Kristin Piro Dreams do come true. Just ask Kristin Piro, who debuted in the Tony award-winning musical “Catch Me If You Can” during a Wednesday matinee at the Neil Simon Theatre in New York City on May 25.
“It happened so fast. Just after the first number, I was called to replace Sarrah Strimel, one of the members of the ensemble,” said Piro, who is a 2003 graduate of the Freehold Regional High School District’s Fine and Performing Arts Center (FPAC) at Howell High School. “I looked calm, but I was shaking inside. I’m now living my dream of performing on Broadway.”
The musical comedy “Catch Me If You Can” is based on the true story of con artist Frank W. Abagnale Jr., who as a young man impersonated an airline pilot, a doctor and a lawyer. Norbert Leo Butz, who portrays the FBI agent pursuing Abagnale, won the 2011 Tony Award for best actor in a musical.
Piro, a former Howell resident who now resides in New York City, is a “swing” in the musical, who with another swing, Sara Andreas, understudies the roles of the 10 female ensemble members. She started dancing lessons at the age of 2 with the Gallery of Dance in Freehold and continued there for 15 years.
Her credits include female lead in “Saturday Night Fever” (the Broadway national tour and Las Vegas in 2003); four months as a swing in Japan for the “Trip of Love,” a dance musical set to the songs of the 1960s; and a musical-theater performer aboard a cruise ship in Australia.
Locally, Piro performed in Premier Theatre Company productions staged by Mark Fleming, and she is featured in the June 2011 edition of Dance magazine.
She has participated in benefit performances for New Jersey-based Cabaret for Life, an organization that raises awareness and funds to help people with AIDS, and she now volunteers for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS projects.
Recently, a group of FPAC students traveled to New York City for a question-and-answer session with Piro and some of her cast members before a performance of “Catch Me If You Can,” which opened April 11.
“I was thrilled to have the students visit,” said Piro, 26, who also sings and acts. “I said being a triple threat with dancing, singing and acting is sometimes not enough. There are a lot of talented people, but sometimes you need more like the ability to tumble.”
She said she told the students about the importance of auditions.
”Auditions are the hard part, the actual job of going back and back until you are selected,” she said. “You have to be determined that this is what you love and want to do always.”
Piro, who performed at the televised Tony Award ceremonies on June 12, hopes to continue with a long run of “Catch Me If You” on Broadway or its upcoming road tour. She continues dance lessons two or three times a week to maintain stamina and is scheduled, due to vacations and other commitments of her fellow ensemble performers, to cover June 28 through July 3 and July 12-17 performances, plus any other emergencies.
“It has all been very exciting, thrilling, to achieve so many of my goals,” said Piro. “I love NewYork and the musical theater. It seems like only yesterday I was with my first teacher, Miss Gail (Gail Carguilo, owner of Gallery of Dance), who was a great role model and taught me discipline and to always do the right thing.”
Carguilo said Piro was one of her first students when she opened Gallery of Dance 25 years ago.
“Kristin had that little something extra, that spark that made her stand out even as a child,” said Carguilo. “It was a pleasure to work with her. She set a good example for the other students and made the other students feel good themselves as dancers.”
Carguilo was thrilled when Kristin’s mother, Nora, told her about Kristin’s Broadway debut. She plans, with other teachers at Gallery of Dance, to attend one of Kristin’s scheduled performances in July.
“Kristin worked hard to achieve her dream,” Carguilo said. “She deserves her success and has always had the support of her family.”
Nora Piro attended the evening performance of Kristin’s Broadway debut with her husband, John, and their daughter, Lauren, who is pursuing a degree in elementary education at Georgian Court University, Lakewood.
“Kristin’s only passion is to be a dancer who sings and acts,” she said. “No one else in the family has such talent. She was single-minded in her goal of performing on Broadway, even as a child. We are beyond thrilled for her.” Samantha Lawrence (née DeCerce), a dresser for “Catch Me If You Can,” was the person who helped Kristin into her costumes for her debut. “It is always exciting for the whole cast and crew when something like Kristin’s debut happens,” said Lawrence, a former Colts Neck resident who resides in Westchester, N.Y., with her husband, Karl.
Lawrence, who has been a dresser for numerous Broadway shows, including “ALittle Night Music” and “Finian’s Rainbow,” said Piro’s debut brought some drama to the show.
“Kristin is a lovely person, earnest, and certainly loves what she is doing,” said Lawrence.