Actress sees ‘Fever’ role
as chance to move ahead
Howell’s Kristin Piro
has dreams of making
her mark on Broadway
Correspondent
Kristin Piro
HOWELL — Kristin Piro, 18, has been expressing herself creatively since the age of 2. Looking back 16 years later, what has she accomplished?
Piro spent 14 years at the Gallery of Dance in Freehold and the past two years at the Broadway Dance Center in New York City.
In addition to her dance work, Piro has taken vocal lessons with Mary Jo Smith and Regina McAllen. She has appeared in plays staged by the Premier Theatre Company, Manasquan, under the direction of Mark Fleming. Her roles include Anita in West Side Story, Mrs. Potifar in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and Louise Bigelow in Carousel.
After 16 years of singing, dancing and acting, Piro, a June graduate of Freehold Township High School, believes her big break has finally arrived. She is playing the role of Stephanie Mangano in the Broadway national tour of Saturday Night Fever.
The show opened at Harrah’s Casino in Atlantic City on July 7 and will run through Aug. 28. After that, the cast will head out on a tour of the United States and Canada.
Initially, Piro earned a role in the ensemble and she was the understudy to the actress who had been chosen to play Stephanie. The producers subsequently changed their minds and moved Piro into the female lead.
Kristin is the daughter of Nora and John Piro.
According to Nora Piro, Stephanie is a Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, native, who is trying to better herself by leaving her roots and moving to New York City. Piro said she believes this is something Kristin can definitely relate to because her real dream has always been to move to New York City.
Speaking with a Greater Media Newspapers reporter from the show’s first stop in Atlantic City, Kristin said, "My dream is to be on Broadway and to be famous. After this tour I will keep auditioning for other tours and I’ll keep trying. Eventually I want to open my own dance school and make it more accommodating to singing and acting as well as dancing."
Asked if she has ever thought about moving on to acting on television or in the movies, Piro said, "I’m sticking to live theater."
Piro said she believes the positive influences on her career have been all of her dance teachers, her parents and the late Broadway director Bob Fosse.
Piro explained how the beginning of her career was challenging because for a long time she was too young to get a job or go on tour. That obstacle has finally been overcome as Kristin embarks on a new adventure while touring with a Broadway production.