The Sault Opera Legacy

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1998

Sault Opera presented two shows in 1998: "West Side Story" and "My Favorite Year". Also, Doug Rhodes took over as president from Diane Wysynski.

For the second show of the 1997/98 season, Sault Opera chose "West Side Story", an adaptation of "Romeo and Juliet" set in the rough-and-tumble gang-clashing west side of New York in the 1950's. Tracey Beltrano and Mark Swift played the leading roles of Maria and Tony, also starring Keith Waldie as Shrank, Chas Calam as Doc, Cosmo Tassone as Officer Krupke, Ian Ganton as Glad Hand, Greg Hutton as Jet Leader Riff, J. Nicholas Morrison as Shark Leader Bernardo, and many others, bringing the cast total to 41.

The show was brilliantly directed by Marie Arcangeletti, whose desire to bring out the emotions of the characters and explore the racial elements of why these gangs didn't get along made her keep the gangs separated during the rehearsal process so that they would stay "enemies". Her Husband Jim Arcangeletti produced the show, with the assistance of Sharon Dick directing the music, vocal direction by Debra Pollari, choreography by Sandi DalCin,  Keith Waldie as stage manager, Stephanie Callegari as dance captain,set design by Bob Ivey, costume design by Ruth Latham, and lighting design by Colin Hayward. 

At the box office, the show grossed about $48,000. Program advertising generated an additional $2,300 in revenue, along with $2,400 in other income, resulting in total revenue of about $52,700. Expenses came to about $50,000, leaving a net surplus of about $2,700. The biggest expenses were: rental costs of office and theatre space, stage and sets, music rentals and royalties, theatre technical staff salaries, advertising costs, audio/video equipment rental, and ticket sales costs.

Despite the sold-out houses and standing ovations, reviewer Robin Waples found a few things to nit-pick on, such as "...without the characters ringing true, it doesn't make the powerful statement it should. It's almost like catching the kids from Grease on a bad day. The show would be more effective with a gritter toughness and a sharper, more energetic, loose-cannon edge to it." ("Visually stunning West Side Story falls short on passion", The Sault Star, March 26, 1998)

After the show closed, an audience member wrote a letter to the editor to express his disappointment at the review. After seeing the Thursday night performance, he wondered "if Ms. Waples had the correct address for the play that she saw. Surely she must have been at another theatre." ("West Side Story magnificent", a letter to the editor by Garry Howe, The Sault Star, April 2, 1998)

The cast of "My Favorite Year": Sasha Zaharuk, Sasha Tadasciore, Natalie King, Desiree Rheaume, James Whalen, Cheryl Robinson, Julie Emmerson, and Krysta Desbiens with Richard Karhu and Melissa Medaglia

In September, Sault Opera took us back to the early days of television in "My Favorite Year", a story about a naive young television writer whose assignment was to keep the star on track for his guest spot on a live comedy show, keep the one-liners coming whatever the situation, don't kill yourself when your mother butts in, learn some lessons about life and love, and, of course, attract and keep the girl of your dreams. This was based on a true incident, apparently, when Mel Brooks was a writer on Sid Caesar's Show of Shows. When scheduled guest star Martha Raye had to cancel, Errol Flynn took her place. Unfortunately, Flynn showed up at the studio with a few too many under his belt and poor Mel had to babysit him to make sure he did not take another drink before show time.

The cast consisted of a good mix of new talent and Sault Opera veterans such as: Todd Pajuluoma as Benjy Stone, Shane Halpin as King Kaiser, Richard Karhu as Alan Swann, Sonya Ostrowski-Masotti as Benjy's doting mother Belle, Jerry Tomei as her husband and Benjy's stepfather Rookie Carroca, Doris Chaumont as Alice Miller, and many others.

Patricia Rose Near, who relocated to the Sault from Fort Erie, did a marvelous job of directing the show, with the assistance of Kelly Halpin as the producer, Lorraine Smith as music director, Lisa Berto directing the vocals, choreography by Melissa Medaglia, Pat Barty as stage manager, Lucas Beaver as set designer, and many others lending their talents and skills behind the scenes.

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