About S.T.A.R.S.
S.T.A.R.S. started 12 years ago when Pennridge High School had completed renovations of the auditorum and was in need of a director for the spring musical. Tad and Samantha Brannon had recently moved from Virginia to raise their young son closer to their families. Sam had started a private voice studio and one of students was a family friend, Jamie Bradley! High school voice students come into their lesson panicked that they would not do a show that year and Jamie and Sam discussed contacting the high school with an offer to direct/music direct for 1 year.
Lorraine Bender had a senior in the show and volunteered to "help" with costumes, Jamie convinced his friend Josh Hubert to help with stage management, and Sam contacted her childhood dance teacher Debbie Totten to help with choreography. Little did this team of intrepid artists know how amazing the experience would be! There was no budget to start with and the team worked together to put on the show as cheaply as possible. The students helped Jamie build the sets on Saturday mornings and moms and students assisted Lorraine with costumes. It was not unusual to have 50 people on a Saturday morning all working to put on a show.
The show was a success and the students and the production team truly bonded. The team was "in" for another year! Tad joined the next year to tackle Beauty and the Beast. The team continued to grow for the next few years: Becky Eells, Karen van Arsdale, Donna Hipp, Kallie Cooper, Hope Guelzow, Sally Vogel, Scott Totten, Sheri Catanzaro, Susan Carr and many others (way too many to count) have given their time and talent to the students and this program. This team gives their time through personal & family illnesses, loss, babies, raising children, students moving to college, day jobs, and many other daily commitments & challenges. This passionate team has always looked to the students and community for motivation when times were tough and give freely of their time and talents to keep the arts strong in our community and give the students something to build them as individuals.
From set building to chorus singing, costume building to lighting and sound design, for more than a decade kids in the Pennridge community have learned to work as a team with their creativity! The love of the kids is what keeps this organization strong.
Thank you to all who give their time and support
to keep the performing arts strong at Pennridge!
