Oct 23, 2006 By Joyce Koballa 4 min read

A 1997 Connellsville Area High School graduate is living his dream in the Big Apple after landing the lead role on Broadway in a performance combining puppets and musical theatre. Howie Smith, who resides in the Upper East Side of New York, is making his debut with the dual roles of “Princeton” and “Rod” in Jason Moore’s Tony Award-winning musical “Avenue Q.”

The show entered its third year on Broadway in July in the John Golden Theatre with Smith performing in eight shows a week.

“You have to get plenty of rest and pace yourself,” said Smith.

According to the show’s Web site, Avenue Q is story about Princeton, a bright-eyed college grad who comes to New York City with big dreams and a tiny bank account.

Princeton soon discovers that the only neighborhood in his price range is Avenue Q; still, neighbors seem nice.

Smith’s other character, Rod, is a Republican investment banker who seems to have some sort of secret and lives with Nicky, the good-hearted slacker, while the other characters include Brian, an out-of-work comedian and this therapist fianc?e, Christmas Eve; an Internet addict called Trekkie Monster; and a very cute kindergarten teaching assistant named Kate.

Together, Princeton and his newfound friends struggle to find jobs, dates and their ever-elusive purpose in life with Gary Coleman, playing the building’s superintendent.

Since Smith’s characters depend solely on his voice, he said he tries not to talk too much the day before a show.

According to Smith, everyone in the show uses a puppet and plays at least two roles.

Smith said what makes the show challenging and fun is that each of the characters is different from one another.

But, Smith said he was lucky to land the role because he didn’t go about getting a Broadway show the typical way.

In larger productions like Avenue Q, Smith said the leading roles are often filled through a person’s agent via the casting director.

“I just happened to go to a ‘open’ casting call with about 300 other actors and got the role,” said Smith.

That was more than a year ago, when Smith was working without an agent, but he has since signed with the Talent House Agency.

During that time, Smith took on the role of understudy for both characters and found that Princeton reminded him of himself, moving to New York and trying to figure out what he wanted to do in life – a dream that his former high school musical director knew he would one day fulfill.

Merle Stutzman, who retired from Connellsville several years ago, said Smith’s talent, interest and desire were the result of his hard work.

“He’d eat, sleep and drink musicals,” recalled Stutzman.

Smith’s talent unfolded as a sophomore, when he took on the leading role in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

It was when Smith figured out that he could make an audience laugh that he knew what he wanted to do with his life full-time.

Smith said working under Stutzman was not easy. “He was always willing to try an idea and never settled for something mediocre,” said Smith.

The following year, Smith landed the lead role again, this time as Moonface Martin in the high school’s production of “Anything Goes.”

Stutzman said Smith thrived on watching and studying slapstick comedies, such as Charlie Chaplin and the Three Stooges, passing on his ideas to Stutzman.

During his senior year, Smith once again retained the lead role, this time in “Crazy for You,” in which he was able to improvise his character of “Bobby Child.”

Stutzman said Smith’s unique sense of timing is what made the show, with his ability to make the audience laugh.

“He held the audience spellbound with his comedy,” Stutzman said.

Stutzman best described Smith’s combination of singing, acting and dancing as a triple threat required for acceptance into accredited schools such as Carnegie Mellon University, where Smith earned a bachelor of fine arts degree in 2001.

From there, Smith then spent a summer in Dallas, Texas, performing Shakespeare in the park before moving to Chicago, where he worked at several theaters and on to New York in 2004.

“Howie’s there, he made it, he has it,” said Stutzman.

Smith’s word of advice to fledgling actors is to follow your dreams. “Don’t ever let anyone tell you that you can’t do something,” said Smith.