Becki Toth is a Pittsburgh actress and an alum of St. Luke Lutheran School. Among her many activities are teaching voice at Grove City College, giving music and piano lessons, doing stand-up comedy, and acting as a consultant to high school, semiprofessional and professional musicals. She does a lot of traveling and figures she's put 7,000 miles on her car since Thanksgiving.

Butler County is filled with a variety of people doing interesting things. This weekly feature offers snapshots of some of them by asking five questions. The latest installment appears below:

JEFFERSON TWP — Becki Toth better have a good mechanic.

That's because between teaching voice at Grove City College, giving piano and music lessons at Cabot United Methodist Church, making visits to her alma mater St. Luke Lutheran School, doing stand-up and improv comedy in Pittsburgh and acting as a musical consultant to high school, semiprofessional and professional musicals, she figures she's put 7,000 miles on her car since Thanksgiving.

Toth said “It's not a career for the feint of heart and those who like stability. My taxes are a nightmare. I have 15 W-2s that I turn into my accountant every year. And I have to keep track of my mileage.”

“I love what I do,” she said, “but I'd love it more if I had health benefits.”

Toth graduated from St. Luke in 1988.

She credits the lessons she learned there with helping make her what she is today.

The Cabot native was named Pittsburgh's best actress in 2005 by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and voted Pittsburgh's best local actress in 2011 by readers of Pittsburgh's City Paper. She is a member of the vocal faculty at Grove City College's music department.

She's been involved in countless theater productions throughout Western Pennsylvania whether as an actress, director, musical director, accompanist or conductor.

During a recent visit to St. Luke Lutheran School, where she was both a student and a teacher, she entertained assemblies during Special Friend Day, and slowed down long enough to answer five questions.

QUESTION: How long have you been doing this?ANSWER: Probably since the 10th grade when I was in “Camelot” at Knoch High School. The story I always tell is that when the show was over and everybody was going their separate ways, the feeling in my heart was I wanted to go into performing.

QUESTION: What shows have you done?ANSWER: I was involved in the Butler County Musical Theater Guild a lot when I was in college. In “Through the Woods” I was Red Riding Hood with them. I did “Nunsense.” I was in the chorus for a lot of other things. I'm involved with the Stage 62 theater group in Carnegie.I do a lot of improv and I do a Web show and the occasional stand-up and one-woman show.

QUESTION: Do you like doing improvisation?ANSWER: I love doing improv. I did not start doing it until I met Dale (Harris) at the Saltworks theater. I was terrified to do it because I like things very structured. I think it is the most practical form of theater because you have to improv all the time like when trying to talk your way out of a traffic ticket. It's basically lying. I have an odd skill set in that I can play the piano and improvise and I'm asked to do that all the time.

QUESTION: How did you get your awards?ANSWER: In 2005 with the Post-Gazette, I was in “Into the Woods” and played the witch and won best actress for that. As for the City Paper, I was voted in by my adoring fans. I don't know how it happened. I work a lot.

QUESTION: Do you get back here often?ANSWER: I do. I actually teach classes for home-schooled children at Cabot Methodist Church, the old Winfield Elementary School. I teach some piano lessons and some voice lessons and some theater classes and some music classes every Tuesday.We did an “Imagine No Malaria” fundraiser at $5 a ticket at Cabot United Methodist.It's important to me to never forget where I came from.