Coty Forno is a director, choreographer, actor, educator, entrepreneur, owner and director of award winning performing arts conservatory Mountain City Center for the Arts, LLC,  artistic director of Beyond the Stage Foundation, Inc., a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, and a regional JumpStart Theatre partner with the Educational Theatre Foundation. 

Prior to creating Mountain City Center of the Arts, LLC.,  Coty worked as an actor, director, choreographer, and teacher in all of the major entertainment markets including: D.C, Pittsburgh, New York, and Los Angeles.  A graduate of Frostburg State University with concentrations in acting and directing, Coty worked across the country for award winning theatrical companies such as Pittsburgh CLO, Pittsburgh Musical Theatre, West Virginia Public Theatre, City Theatre Company, Bay Theatre Company, Santa Clarita Performing Arts, RWS & Associates and more. She worked extensively in voice over and print work for companies such as Fisher Price, Gold’s Gym, and starred in several industrials, independent pilots, and feature films, including A Lesson of Love and Buttons, which played in theaters nation-wide in December 2018.

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As an educator, director, and choreographer, Forno has worked for outstanding companies such as Pittsburgh Musical Theatre, The Richard E. Rauh Conservatory, RWS & Associates, City Theatre Company, The Lori Allen Dance Center, Just Dance Conservatory,  Frostburg State University, and iTheatrics.  In addition to managing and operating MCCA, Coty continues to teach musical theatre, acting, voice, acrobatic arts, and dance. She coordinates the pre-professional musical theatre program, and directs and choreographs plays and performances throughout the year. She is a 7 time Freddie G. Award winner, with 3 consecutive outstanding production awards for Seussical Jr, James and the Giant Peach Jr, and Singing in the Rain Jr  from the Junior Theatre Festival in Atlanta, GA. Coty also directed and choreographed the premiere of 13Jr at the New Work Showcase for the 2023 Junior Theatre Festival. Coty is the artistic director for Beyond the Stage Foundation, Inc., a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to enhancing the lives of children and adults through the arts.   She also leads the rural expansion of the Jumpstart Theatre program in partnership with the Educational Theatre Foundation  which brings theatre programs to underserved middle schools in Maryland, Pennsylvania. and West Virginia. In 2016 she was selected as one of Maryland’s Leading Women for her work in arts education.  In 2019, Coty was awarded a Freddie G Fellowship by Music Theatre International (MTI) during the 2019 Junior Theatre Festival, and a Young Alumni Achievement Award  from Frostburg State University.

​Coty is blessed to do what she loves every day and hopes to continue to tell stories, inspire others, and motivate courageous and compassionate artists. Her greatest joy is sharing this marvelous adventure with her husband and beautiful sons who inspire her everyday to be the best she can be. 

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“To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe.”  ~Anatole France