Custodians of Culture
Story: Allison Duda | Photography: Allison Duda, Liz Palmer
Because it’s a demanding and financially unstable pursuit, theater is an unusual calling for a monk. And yet, in the late 1950s, Saint Vincent College’s Father Tom Devereux, O.S.B., was clearly called to a vocation in the arts.
Echoing Wimmer’s declaration to King Ludwig—“I have determined that our monasteries should not be simply schools for religion and learning but should also serve as custodians of the fine arts and thus foster greater appreciation for culture”—Father Tom embraced this mission by becoming a curator of Saint Vincent’s dramatic arts.
A 1952 Saint Vincent graduate who was ordained a priest in 1959, Father Tom became the director of the Saint Vincent Stage Guild in 1961. In 1969, he founded Saint Vincent Summer Theatre and, in the years that followed, developed the program alongside Joe Reilly, C’66, a former student who had worked on many student productions with him. Father Tom had a clear vision: to produce professional theater accessible to the community while cultivating a collaborative work environment and providing students with elevated theater experiences. A tall order, but not unattainable when the work becomes a labor of love.
Colleen (Reilly) Rossmiller grew up backstage watching her dad, the late Joe Reilly—who directed alongside Father Tom and later became the artistic director for SVST. Helping with everything from ticket sales to props, she understood even at a young age that theater was a form of service. “Whether you are an actor or a director,” she explains, “you are always at the service of someone else. You’re serving the script or the other actors, or the audience by giving them something: entertainment, food for thought, or laughter.” She remembers, as so many patrons do, Father Tom directing cars in the parking lot or pouring beer at the post-show cabarets. When Rossmiller took over as the artistic director in 2009, she followed in his footsteps by producing great shows but also by cleaning bathrooms. She describes their work as “powerful and more noble when seen as a service to others.”
Father Tom was also keenly aware that for Latrobe and its neighboring towns, the only opportunities to see professional theater were forty miles away in Pittsburgh’s Cultural District. So, Saint Vincent became the premier local spot and home for professional theater in the 70s with classic shows like Fiddler on the Roof and West Side Story. “We looked forward to summers with productions showcasing the talents of students and professional actors,” recalls long-time patron Joanna Stillwagon, H’69. Her husband, Richard, P’65, C’69, agrees, describing Summer Theatre as a place to meet up with old and new friends and an opportunity to bring quality entertainment to the area.
Embodying Father Tom’s distinct brand of hospitality, Gregg Brandt, Saint Vincent Summer Theatre’s producing artistic director since 2014, welcomes actors, audiences, and artists into the family that is created each time he produces a new show. David Cabot, a veteran of the Summer Theatre stage since Reilly’s era, knows how rare this experience is in his profession. He contrasts it with other productions where, as he puts it, “You’d drive in, do your thing, eat the lunch you brought, and head home.” About his experiences on campus, Cabot says, “The whole Saint Vincent community welcomes us—the staff, faculty, and the students.”
Lawrence Lesher, another Summer Theatre stage regular, started working with Brandt in 2021. Lesher calls Brandt “the single nicest director I have ever worked with,” praising his generosity and collaborative spirit so much that he says, “he’s restored my faith in the business.” Sometimes the stewardship of a vision belongs to the person who sustains it.
Brandt not only takes good care of his actors, but he also cares deeply for the audience. With the cost of entertainment rising and theaters struggling to break even, Brandt believes affordability matters. The ticket prices make the shows an affordable night out, and the Carey Performing Arts Center makes the experience extra special. “I think people appreciate both the price and unique design of the theater,” he notes. “It’s cozy and distinctive, and people have their favorite spots.” Before the show starts, Brandt stands at the door welcoming patrons, leading them to those familiar seats.
Lawrence Lesher and Timothy Cox in the 2025 Summer Theatre production of The Foreigner.
Alice Bahlke and Lawrence Lesher in the 2024 Summer Theatre production of Unnecessary Farce.
With more than thirty-five years of professional experience, including Broadway and national touring performances, Brandt knows what it takes to maintain a standard of excellence. He hires Broadway-caliber talent such as Nick Spangler, who had roles in Tootsie and Cinderella, and Allie Trimm, who just finished a two year run as “Glinda” in Wicked and was a featured performer at this year’s Saint Vincent Summer Theatre Gala.
Brandt also acknowledges his responsibility to students, handpicking them to work alongside the professionals. In 2024, Brandt hired Josie Rodell, C’23, as the stage manager for The Marvellous Wonderettes. Recalling her trepidation, Rodell acknowledges, “I didn’t feel qualified, but Gregg believed I could do it. He trusted me to cultivate new skills.” The two-and-a-half-week production schedule challenged Rodell to think on her feet. Every year, Summer Theatre employs several students who, years later, will return to look for their names on the backstage wall, an honor Brandt says is reserved for select students who meet the criteria.
According to Lesher, another way Summer Theatre stewards the arts is by passing down the art of physical comedy. Summer Theatre traditionally features crowd-pleasers such as The Odd Couple, Lend Me a Tenor, and Nunsense. Commending Brandt for his selections, Lesher says, “He preserves that very old tradition of doing these broad physical comedies. Not a lot of places do farces anymore.”
But Brandt has plans to expand his repertoire and attract the next generation of theater-goers. He’d like to throw in a drama each year and produce a family musical every three years or so. In 2019, Brandt directed Beauty and the Beast—a huge success with sold out performances. The cast included professionals from New York in the Equity Actor’s Association, some talented SVC students, and a few local kids. Due to the Pandemic, Brandt has had to recoup some of the money and the momentum to get these types of performances into a rotation again, but he’s excited about what’s next.
“Summer Theatre is an anchor that the community counts on,” explains Brandt, who just accepted the 2025 Latrobe Bulletin Community Choice Gold Award for Live Theater Group. And Mayor Eric Bartels agrees: “Saint Vincent College has intentionally created a partnership with the community of Latrobe that goes beyond what is beneficial for its own students but also benefits its neighbors in Latrobe.”
With this in mind, Brandt continues to foster long-term relationships that promote growth. Long-time donor contributions and proceeds from the annual Saint Vincent Summer Theatre Gala generate some of what Brandt needs to sustain Father Tom’s original concept.
This year marks Summer Theater’s fifty-sixth season, and thanks to artistic directors Reilly, Rossmiller, and Brandt, Father Tom’s vision of hospitality and excellence lives on in a community that deeply appreciates it. Recently, Rossmiller recalled watching a young patron re-enacting a scene during intermission of a show she had directed. Remembering how her father’s shows similarly inspired her, Rossmiller says, “This is why we do what we do.” Passing down the art of theater and an appreciation for culture to the next generation is what makes Saint Vincent Summer Theatre a true labor of love.