WSCC grad honored as promising alumni by Cullman City Schools Foundation

CULLMAN, Ala. — The Cullman City Schools Foundation recognized Wallace State Community College graduate Paige Harbison Clabo as a Promising Alumni during the organization’s 9th annual Distinguished Alumni Luncheon.
Clabo is a 2013 graduate of Wallace State Community College and the 2011 Miss Wallace State. She is currently in her fourth season as a performer at Dollywood theme park in Pigeon Forge, TN.
Clabo credited CHS band instructor Christopher Smith with helping her realize her passion for performing and extended the credit to Wallace State music and theatre instructors Tiffany Richter and Lauren Salerno for providing the skills and confidence she needed to make performing her career.
“Tiffany Richter and Lauren Salerno have a program at Wallace that prepared me for any audition that I could walk into,” Clabo said. “And I am the only entertainment employee at Dollywood that doesn’t have a BFA in musical theatre or a degree similar to that, and I believe that is because of what Lauren and Tiffany teach at Wallace State.”
She is currently a performer for Dollywood’s Dream Land Drive-In show, which is a review of 1950s and 60s music. She was a member of the ensemble her first two seasons. Now she is what is called a swing, which means she learns every female role in the show and plays those roles to give other performers time off. “I play six different roles each week at Dollywood and do something new each day,” she said. “I’ve also had the honor and privilege to perform alongside Dolly [Parton] twice. It has been so rewarding and challenging and I’ve never been so in love with a job.
“I’m still in shock that my job is to sing and dance and bring joy to others,” she said.
For more information about Wallace State, visit www.wallacestate.edu or call 256.352.8000 or toll free at 866.350.9227.
The Wallace State Fine and Performing Arts program is presenting “C’Mon Everybody: The Elvis Presley Songbook” April 6-8, at 7 p.m., in the Betty Leeth Haynes Theatre. Tickets are $5 students and $10 adults. Call 256.352.8277 for information or tickets.