It was exactly 25 years ago this week when Mary Anne Ross of Oneonta and Riccardo Calleo, lead tenor of the New York City Opera, took the stage of the Oneonta Theatre. If you were in the audience Sunday afternoon, Sept. 30, 1984, you witnessed the beginning of a new company, Orpheus Theatre.
This new venture was undertaken by no stranger to the performing arts in our region. Dr. Peter Macris was on the faculty of the Foreign Language Department at the State University College at Oneonta. Macris had founded the Glimmerglass Opera in 1975, an organization he led until 1979, when his responsibilities at the college increased, becoming chairman of that department.
It was sometime in early 1984 when Macris was casually talking with others who had been involved in Glimmerglass or other theaters around Oneonta.
"They started asking me when I was going start something else," Macris said. "I started giving it more thought that maybe it is time." Macris thought about an organization that could do musicals and plays that could be run on a part-time basis.
Macris recalled getting together with Chuck Schneider, Riccardo Calleo and Mary Anne Ross, and they decided to do a concert at the Oneonta Theatre, then owned by Harold deGraw. It was announced at the concert that this new organization, Orpheus Theatre, was starting. It would be for the community, with mostly local talent in its productions. Macris became the producing director of the theater company.
As for the name Orpheus, Macris said, "It was my name; I dug it up. It came from my Greek background. Orpheus is a figure who goes down into the underworld to save his beloved Eurydice, because he is an artist who can sing and play music beautifully, and he tried to bring her back." In Greek mythology, Orpheus' efforts weren't successful.
The next Orpheus production came that autumn as a stage play, "The Sound of Music," held at Oneonta High School beginning Friday, Nov. 9, with a second show Sunday.
Prior to coming to Oneonta in 1964, Macris had served in the U.S. Army and spent six years in Germany, studying at a few universities and conservatories. Macris' experiences with the theater and productions overseas always stayed with him, and he wanted to do something when he returned to the U.S. Glimmerglass Opera had fulfilled part of what he wanted to do, but Orpheus helped him complete his wish list.
While OHS was a good venue, Macris met with Harold deGraw, looking to do productions at the 1897-era Oneonta Theatre. Alterations were made, according to deGraw, on a cooperative basis between himself and Orpheus Theatre. Many community members and theater enthusiasts pitched in to clean up the backstage area and prepare the main stage for performances.
The result was that for the first time in more than 30 years, the curtains rose for the first live performance on the stage Thursday, Oct. 10, 1985, with a musical production of "Fiddler on the Roof." The opening night had more than 400 in attendance, but the weekend productions were near sellouts, which amounted to about 688 seats.
Macris was pleased by the community's excitement and enthusiasm, and said people were already asking about auditions for the next production. That autumn, a 16-member board of directors had formed and achieved its non-profit organization status.
Under new ownership in early 1994, the Oneonta Theatre was for sale, and Orpheus was told that it had to find a new home by the end of its season. Thoughts were given by Orpheus to buy the theater or to build its own. The Orpheus board decided against buying because of cost, age, size and maintenance needs of the building, among other reasons.
Orpheus moved in 1995 to its current home stage at Goodrich Theater on the SUNY Oneonta campus. Its office is at 31 Maple St. in the Rowe House.
Macris eventually departed from Orpheus, but in 1986 had shared an imagination in a regional publication he had about Orpheus, which became relevant to today:
"By the year 2000 Macris imagines the theatre will be a regional performing arts center, providing one central location where area groups can perform. He sees increased cooperation between such groups as the Catskill Symphony Orchestra, the Catskill Choral Society and other cultural groups as well."
Macris' imagination wasn't far off. He presented the idea of a performing arts center on the site of what was then the West-Nesbitt feed mill on Market Street in 2000. It soon became known as the Foothills Performing Arts Center. The city received its first state grant of $250,000 Sept. 27 of that year.
Orpheus begins its 26th anniversary season in October. Part of its season will be a homecoming of sorts, as a performance of "Born Yesterday" will be at the Oneonta Theatre on Sunday, Nov. 15, recently re-opened by the Friends of The Oneonta Theatre and businessman Tom Cormier. Other events will remain at Goodrich Theatre. For details, visit the Orpheus website at www.orpheustheatre.org.
This weekend, a mysterious polish is discovered in the Hartwick soil.
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City Historian Mark Simonson's column appears twice weekly. On Saturdays, his column focuses on the area during the Depression and before. His Monday columns address local history after the Depression. If you have feedback or ideas about the column, write to him at The Daily Star, or e-mail him at simmark@stny.rr.com. His website is www.oneontahistorian.com.
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