Sarah Mattison Staebell
If you've ever watched the FOX TV series Glee, you already know how life-affirming it can be for kids to take the stage and sing their hearts out. Lucky for Sarah, she gets to help them do it—day and night.
Sarah serves as vocal director at Artists Unlimited, a Rochester theatre group that casts special needs performers in its shows, staged High School Musical in 2007. This November, the organization returns with a production of Annie.An Eastman School of Music grad who teaches voice at Brighton High School, Sarah is active in the Rochester theatre community.
Since 2006, one of her favorite groups is Artists Unlimited, a theatre company that provides a creative outlet for people who have special needs and a dream to perform.
“Our cast members have such passion for performing, and so many special talents,” Sarah says.
Talk about full circle: As a five-year-old piano student, Sarah alreay knew she wanted to be a music teacher. Today, her first piano instructor from all those years ago volunteers with Sarah at Artists Unlimited. “There's no better feeling in my field than helping people develop the tools to express themselves and then giving them an opportunity to perform and feel pride in their work.”
Sarah, of Rochester, first heard about the organization because her brother attends School of the Holy Childhood—a school for students with developmental disabilities that many of the cast members attend.
Drawn to a group that would give her brother a chance to perform, she's been the vocal director for Artists Unlimited ever since.
In her time with the group, Sarah has helped produce High School Musical, The Wizard of Oz, Cinderella, Willy Wonka, and this year's production, Annie, which opens at 8 p.m. Nov. 4 at Theatre on the Ridge. Rehearsals are underway, as captured in a recent photo essay that appeared in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.
Sarah expects a good crowd for this season's production, which marks the group's tenth anniversary. To date, the organization has sold 12,000 tickets to 60 performances.
“We sell hundreds of tickets to each show,” she says. “Because people come to see a quality performance.”
That success has attracted more potential performers than any single musical can include.
“We have more interested people than we can physically fit on our stage,” Sarah says.
So, to welcome as many budding performers as possible, Sarah and her colleagues launched Voices Unlimited in 2009. It gives more people a chance to participate.
A scene from Artists Unlimited's 2009 production of Cinderella. From choreographers to costume and set designers, Artists Unlimited has an army of behind-the-scenes volunteers who help produce each show, Sarah says.Voices Unlimited singers perform in concert each spring. Their playlist ranges from classic rock, to Motown to pop.
“We meet in the off-season so people who are in the shows can participate in both,” she says.
Some kids practically burst with talent, like the cast of Glee. Or the title character in one of Sarah's favorite musicals, Billy Elliot.
But there's something to be said for bringing out the brilliance of undiscovered stars. Sarah sees them all around her.
That's what really lights up her nights.
“It’s such a gift to be able to help people work toward a great performance,” she says.
A gift to the performers, too.
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Artists Unlimited, Inc. presents Annie Nov. 4-6 and Nov. 10-12 at Kodak Theater on the Ridge, 200 West Ridge Rd., Rochester. Advance sale tickets are $11 and are available at select Wegmans That's T.H.E. Ticket locations. Check your local store. Tickets are $12 at the door. For details, call 585-219-5188 or email contact_us@rocartistsunlimited.com.
See more: rocartistsunlimited.com, and on Facebook
Say hi: staebell.sarah@gmail.com