A & E

Deborah Arcovio says her daughter wasn't even in high school a month when she got her first part in the fall play at Fox Chapel Area High School, and she's been hooked ever since.

Now fresh out of college, Kathleen Arcovio, a 2004 graduate of Fox Chapel, has returned to Pittsburgh as part of the Windy City Players, a Chicago-based organization that takes theater to classrooms across America.

The organization sends five or six groups of three actors each to different areas of the country to perform a fairy tale for children.

Arcovio, a Northwestern University graduate, took the job in July, shortly after graduation. She plays the princess in "Aladdin." So far, she's performed in Indiana, Illinois and Michigan. Last week and this week, she has returned home to the Pittsburgh area.

"We just go from city to city and stay in hotels," she says. "It's actually pretty much a big road trip. We make CDs for each other and play them on the long car rides. We also play punch buggy. We do a bunch of things to keep ourselves amused."

And when they get to their assigned schools, they keep the children amused, as well.

"She's wonderful at it," her mother says. "She's the oldest of four kids, and she's had her siblings to entertain and direct for years."

Arcovio and two other performers comprise the entire production, performing at 15 schools each week, three shows per day.

"We are our own production group," Arcovio says. "The set and the costumes are very portable. Everything fits into two duffel bags."

Even with the limited set and performers, Arcovio says the audience always has a positive reaction to the show.

"A lot of them think we're celebrities," she laughs. "They ask if we're the people in the movie. The great thing about kids is that they're not afraid to show you how much they like something."

Co-performer Ellen Wert, an NYU graduate and native of Greensboro, plays two roles -- the genie and an evil villain. She says that the kids respond well to Arcovio.

"She's wonderful," Wert says. "She's someone who always brings a lot of life to her performances. It's never the same thing. She's very spontaneous and makes wonderful choices. You have to be a certain type to be engaging with children, and I have learned so much from her about interacting with them."

According to the cast, the show is very interactive.

They ask the audience, which ranges in age from preschool to eighth grade, where Aladdin went. They point, and the actors follow. They also pull about seven volunteers from the audience for each show. Some have speaking parts. Others get to be on stage with the cast.

Arcovio's happy that the job has brought her home, even for a couple weeks. She's been spending time with her family, which invited the cast to the family house in Indiana Township for dinner.

"I have really liked being able to show them the place where I grew up, because we're really good friends now," she says. "We didn't even know each other a month ago, but it's really cool to show the people you love and work with a place you love."

Wert, who did a pre-college program at Carnegie Mellon University years ago, says she already was in love with Pittsburgh and happy to see it again.

"I have raving reviews for the city of Pittsburgh," Wert says.

The trio is living up the traveling experience. They visited the governor's mansion and Abraham Lincoln's house in Illinois, stopped at a karaoke bar to make friends with the guests and sing a few songs, and visited the pumpkin capital of the world.

"We went to the pumpkin festival in Morton, Illinois," Arcovio says. "That was our favorite thing so far."

The future includes trips to Philadelphia, Boston and schools in West Chester County, New York.

"The travelling around makes me a little nervous," her mom says. "But when you're 22 is the time you should do that stuff."

Arcovio says every element of the job is, well, kind of like a fairy tale.

"I love just getting to play pretend with kids all day," she says. "Who wouldn't want to have that experience, to use their imagination and get paid for it? That's wonderful."

Arcovio will perform in Aladdin until November. She's not sure what's next.

"I'll be looking for theater and education jobs," she says. "I'll probably be in Chicago."

Because this is her first time with Windy City Players, she's not sure whether there's an option to continue with the program for the next show.

"Our producer has been very happy with our performances so far," she says. "If I was offered to do this again, I would in a heartbeat. I'm having the time of my life."

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