Broadway actor returns to Mercyhurst Prep for workshop
Eric Scotto spent the day at his alma mater leading master classes for their performing arts students.
Mercyhurst Prep's performing arts chair retires after 37 years, final production opens
Students were able to learn dance, singing, and acting skills as well as ask him questions about the industry.
Scotto graduated from MPS in 1993 and has gone off to perform across the country, including 12 Broadway shows, but he found time to come back to say thank you to Arthur Martone, who is retiring this year.
Erie's John Oliver responds to Last Week Tonight's John Oliver
'We had a chance to see him in New York, but what's so wonderful is there's still that same love and care that was shared between us is still here today,' said Arthur Martone, chair of the performing arts dept. At Mercyhurst Prep High School.
Martone said he hopes that students see that you can achieve your dreams, it just takes hard work and dedication.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Chicago Tribune
an hour ago
- Chicago Tribune
Paramount Theatre cancels its Bold subscription series due to Aurora funding cut
In an uncharacteristic retrenchment, the growth-oriented Paramount Theatre in Aurora has canceled one of its two theater subscription series for 2026, its board of directors announced on social media late Monday, citing an anticipated large reduction in city funding. The cancellation means that the previously announced Chicago-area premiere of 'Covenant' by York Walker, which was to be directed by Malkia Stampley, and a new staging of the cult musical 'Ride the Cyclone,' not seen here since its world premiere in 2015, are now off. The theater said it would refund the money of those who bought tickets for the stagings at the city's Copley Theatre. The current production of 'True West' by Paramount in the Copley, recently reviewed in the Tribune, will be allowed to complete its run at the end of the month. Aurora has seen political change in recent weeks. Former mayor Richard Irvin, who had staked much of the city's future on downtown Aurora becoming a long-term hub for arts and entertainment, was defeated by John Laesch, who is now in office and has said Aurora now faces a gap between revenue and expenses. As the Tribune has reported, Laesch already has canceled plans for the proposed construction of new 4,000-seat music venue to be known as the City of Lights Center, and has said at a public meeting both that the city faced a 'significant hole' between revenue and expenses and that the city's subsidy of the existing historic theater was 'too much.' The Aurora Civic Center Authority operates (and largely does business as) the Paramount Theatre and has an annual budget of about $31 million. The board of directors is appointed by the mayor. Its CEO Tim Rater said that he had anticipated a flat budget for the coming fiscal year but that the city now has signaled that it was going to significantly reduce the level of its annual support to the theater, which represents about 20% of the Paramount's budget. 'The city has indicated they have a shortfall in their budget and are not going to provide the full $7 million we were anticipating, so we have to look at various ways in which we can save money,' Rater said. 'We are sure we will not be the only community organization that will face these reductions.' Rater said the main subscription season of Broadway musicals at the theater, the Paramount's theater school and a sit-down production of 'Million Dollar Quartet' currently are unaffected.


Forbes
2 hours ago
- Forbes
Cynthia Erivo And Adam Lambert's Jesus Christ Superstar Needs To Tour
Cynthia Erivo (Jesus) and Adam Lambert (Judas), Jesus Christ Superstar at the Hollywood Bowl gave a sold-out crowd the son of God for an era accustomed to Gaga theatrics. Farah Sosa This won't be pleasant to hear but if you missed Jesus Christ Superstar at the Hollywood Bowl this past weekend, you really lost out on seeing one of the great and memorable stage extravaganzas that Los Angeles has witnessed in recent years. For three nights on a Bowl set as dramatic and luminous as a tabernacle vision, the musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice found life in a new form that at times felt like a full-blown conversion. With the Mercurial (and by that, I mean Freddie) Adam Lambert as Judas, an otherworldly Cynthia Erivo as Jesus (bold casting that outperformed even scriptural expectations) and a supporting cast that included no less than Phillipa Soo from the original Hamilton cast as Mary Magdalene and Josh Gad ( Book of Mormon , Frozen ) as Herod, the 55-year-old Broadway classic suddenly felt as if the heavens themselves had a hand in the production. Okay, let me walk that back a little. It was a fantastic show. But it wasn't so much an update of the original 1970s rock opera as a one-of-a-kind arena-style blowout that let us see what these charismatic powerhouse belters could do with this vintage material. It's the son of God for an era accustomed to Gaga theatrics. You want the Passion of Christ? We'll give you Passion like you've never seen. If you missed the Hollywood Bowl production of Superstar this weekend, you missed a revelation on stage. Farah Sosa Of course, spectacle was part of the JCS program from the beginning. The show originated in 1970 when up-and-coming composer Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyricist Tim Rice teamed up to record a concept album that retold the last week of Jesus's life through rock music, an audacious conceit that pushed the LP to the top of the Billboard charts. The following year, Jesus Christ Superstar premiered on Broadway and in London's West End to mixed reactions. ' Superstar seemed to me less than super,' The New York Times critic Clive Barnes wrote in reviewing the original. In 1973 Norman Jewison's film brought the story to cinemas, complete with Carpenters'–style production values and standout performances by singer Yvonne Elliman and others. Through the '80s and '90s it enjoyed frequent revivals—most notably a 1996 West End run and a 2000 U.S. tour—before a critically