Actresses find new roles as room designers
Courtesy of Zhuzh It Up!
Eliza Huffman
Courtesy of Zhuzh It Up!
Lisa Bansavage
Courtesy of Zhuzh It Up!
Eliza Huffman in the midst of organizing a room.
Courtesy of Zhuzh It Up!
Eliza Huffman sits in an organized room.
Courtesy of Zhuzh It Up!
An example of home staging
A variety of before and after shots, courtesy of Zhuzh It Up's website
Courtesy of Zhuzh It Up!
A New York City apartment before it was staged, at left, and after, at right.
Courtesy of Zhuzh It Up!
A home staging before it was completed, at left, and after, at right.
By Scott Beveridge
With stages across the world dark because of the COVID-19 pandemic, an actress who has relocated to her hometown in the Mon Valley is redirecting her passions to home decorating.
Eliza Huffman of Monongahela has partnered with Lisa Bansavage of Pittsburgh to form Zhuzh it Up!, a company specializing in decluttering and creating “fabulous rooms” for their clients, Huffman said.
“We try to create a peaceful environment for them because the world is not beautiful right now,” Huffman said.
She was born in Monessen and grew up in New Eagle, graduating in 1974 with now-retired NFL quarterback Joe Montana.
Huffman has done theater work in Los Angeles, her last home, as well as in New York and London. She’s been artistic director at many classical theaters. She also teaches worldwide and offers online classes and coaching for actors in film, television and theater, according to her website.
Bansavage said she and Huffman have been friends for three decades and never knew they both had roots in Pittsburgh until they both moved back to the area and were doing the same thing.
“We are a great team,” Huffman said.
Bansavage is a Carnegie native and won a fellowship to get a master’s degree from the University of Pittsburgh. She staged “The Taming of the Shrew” decades ago as the Three Rivers Shakespeare Festival’s first performance. She went on to appear on Broadway and in television.
She said theater people could do well in business because of the motto, “the show must go on,” and they understand teamwork, deadlines and the need to work under tight budgets.
She said they chose the word zhuzh for their business because they wanted to stand out.
“Once you hear that word you are never going to forget it,” Bansavage said.
For more information visit zhuzhitup.net