Hillman Center for Performing Arts

The Hillman Center for Performing Arts includes the 641-seat Richard E. Rauh Theater with a full orchestra lift, as well as the Peter J. Kountz Theater, a black box performance venue of 120 seats. The Wean Room, an executive conference room that seats 40, Mary Hillman Jennings Plaza, plus vocal and instrumental practice spaces, the Dr. Larry J. Papincak Memorial Recording Studio and a full scene shop.

On Thursday, September 30, 2004, Shady Side Academy opened the Hillman Center for Performing Arts with its inaugural performance in the Richard E. Rauh Theater.

Following the official opening of the Hillman Center for Performing Arts in September 2004, Shady Side Academy named faculty member David Liebmann as executive director. The first season of its professional, public Performing Arts Series was on Friday, October 6, 2006, with the performance given by the Golden Dragon Acrobats from Hebei, China. Subsequent performances during the 2006-2007 season featured Pittsburgh's River City Brass Band and the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre.

The 2007–2008 season included The Boys of the Lough, a Grammy-nominated Celtic band, San Jose Taiko, Ira Ross & Friends, Samite of Uganda, Flamenco Sepharad, and Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre. Giant Eagle became the first major corporate sponsor. The Henry L. Hillman Foundation and the Weiner Family Foundation provided additional support.

As word of the venue spread, the Center expanded to offer its facilities to support community production partnerships. Such guests included: Pittsburgh Concert Chorale, River City Youth Brass Band, Chatham Baroque with the Pittsburgh Opera Center, Nandanik Indian Dance Troupe, Hill Dance Academy Theatre, Pittsburgh Youth Pops Orchestra, Pittsburgh Youth Chamber Orchestra, Pittsburgh Chamber Music Society, Filipino American Association of Pittsburgh, Balmoral School of Piping and Drumming, and Candace Otto MacDonald.

The Shady Side Academy Gargoyle Society, under the direction of Dana Hardy-Bingham, produces a variety of theatrical productions each year, including a fall play, a winter musical, and a student-directed/student-written original play series in the spring. The winter musical is an inter-departmental effort with Dr. Dan Brill serving as Music Director.

Recent fall play and spring musicals include:

• Into the Woods, Spring 2015
• The Misanthrope (student adaptation), Fall 2014
• Grease, Spring 2014
• An Enemy of the People (student adaptation), Fall 2013
• West Side Story, Spring 2013
• A Midsummer Night's Dream (student adaptation), Fall 2012
• The Music Man, Spring 2012
• Romeo and Juliet (student adaptation), Fall 2011
• Kiss Me, Kate, Spring 2011
• On the Verge, Fall 2010
• Guys and Dolls, Spring 2010
• The Importance of Being Earnest, Fall 2009
• Barnum, Spring 2009
• One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Fall 2008
• Fiddler on the Roof, Spring 2008
• Brush Up Your Shakespeare (student production), Fall 2007
• Footloose, Spring 2007
• Amadeus, Fall 2006
• South Pacific, Spring 2006
• Pygmalion, Fall 2005
• Oliver, Spring 2005
• A Midsummer Night's Dream, Fall 2004

The Concert Choir, Chamber Choir, and String Ensemble, under the direction of Dan Brill, and the Symphonic Band and Jazz Ensemble, under the direction of Stanley Nevola, perform one concert each at the Hillman Center each trimester, featuring varied styles of vocal and instrumental performance.

Additionally, Shady Side Academy's Middle and Junior Schools use the Hillman Center for Performing Arts for performances, productions, and special events.