Chagrin Valley Little Theatre

Hear Who's HereAmy Sancetta

Performance Dates & Tickets

About the Event

Amy has a talent for being able to consistently capture this instantaneous, quintessential moment of the event…

The "Hear Who's Here" series will showcase the journeys and favorite career highlights of Chagrin Falls area professionals.  The talks will be held at 7:00 p.m., the first Wednesday of each month, beginning March, and feature:

• March 2nd: Amy Sancetta, a Pulitzer Prize-winning Associated Press (AP) photographer;
• April 6th: Scott Lax, author, columnist and speaker;
• May 4th: Jenny Campbell, nationally-syndicated cartoonist and illustrator.

Amy Sancetta

The series of local speakers kicks off with Amy Sancetta, a Moreland Hills Village resident, is a 28-year veteran staff photographer with the Associated Press (AP), the global news gathering organization.  Amy won the Pulitzer Prize in feature photography in 1992, and was named, in 1993, the Associated Press top sports photographer worldwide. 

Amy’s presentation will highlight her professional journey from Orange High School yearbook photographer to national photographer for the Associated Press (AP): one day she was shooting the area Chagrin vs. Orange high school football game; turn many pages forward to 2010, and she is headed to Vancouver, Canada to cover her 11th Olympic Games.  Her presentation will include a career overview, from local to international; an explanation of what is the Associated Press; and a music-accompanied PowerPoint presentation of her favorite images.  Amy will also provide a how-to on vastly improving one’s own picture making abilities. 

A selection of her pictures will be available for sale including sports, news and feature items.

She is a 1977 Orange High School graduate and a graduate of The Ohio State University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in History.  She worked for “The Columbus Dispatch” newspaper before starting, in 1983, with the AP as a staff photographer.  She first worked in the AP’s Philadelphia bureau, then as a roving photographer with the title of National Photographer.  She now works as a staffer based out of the Cleveland bureau.

Over the years, Amy has photographed 11 Olympic Games, both summer and winter, starting with Calgary, Canada, in 1988, and most recently Vancouver, Canada in 2010.  Her extensive experience also includes: Super Bowls of the National Football League (NFL), World Series for Major League Baseball (MLB), golf’s championship tournaments at the Masters Tournament, Kentucky Derbies, and tennis tournaments of the United States Tennis Association (USTA).  And, naturally, she enjoys covering her beloved Cleveland Browns football team.

Amy has also covered national political conventions, presidential inaugurations and the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York City.  In addition to still photography, she now produces videos, including essays, for the AP’s website.   In February, she will return to Hollywood’s red carpet, covering the 2011 Academy Awards of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS).

Hear Who's Here Series

Look at the people around you.  Look at who is in front of you, in line at the grocery store; next to you, in the movie theatre.  Ever wonder what they do for a living?  Chances are quite a few of them are artistically-gifted and famous beyond the Chagrin Valley. 

Such were the serendipitous discoveries of Gary Gottfried, a Chagrin Falls Village resident. Over the past few years, working and relaxing in town, he met and became acquainted with people who shared his village haunts but, as he learned, had special talents.

The Chagrin Valley Little Theatre (CVLT) is proud to profile these interesting community members.  Gottfried, co-organizer Sandra J. Philipson and a host of CVLT volunteers have launched a three-speaker event, to be held monthly at the River St. Playhouse, 56 River Street; part of and adjacent to the Chagrin Valley Little Theatre’s main stage in Chagrin Falls Village. 

Sponsored by Geiger’s Ski & Sport Haus and Rick’s Cafe of Chagrin Falls Village, the series is expected to be part of ongoing programming, introducing talented Chagrin Valley residents to the community. 

Referring to the series’ title, Gottfried said, “It’s a great name because it says who is here:  people who are regionally- and nationally-recognized.  Here are quality artists, people we don’t even pay attention to.  There are all these people here right under our noses.”

A speaker meet-and-greet session, following each talk, will include complementary refreshments and items for sale including: Sancetta’s photographs; Lax’s book and movie; and Campbell’s books, greeting card line and illustrations. 

Based on the first series’ success, other events will be organized for later dates, again featuring accomplished area neighbors. 

“We have enough talent in the valley to keep this series going for a long time,” Philipson said.