CATCH YOUR RISING STAR
THE BACKSTORY
Lisa Busfield
I serve as the Director of Dance at Moravian University and as a member of the dance faculty at Lehigh Valley Charter High School for the Arts. I am also a representative of the Lehigh Valley Association of Independent Colleges Dance Consortium and am currently completing my MFA in Performance Creation.
Alyson Krawchuk-Boschen
I'm the Associate Dean at NCC, and I minored in Theatre — it's always been an important part of my life. I'm also a voice actor and have narrated more than 20 audiobooks, including several by Freida McFadden, a hugely popular author right now.
Roy Jaymesen
Catch Our Rising Stars was truly an organic, grassroots idea. It began a couple of years ago when I was chatting with friends of mine who were physical therapists whose focus was to heal injuries specific to performing arts participants and were involved with the local colleges.
Alyson Krawchuk-Boschen
Roy is the founding member of Catch Our Rising Stars and the one who brought this whole group together.
Roy Jaymesen
Showcase with the Lehigh Valley Community – A great chance to reinforce performing arts in the community. there are so many colleges in a small area with so many talented offerings that are “well hidden”.
Alyson Krawchuk-Boschen
Augustin Rodriguez, our MC, brings extensive professional experience. Brett Oliveira, from NCC, handles tech, lighting, sound, and stage management. Lisa Busfield, from Moravian, and I arrange the lineup and help prepare performers before they go on. Shannon O'Grady serves as our connection to area high schools and is working to bring student groups in to see the college talent firsthand. Beth Marquardt, our contact at Lehigh Carbon Community College, is herself an actor and has made a significant impact on local theatre.
Lisa Busfield
Because of my longstanding involvement in the dance community throughout the Lehigh Valley, Roy reached out to me in 2025 to discuss his vision for Catch Our Rising Stars and explore ways I could contribute to the project.
Alyson Krawchuk-Boschen
Roy introduced me to Lisa Busfield, and the two of us began meeting weekly to work out what the show would look like. Lisa created the application form, while Roy reached out to other colleges. Once the applications came in, Lisa and I put together the lineup so the show would flow well from act to act.
Joseph Martin KU ‘26
"I had such a blast doing CORS last year, not only did I get to revisit doing one of my favorite shows with our amazing Grease medley but it was also really cool seeing the talent from throughout the Lehigh Valley on display."-
Alyson Krawchuk-Boschen
The original goal was to showcase the talent we have here at the collegiate level across the Lehigh Valley. The high schools already have "The Freddies," but we didn't want this to be competitive in the same way — we wanted it to celebrate the talent at our local colleges instead.
Performers in colleges are committed to their craft and love to perform just to share their talent and passion. This event will let the Lehigh Valley know how many great venues at our colleges are right around the corner to enjoy.
Joseph Martin KU ‘26
"Catch Our Rising Stars was a wonderful way to find community of other young adults interested in theatre arts. The experience was very enjoyable and rewarding!" 
Alyson Krawchuk-Boschen
The event is currently held at NCC's Lipkin Theatre. Eventually we'd love for it to rotate among the participating schools, but for now Lipkin is the most centrally located and cost-effective venue. Last year, students from Kutztown University, Lafayette College, Northampton Community College, Moravian University, and Muhlenberg College all took part, and we're working to bring in even more schools this year.
Carlee Bonanno KU ‘27
"Catch Our Rising Stars was a wonderful way to find community of other young adults interested in theatre arts.!"
Lisa Busfield
Another aspect of this programming that we wanted to highlight was the opportunity to bring students from various college programs together, creating meaningful connections and the potential for future collaboration throughout the Lehigh Valley and beyond. The event also incorporated an educational and professional development component through a luncheon and discussion with our emcee and professional actor, Augustin Rodriguez, held on the day of the performance.
Kora Garcia KU '28
"It was great to collaborate with other schools near us and made me realize just how much talent the Lehigh Valley area has. I also loved performing on a different stage that I’m not used to. I really loved seeing the behind the scenes for other schools. As well as how other school’s productions are done compared to ours. 10/10 would recommend!"
Lisa Busfield
Looking ahead, our goal is to expand to more schools, feature more acts, add an intermission, and build an advisory board that includes college students to help sustain the event and make it an annual tradition.
This year we're expanding both the number and variety of acts — including a student film for the first time. We also grew the planning team to divide the workload and make sure more area schools are represented.
Roy Jaymesen
Our goal of putting on a successful performance last year has evolved to becoming an annual event which will grow in popularity amongst our performers hopefully adding more schools and variety of performances becoming a popular entertainment event in the Lehigh Valley community for our performers. We hope to create a permanent college student presence during the course of the year to help provide input, and hopefully help produce, the annual showcase. These community events should help elevate the visibility and reputation of the performing arts, not just for the colleges, but for the entire performing arts community in the Valley.
Carlee Bonanno KU ‘27
The experience was very enjoyable and rewarding!" -