Check out this week’s campus celebrity, Rocky! You will see his name in lights someday!
Name: Rocky Paterra
Year: Senior
Major: Theatre Arts
Her Campus: What are you involved in on campus?
Rocky Paterra: I was a member of the Pitt Pendulums and the Heinz Chapel Choir since freshman year, but I had to drop the choral groups this year since I am so heavily involved in the theatre department. I’m also involved in making Pitt a more attractive place, meaning that I like to walk around campus everyday so that my fellow students have something pleasant to look at.
HC: Why should people go to see Pitt’s production of “In the Heights”?
RP: “In the Heights” is a massive undertaking for our department; so much collaboration is occurring, and it’s going to be an awesome spectacle. We’ve got so many powerhouse performers in the show as well as a killer creative team. And I’m not saying that there will be pyrotechnics, but there will be pyrotechnics.
HC: Do you have any set plans for after college yet?
RP: I’m actually moving to New York City with my best buddy Mike, alongside whom I’m performing in “In the Heights”! I’ve been living with him since sophomore year, so I guess it’s just natural for us to not want to ever leave each other ever. The way I see it, we’re moving at the end of the summer and should be on Broadway by like October. So yeah, that’s the plan. And then we’re both going to win Tony Awards. Six of them. Each.
HC: What is your dream job?
RP: My dream job is to be a steady working actor and/or musician. Actually, my dream job is to be Justin Timberlake’s water-boy. And then he overhears me singing and makes me a star. Or I want to be the person who tries on Lady Gaga’s costumes to make sure that they aren’t safety hazards. I don’t know if that’s a job already, but if it is one then I would like it.
HC: What about dream role?
RP: A father. Seriously, I cannot wait to have a kid. He’s going to be the coolest because I’m the coolest.
HC: Are you sad to leave Pitt?
RP: I’m sad to leave Pitt because I’ve made a home here and I’ve found a family here. It’s been a chapter of my life that I will always look back to and smile upon, and it’s given me legs to stand on as I move forward. I’ve been saying sentences and taking them back for like five minutes because I can’t put into words how much being at Pitt has changed my life in ways I would have never expected.
HC: What are you going to miss the most?
RP: Again, what I will miss most is such a monster of a question. This might not be the most accurate answer, but I’m going to just say that I will really miss the feeling of walking onto campus and knowing that there’s a Taco Bell express right next to the Cathedral. Yeah.
HC: If you had to describe yourself in three words, what would they be?
RP: Chili, milk, swag
HC: If you could have dinner with any celebrity, who would it be and why?
RP: I’d have dinner with Jack Nicholson, dessert with Taylor Swift, and drinks with Jennifer Lawrence. Yeah.
To order tickets for In the Heights, or any other UP Stages productions, click here.
To see Rocky and some of his loved ones sing their hearts out, find details here.