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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. Additionally, undertaking the development of a professional performing arts series in the fall of 2006, the Hillman Center also serves the community as a public performing arts venue, whose programming goal is to feature “The Best of Pittsburgh and the World.†The Hillman Center’s artistic niche strives to support not only Shady Side Academy’s curriculum but also the Pittsburgh community. Featuring traditional offerings (such as symphony and orchestral music, classical dance, and opera) and world music and culture performances, the Hillman Center offers globally diverse arts programming to the regional community. International performers celebrate the diverse ethnic and national communities of Pittsburgh and help connect the audience to the rest of the world. The Shady Side Academy Gargoyle Society, under the direction of Claire DePalma, produces a variety of theatrical productions each year, including a children’s theatre Homecoming production, a fall play, a spring musical, and a student-directed one-act play series. The spring musical is an inter-departmental effort with Dr. Dan Brill serving as Music Director. Past fall play and spring musicals include:
Prior to the Fall of 2004, Gargoyle Society performances were held in Memorial Hall on the campus of Shady Side Academy’s Senior School. 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. The Importance of Being Earnest was Ms. DePalma’s first production at the Hillman Center. Prior to the 2009-2010 school year, the Gargoyle Society was under the direction of Mary Beth Gray. Additionally, Shady Side Academy’s Middle and Junior Schools use the Hillman Center for Performing Arts for performances, productions, and special events. |
