This year’s recipient of the Bob Fitzsimmons Scholarship is Peter Astriab, a senior at Archbishop Stepinac High School in White Plains, who will be awarded on stage at Westchester Broadway Theatre on Friday, Aug. 16.
Astriab was a part of the National Honor Society and graduated with a special diploma recognizing him as a graduate of the Health Sciences Academy at Stepinac. He said he enjoys community service and always tries to lend a helping hand when he can. He is fluent in Polish and loves to travel to different countries to explore and embrace cultures around the world.
Astriab has been playing piano for 12 years, singing with choirs in places like St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and acting with the Stepinac Drama Club for four years, playing roles such as Peter in “Peter and the Starcatcher,” Race in “Newsies” and, most recently, Mario in the National High School Premiere of “A Bronx Tale,” for which he was nominated at the 2019 Metropolitan High School Theatre Awards.
In a few weeks, he will be starting college at St. John’s University in Queens majoring in biomedical sciences, but he plans to keep acting and singing close to his heart and a part of his everyday life. Astriab said he is excited to see what the future has in store for him as he takes this important step in his career.
The scholarship is given annually to a college-bound senior who has excelled in the theatre arts programs while attending Stepinac High School. The prestigious Arts Scholarship is named after Bob Fitzsimmons, a graduate of Stepinac High School who died suddenly at the age of 37 in March 1992. He was public relations director of the Westchester Broadway Theatre, as well as a gifted actor, producer, writer and a director of shows at WBT and at numerous theatres throughout the county.
