BW "Rising Star" debuted at age 4

BW Rising Star Courtney Hausman

On Tuesday, Feb. 26, the Westlake-Westshore Arts Council will sponsor "Catch a Rising Star," a program showcasing the talents of Courtney Hausman, a senior student in Baldwin Wallace University's prestigious music theater program. This musical presentation, which is offered free to the community by the WWAC, is at 7 p.m. at Westlake Porter Public Library, 27333 Center Ridge Road.

Beth Burrier, BW associate professor and music director, will accompany Hausman on the piano to provide the audience a delightful array of musical show tunes. Citing "West Side Story" as her “favorite show to date,” Hausman said, ”Jerome Robbin’s choreography was the perfect personification of the music, always boiling right under the surface.” 

Hausman credits her home town, Lexington, Kentucky, with introducing her to theater and providing the opportunity to be part of a “vibrant arts community that led with contagious positivity.” Her attraction to the stage began in early childhood. “It started when I was 4 and my first production was 'Beauty and the Beast' as a dancing fork,” she said.

The elements that Hausman believes drew her to theater are storytelling, community and the “fight to keep your childhood imagination going for as long as possible.” She is grateful to the many creators and teachers who inspired her to pursue her passion for the arts.

Her family’s “unconditional” support is added motivation for Hausman to perfect her craft. She describes her parents and younger sister as “super humans,” explaining her mother is an early childhood trainer, her father is a college professor in educational leadership and her sister, a college freshman, is studying cellular and molecular biology.

Hausman is a self-proclaimed “advocate of novelty socks” with a leaning toward yellow submarines. She believes novelty socks are a way for introverts to “quietly express themselves.” So, following her Feb. 26 performance, if time allows the audience to pose questions to the performers, her socks just might get some attention.

This is the seventh year that WWAC has sponsored “Catch a Rising Star” programs, which provide an opportunity to enjoy young, talented performers without cost. This endeavor embodies the WWAC mission to provide an enhanced and broadened cultural life that will promote awareness, education and involvement in the arts.