Belle Vernon musical scrambles to replace costumes lost in fire

A second high school in the region has seen its performing arts program impacted by a devastating fire.

In early February, the auditorium and its contents at Elizabeth Forward High School were destroyed in a blaze.

Wednesday morning, a devastating fire at DC Theatricks in Buffalo, N.Y., that cost a firefighter his life has impacted Belle Vernon Area High School more than 250 miles away.

The 37-year-old firefighter, Jason Arno, was killed in the four-alarm blaze at the professional costume rental business in the city’s downtown. Arno was about 30 feet inside the burning shop at 10 a.m. when a back-draft set off a partial collapse that pinned him to the ground, according to Fire Commissioner William Renaldo.

Belle Vernon Area musical director Michael Rozell was awaiting delivery of about 150 costumes for “Anastasia” — set to open Thursday, March 9 — when he got word that the entire shipment was destroyed.

With the assistance of schools and businesses in the region, the show will go on as planned, he said.

Rozell first reached out in a private Facebook group that he created about 10 years ago for area theater directors from schools, colleges and community groups.

He envisioned the page as an avenue for those groups to share support and resources.

“When I started it, I realized that Belle Vernon has great resources. We have a lot of set pieces and a lot of costumes from previous shows,” Rozell said. “I thought, ‘High schools all try to do their own thing. This is crazy — let’s help each other.’

“This Facebook page has turned into a great resource for people helping people.”

The response from group members was immediate and overwhelming.

“I’ve been getting text messages, Facebook private messages and tons of support saying, ‘We have these gowns, we have these tuxes. Whatever you need, just let us know,’ ” Rozell said.

‘Make it work’

“Anastasia” takes place around 1920 in the midst of the Bolshevik revolution in Russia. The story centers on a young orphan, Anya, who may or may not be the Grand Duchess Anastasia — and the last surviving member of the imperial Romanov family that was put to death by the revolutionaries.

“It’s such a big show, and the problem is, it’s a brand-new show,” he said. “We’re one of the first in the area to do it. So that’s why people don’t have a lot of these costumes in their stock.”

Costumes range from peasant rags and military garb to ballgowns and tuxedos.

“It’s actually set in the same time frame as ‘Fiddler on the Roof,’ so we were able to borrow some costumes from local schools,” Rozell said.

The costumer from Laurel Highlands High School let Rozell know the school had a wealth of ballgowns.

“A bridal boutique had closed a few years ago and donated to them over $10,000 worth of gowns,” he said. “They have dyed and altered all of those gowns, and she knows that some of them would work for the ’20s.”

Opening Night Costumes in Washington, Pa., is lending all of its 1920s stock for use in “Anastasia,” he said.

Rozell, who teaches middle and high school vocal music and theater arts, sees some irony in this challenge coming at this particular time.

He is retiring at the end of the school year after a 32-year career.

“I told my class that I made a horrible mistake the other day,” he said. “I was talking to a friend, and she said, ‘You don’t seem stressed about your musical at all, and it’s next week.’ I said, ‘I’m not stressed at all. It’s going incredibly well.’

“I never should have said that, but I’m not going to let this weigh me down.”

Rozell said his cast greeted the news with a collective gasp.

“I said your job is to continue on your path with singing, dancing and acting, and we’ll take care of the rest,” he said. “My job and the job of all the other adults working here is to make sure that you’re wearing costumes. It may not be the same vision of the costumes from DC Theatricks, but we will have beautiful costumes.

“We will make it work, because that’s what you do in theater.”

Anyone interested in helping with costumes can email Rozell at michael.rozell@bvasd.net.

“Anastasia” features a cast of about 50 and an orchestra of about 20 students and hired professional musicians.

Elizabeth Forward’s set designs, costumes and other props for the spring production of “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” all went up in flames with the band’s instruments. Thomas Jefferson School District is loaning instruments and a place to stage the musical, set to begin March 30.