Oria lands perfect job for 'Broadway junkie'
To learn more about the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, visit their website at www.pgharts.org
O'HARA: Before she knew there was an opening, Josephine Caminos Oria applied for a job with the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust.
The Shady Side Academy alumna didn't second guess her decision to leave a television job in the tropical climate of Miami Beach and return to her hometown, where the winters are anything but balmy. Only fate could have brought together a self-proclaimed "Broadway junkie" with a seemingly perfect job, she said.
"It was kismet," said Oria, who last month was named manager of public relations and publications for the Cultural Trust.
Founded in 1984 by the late Jack Heinz, father of the late state Sen. John Heinz, the Cultural Trust aims to restore and maintain the vitality of downtown Pittsburgh, which had died off with the industrial meltdown experienced by many cities of that era.
Heinz rallied on the belief : "If you bring arts to Pittsburgh, the money will follow," Oria said.
"Theater was meant to bring it together," she said. "By providing shows, Heinz thought society, business and restaurants would come."
The Cultural Trust was the foundation for economic development in a city that once was alive with arts and high society. The group's first project was the restoration of the former Stanley Theater into the Benedum Center for the Performing Arts. The $43 million project spurred the creation of an entire cultural district, which today includes a 14-block area with theaters, restaurants and art galleries.
At 28, Oria can trace the roots of her addiction to theater. It was borne out of Saturday afternoons spent with her mother, fittingly, at Heinz Hall.
"I remember going to see Annie when I was five," she said. "In winter, we would go downtown, look at the windows at Kaufmann's and then go see 'The Nutcracker'."
As a teen, Oria and her mother would take whirlwind trips to Manhattan where they would stand with crowds along the Great White Way, waiting in line for "Cats" or "Les Miserables". It was a feeling she never forgot.
"She used to take me for my birthday. We would see three shows in a weekend, one was always the Rockettes," she said.
As an undergraduate at Duke University, Oria studied abroad and continued the tradition of soaking in live theater; in London, she saw "The Phantom of the Opera," and in Spain sat through countless performances.
Now, Oria has come home to promote theater locally.
Her task is to keep a high profile on the 18-year-old group, which, through a consistent onslaught of productions, aims to keep Pittsburgh a star.
The Cultural Trust promotes the Civic Light Opera, Dance Council, Ballet Theater, Public Theater, Andy Warhol Museum and Wood Street Galleries. They also are responsible for PNC Broadway in Pittsburgh, which recently attracted two Big Apple shows, "42nd Street," and "The Producers."
"Pittsburgh was the first stop on the national tour, which is a big compliment," Oria said.
Oria also is eager about the chance to hook young thespians and musicians. For them, the group sponsors a Family Series, which includes shows like "Blue's Clues" and "Spiderman, " and, there's the Preservation Hall Jazz Band straight from the French Quarter to play their instruments at the Byham Theater. An Education Series allows teachers to expose the theater to students.
As she sees it, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust has been successful in its goal. The Steel City is becoming more of a 24-hour downtown, not just a place where you come to work — which is why the job was a perfect match for Oria.
"I love dance, theater, going to dinner with friends," she said. "This gives me a chance to combine work with life, to spend the day with people who have the same interests."
