theater, a black box performance venue of 120 seats. Both spaces were designed by John Sergio Fisher & Associates. The Wean Room, an executive conference room for 40, the Mary Hillman Jennings Plaza, plus vocal and instrumental practice spaces, the Dr. Larry J. Papincak Memorial Recording Studio and a full scene shop, make the Hillman Center a multi-use facility.

History[]

On Thursday, September 30, 2004, Shady Side Academy opened of the Hillman Center for Performing Arts with an inaugural performance in the Richard E. Rauh Theater.

Hillman Performing Arts Series and Guest Performances[]

Following the official opening of the Hillman Center for Performing Arts in September 2004, Shady Side Academy named faculty member David Liebmann to serve as executive director. He established the Hillman Center's public programming, beginning the first season of its professional, public Performing Arts Series on Friday, October 6, 2006, with a performance given by the from Hebei, China. Subsequent performances during the 2006-2007 Season featured Pittsburgh's River City Brass Band and the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre.

The 2007–2008 season included The Boys of the Lough, a Grammy-nominated Celtic band, San Jose Taiko, Ira Ross & Friends, Samite of Uganda, Flamenco Sepharad, and Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre. Giant Eagle became the first major corporate sponsor. The Henry L. Hillman Foundation and the Weiner Family Foundation provided additional support.

As word of the venue spread, the Center expanded to offer its facilities to support community production partnerships. Such guests included: Pittsburgh Concert Chorale, River City Youth Brass Band, Chatham Baroque with the Pittsburgh Opera Center, Nandanik Indian Dance Troupe, Hill Dance Academy Theatre, Pittsburgh Youth Pops Orchestra, Pittsburgh Youth Chamber Orchestra, Pittsburgh Chamber Music Society, Filipino American Association of Pittsburgh, Balmoral School of Piping and Drumming, and Candace Otto MacDonald.

Shady Side Academy Student Performances In The Hillman Center for Performing Arts[]

The Shady Side Academy Gargoyle Society, under the direction of Dana Hardy-Bingham, produces a variety of theatrical productions each year, including a fall play, a winter musical, and a student-directed/student-written original play series in the spring. The winter musical is an inter-departmental effort with Dr. Dan Brill serving as Music Director.

Recent fall play and spring musicals include:

• Into the Woods, Spring 2015
• The Misanthrope (student adaptation), Fall 2014
• Grease, Spring 2014
• An Enemy of the People (student adaptation), Fall 2013
• West Side Story, Spring 2013
• A Midsummer Night's Dream (student adaptation), Fall 2012
• The Music Man, Spring 2012
• Romeo and Juliet (student adaptation), Fall 2011
• Kiss Me, Kate, Spring 2011
• On the Verge, Fall 2010
• Guys and Dolls, Spring 2010
• The Importance of Being Earnest, Fall 2009
• Barnum, Spring 2009
• One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Fall 2008
• Fiddler on the Roof, Spring 2008
• Brush Up Your Shakespeare (student production), Fall 2007
• Footloose, Spring 2007
• Amadeus, Fall 2006
• South Pacific, Spring 2006
• Pygmalion, Fall 2005
• Oliver, Spring 2005
• A Midsummer Night's Dream, Fall 2004

The Concert Choir, Chamber Choir, and String Ensemble, under the direction of Dan Brill, and the Symphonic Band and Jazz Ensemble, under the direction of Stanley Nevola, perform one concert each at the Hillman Center each trimester, featuring varied styles of vocal and instrumental performance.

Additionally, Shady Side Academy's Middle and Junior Schools use the Hillman Center for Performing Arts for performances, productions, and special events.

Coordinates: 40°31′21″N 79°52′58″W / 40.52257°N 79.88268°W / 40.52257; -79.88268