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<p>Students at Wyoming Valley West High School will put on a play Friday night without the man who got them ready for the limelight.</p><p>Director Paul Winarski, a longtime luminary in the local theater community, who also served as artistic director of the Hazleton-based Pennsylvania Theater of Performing Arts (PTPA), died Wednesday. He was 48.</p><p>His sudden and unexpected passing means the budding thespians of WVW will stage the musical &#8220;Dear World&#8221; as planned, but without their dear leader.</p><p>News of Winarski&#8217;s death shook the school, said Linda McClosky Houck, who is music director for the production. But calling it off was never a question, she added.</p><p>&#8220;The kids are doing these performances as a tribute to him,&#8221; she said.</p><p>Tributes to Winarski, a Glen Lyon resident, poured in from across the region as news of his death reached friends and colleagues.</p><p><strong>Mentor and friend</strong></p><p>Walter Mitchell, development director/GM emeritus of Little Theater of Wilkes-Barre, said Winarski was a &#8220;fun, jovial guy&#8221; who supported new playwrights and local artists of all kinds. </p><p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t think anyone has been more devoted to theater,&#8221; Mitchell said. </p><p>Deb Lydon counted Winarski as a devoted friend.</p><p>&#8220;As a director, he taught and affected the lives of so many high school students,&#8221; said the Carbondale resident, who recalled being cast alongside Winarski in &#8220;Anything Goes&#8221; when she was 19.</p><p>&#8220;I knew him for over half my life,&#8221; added Lydon, 42. &#8220;We became very good friends.&#8221;</p><p>Lydon, who currently is the music director for the production of &#8220;Little Shop of Horrors&#8221; at the Nuangola Grove Center and Theatre, even credits Winarski for some indirect matchmaking.</p><p>About four years ago, while Lydon was in the middle of a divorce, Winarski reached out to her about performing in the show &#8220;Mister Roberts.&#8221;</p><p>Lydon had the sole female part. Among her castmates was Bob Taylor, to whom she later became engaged.</p><p>&#8220;If it wasn&#8217;t for Paul, I would never have met my future husband,&#8221; Lydon said.</p><p>Most people knew about her and Winarski&#8217;s friendship through their banter, both in person and over social media. But underneath the witty banter, she said, was a &#8220;very, very good friend.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;The last thing he said to me was &#8216;I do love you,&#8217;&#8221; she recalled. &#8220;I said &#8216;I love you too, jerk.&#8217;&#8221;</p><p><strong>&#8216;Exacting standards&#8217;</strong></p><p>Adam Randis, of Hazleton, met Winarski in 2012 when he auditioned for &#8220;1776&#8221; at PTPA.</p><p>&#8220;I had missed auditions but wanted very badly to be in the production, so he scheduled an extra audition for me and another friend,&#8221; Randis said.</p><p>From there, Randis became good friends with both Winarski and his wife, Dawn.</p><p>&#8220;He touched many lives and won multiple awards for his work in local theatre,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Paul had exacting standards and demanded quality work of himself and those around him.&#8221; </p><p>McClosky Houck said she had known Winarski for decades through the theater community.</p><p>&#8220;He was a definite presence,&#8221; she said. &#8220;He definitely left an impact.&#8221;</p><p>The students at WVW adored Winarski, she added, and learned as much as they could from him during productions.</p><p>&#8220;The kids had tremendous respect for him,&#8221; said McClosky Houck.&nbsp;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption"><ins>Paul </ins>Winarski<ins>,</ins><ins> a well-known figure on the region&#8217;s theater scene, died this week at the age of 48. One of his last projects was directing Wyoming Valley West High School&#8217;s production of &#8216;Dear World,&#8217; which will go on as scheduled Friday and Saturday night. </ins> </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_paul_winarski-2.jpg</photo0><caption0><ins>Paul </ins>Winarski<ins>,</ins><ins> a well-known figure on the region&#8217;s theater scene, died this week at the age of 48. One of his last projects was directing Wyoming Valley West High School&#8217;s production of &#8216;Dear World,&#8217; which will go on as scheduled Friday and Saturday night. </ins> </caption0><photoCredit0>Facebook </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Brigid Edmunds</p><p>bedmunds@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Brigid Edmunds at 570-991-6113 or on Twitter @brigidedmunds.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Friends, colleagues remember theater aficionado Winarski