It's a coffee shop, a jazz club, a theater, an art gallery, and one of the more unique spots in the entire area. Michael Anthony's Cafe and Galleria D'Arte in Sharon is almost a year old, but the creator is just getting started.

Michael Anthony Forney has always had a passion for arts and entertainment. All he needed was a building big enough for all his ideas, and he found the perfect fit in downtown Sharon.

"I just fell in love with the place," said Michael Anthony. "I mean, look at it when you walked up. How could you not?"

But his biggest project also represented his biggest risk. Michael Anthony grew up in Youngstown, went to Cleveland to experience a bigger-city culture and then brought it back home where he made a name for himself.

"2015, I did a play and nearly sold it out on the big side of Powers Auditorium, which fits 2,200," said Michael Anthony. "My name is there. I'm at a gas station, people are talking about going to my event and I'm a pump over. That's a good feeling, you know?"

But on the other side of the state line, it was a whole new world.

"I didn't know anyone in Sharon. There's not one person that I knew when I came here, so I was scared," said Michael Anthony.

Sometimes, though, it's not who you know but who you meet. He connected with the Winner family, who just so happened to have a building available.

"We are firm believers and subscribers that all healthy downtowns have a strong representations of the arts," said Winner companies CEO Karen Winner Sed. "This is a perfect venue for that."

The Winners bought into his vision, bringing jazz, art, poetry, and a cafe' downtown. This coming weekend, Michael Anthony will add his own live stage play called "Why Me?"

"There was a thought I had about a woman being in a coma, but she's in the coma because of a dirty little secret that she held onto. She's dealing with the consequences of this," said Michael Anthony. "It's a cast of eight people. Local, some from Cleveland some from the area and some of course from Youngstown."

Giving Michael Anthony a chance to roll out the red carpet and share his passion with a new crowd.

"I felt like, if I could give you my artistic expression and show you... what art means to me in a whole, entertainment, being social, all the colors that it takes... I figured I could change the community, and that community could change the city, and that city could change the state, and it could be a ripple effect," said Michael Anthony.

A ripple effect set in motion because of a risk worth taking.

Tickets for this Saturday's production are $35. If you would like to buy them in advance, you can call (724) 418-4411.