UPDATE: Change of Venue; Teenager is Stage Veteran For STARS 2000

UPDATE: The theatre website is listing a change of venue for the performances of Fiddler on the Roof to the Performing Arts Center at Campolindo High School, Moraga. (It had been originally slated for San Ramon Valley High.)

Actor Tony Conaty of Walnut Creek has a spark.

And that spark has lit the way for the 18-year-old to illuminate 35 shows in seven years with STARS 2000, the teen theatre for Diablo Theatre Company, and other companies.

The next one is "Fiddler on the Roof," in which he plays the student Perchick, opening on Friday at San Ramon Valley High in Danville.

After Fiddler, the recent Northgate High graduate will get serious about packing for his freshman year at Ithaca College in New York.

STARS 2000 wrote a nice feature news release about Conaty:

At Age 18, Walnut Creek’s Versatile Tony Conaty isAlready a Stage Veteran With 35 Shows to His Credit

Tony Conaty is looking forward to his next show, “Fiddler on the Roof,” with mixed emotions.

So is his mentor, Diane Kamrin, the founder-producer of STARS 2000, Diablo Theatre Company’s popular teen theatre, who recalls that when Conaty was in the fourth grade she already discovered “something special” in him—“a spark.”

It was that “spark” that earned him roles in 35 shows with STARS 2000 and other companies in seven years, no small feat considering the endless pages of dialogue and music he has had to memorize in addition to keeping up with school work and other activities.

Conaty is now in rehearsals for “Fiddler on the Roof,” in which he plays Perchick, a student and Bolshevik revolutionary. It will be the second time he will be in the show—but also the last—with STARS 2000. The show opens July 22 for eight performances at San Ramon Valley High School in Danville.

Conaty has missed only one show (“All Shook Up” last year) since he joined STARS 2000 in 2005 when he played Mendel, the rabbi’s son, in “Fiddler.”

“I was too busy applying for colleges,” he explained.

Come fall, Conaty, a June graduate of Northgate High School, will be leaving to attend Ithaca College in New York, where he plans to earn a degree in musical theater.

When not performing with STARS 2000, the versatile Conaty appeared in seven main stage productions, including “The Producers” and “Into the Woods,” for Diablo Theatre Company.  In addition, he has performed with the Contra Costa Musical Theatre, Center Stage Company, and Stage Troupe

But it is his involvement in STARS 2000 that helped him develop his career.

“It's the hands-on training from STARS that has taught me everything I know about the stage,” Conaty says.  “I am sad that my time with the company is quickly coming to an end, yet I'm excited to go out and try new things.” 

“I had the privilege of working with Tony when he was only in the fourth grade,” Kamrin recalls. Although he obviously had talent, at age 9, I knew there was much, much more to come.  Tony was a diligent student - working on his singing and dancing by taking lessons as well as polishing his skills in school and of course with STARS.” 

Kamrin has worked with hundreds of young people as a music and performing arts educator in a career that spans more than 40 years. 

“There are so many students like Tony, but in Tony there is something special -- a spark,” she says.  “Tony is the type of actor who is serious, versatile, determined, selfless, fun, helpful to others and most of all talented.  I feel like his stage mom -- happy to see him so successful and looking to a bright future, but incredibly sad to see him leave!"

“Fiddler on the Roof” will be performed at Campolindo High School in Moraga — check the website for details. 

Tickets ($15 regular, $13 seniors and students, $12 for groups of 15 or more) may be purchased at (925) 324-7359.