acclaimed 2012 Broadway revival reintroduced it to a new generation. Since then it's been mounted everywhere from regional stages to international tours, spawned a live TV concert in 2018 and continues to resonate since the themes of fame, betrayal, and political theater haven't exactly gone out of fashion. Under the stars at the Hollywood Bowl, the gospel-tinged guitars and driving riffs were familiar from the album (you could see people of a certain age mouthing along to every single word). But director and choreographer Sergio Trujillo made sure this version never felt like a throwback. From the first strains of 'Heaven on Their Minds,' Judas's betrayal unfolded against a shifting backdrop of LED panels and pulsing lights, while the orchestra—directed by Stephen Oremus—loosed the score behind a digital curtain, from delicate flute solos in 'Damned for All Time' to full-throated electric roars in the title number. Erivo's Gethsemane: A standing ovation that offsets the controversy There's been some online hand-waving around the 'controversy' of casting a queer Black woman to play the Messiah, but please—Erivo as J.C. wowed audiences as dramatically here as in The Color Purple on Broadway or even on screen with Wicked . Her stirring, affecting wails and torch-ery on 'What's the Buzz,' 'Everything's Alright' and 'The Temple' had a capacity crowd of 17,500 riveted, and that was before the three-minute, mid-act standing ovation Erivo got in the second half for 'Gethsemane (I Only Want to Say).' People everywhere had tears streaming right along with Erivo's. Lambert, meanwhile, reveled in Judas's arc from swagger to ruin, balancing streetwise regret with near-mythic torment. Could any other contemporary singer — aside from perhaps Gaga herself — bring the same combination of goth-rock swagger, heartbreak and glittery stoke to lines like: 'You have set them all on fire / They think they've found the new Messiah / And they'll hurt you when they find they're wrong!' I think not. Josh Gad recovered from COVID in time to make the last two performances as King Herod. John Stamos filled in on Friday night, to mixed reviews Elisabeth Asher Why Jesus Christ Superstar deserves an even bigger stage It's not to say the show was perfect. People are still sniveling about poor John Stamos stepping in at the last minute on Friday night as Herod to 'speak sing' the part for Gad, who was out that night with COVID (Gad appeared to be making up for lost time on Sunday with Vegas-style over-the-top kitsch as the ruler of Galilee). And the choreography wasn't exactly on the same epic level as the vocals. But here's my real gripe: Jesus Christ Superstar only got three nights. This thing could storm Broadway, crisscross the country or pitch an actual revival-tent tour and still pack the house for years. Don't lose Erivo or Lambert, that's for sure. But cut it loose from the Bowl and you'd have a transfiguring phenomenon on your hands—one that would keep the faithful and the curious coming back from now 'til kingdom come.


USA Today
3 hours ago
- USA Today
Which 'WKRP in Cincinnati' cast members are still alive?
Loni Anderson, best known as sexy, savvy receptionist Jennifer Marlowe in the 1970s and '80s TV sitcom "WKRP in Cincinnati," has died at 79. Her representative told USA TODAY she was suffering from "an acute prolonged illness" when she died Sunday, Aug. 3, at a Los Angeles hospital. She died just two days before what would have been her 80th birthday. Several other "WKRP in Cincinnati" stars, including Howard Hesseman (who played Dr. Johnny Fever), Gordon Jump (Arthur Carlson) and Frank Bonner (Herb Tarlek) have died in the 43 years since the show ended. However, there are a few cast members still around, and they have worked on and off screen. A look back at the cast of "WKRP": 'WKRP in Cincinnati' living cast members Gary Sandy (Andy Travis) Gary Sandy, who was born in Dayton, Ohio, on Dec. 25, 1945, played program director Andy Travis. After the series ended, Sandy, now 79, appeared in several notable TV shows and films, such as "All That Glitters," "Murder She Wrote," "L.A. Law," "Diagnosis Murder," "Hail to the Chief," The Last of the Cowboys" and "The Insider." His most recent screen role came in the 2004 film "A Place Called Home," IMDb says. According to his website, Sandy has also appeared in more than 100 theatrical productions, including Broadway's "Saturday, Sunday, Monday," "The Pirates of Penzance" and "Arsenic and Old Lace." Sandy reportedly owns a farm in Northern Kentucky, where he resided as of 2023, per WVXU. Richard Sanders (Les Nessman) Richard Sanders, 84, got his big break as Les Nessman on "WKRP in Cincinnati." He played Nessman for the show's entire run and continued working on screen after the show ended in 1982. Among his last listed credits on IMDB is the 2006 film "Expiration Date," starring David Keith. He spoke to The Seattle Times in 2007 about the influence "WKRP" had on popular music, saying, "We used actual music at the time, the music that everybody was listening to at the time − and sometimes before they were listening to it. It became almost like a radio station. Record companies would send us copies of their new releases and people would listen and decide." Jan Smithers (Bailey Quarters) Smithers, the former model, singer and actor, is best known for her role as reporter Bailey Quarters on "WKRP." After starring on the show, Smithers appeared on "Murder, She Wrote" and "The Columnist." Her last listed role was in the 1987 film, "Mr. Nice Guy." She is 76. Actor, producer and director Tim Reid played DJ Venus Flytrap. Reid, who also wrote for the show, was one of the station's only Black employees. Reid, 80, has also played Lieutenant Marcel Proust in the '80s detective series "Simon & Simon" and starred as Ray Campbell in the '90s sitcom "Sister, Sister." Reid earned Emmy nominations and an NAACP Award for the 1987 series "Frank's Place," which he starred in and produced. He's also known for his roles in "That '70s Show," the original "IT" miniseries, "Greenleaf" and "You Wish!" His latest on-screen role was in the 2024 horror film "Stream," per IMDb.