P.O. Box 691 Sebring Florida USA 33871 Tel: 863-382-2525
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P.O. Box 691 Sebring Florida USA 33871 Tel: 863-382-2525 |
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Anthony DeAngelo - Lounge Legend By: Roy Riedy |
It's a silent tribute to Anthony DeAngelo that, even though he was only associated with Highlands Little Theatre for five seasons, his name is know to everyone who has been to the Lakeside Playhouse for everyone who goes there has, at one time or another, been to Anthony's Lounge.
The story of the dedication of that lounge sounds more like it might have been lifted from a Fellini screenplay than an actual happening, but I have it on excellent authority, none less than former President of Highlands Little Theatre, Peter Pollard, the well known director and actor of Playhouse fame, that the story that follows is true, for he saw it occur, fourteen summers ago.
The time is June, 9,1989, and it is opening night for Mr. Pollard's production of Sweet Charity, a Cy Coleman and Dorothy Fields musical. For several months a sizable room at the back of the theater has been undergoing renovation to change it from a storage space into a long needed and desired cocktail lounge. Since the work was practically done, it had been decided that the remodeled room would be dedicated that evening after the first performance of Mr. Pollard's show, with a modest but meaningful ceremony on the stage.
The new space was to be called Anthony's Lounge in honor of Anthony DeAngelo who had ingratiated himself with the membership of HLT by being a noteworthy volunteer and thoroughly good fellow. Anthony first appeared at the Lakeside Playhouse to audition for another musical comedy being held by Mr. Pollard in the summer of 1985, Once Upon a Mattress. His enthusiasm gained him the role of the Third Knight in Mr. Pollard's production, Anthony's first and only appearance on the Playhouse's stage.
What he lacked in "face time" on the stage he more than compensated for by becoming an ever-present personality at the Playhouse. He would be seen supervising and working on set construction, sometimes a member of the stage crews, always as a waiter in the dining room, and apparently busy with some project between productions. The theater had become his home.
It was this combination of factors that brought him back to the stage on June 9, 1989, to accept the accolade and applause of having the new room, "Anthony's Lounge," named in his honor, and then, the unthinkable happened, Anthony, the honoree, collapsed. Peter Pollard and Frank Oberhausen attempted CPR to resuscitate him with no results. Anthony had acted in his last scene, he had taken his final bow.
Shortly after his death an impromptu memorial was held at the Lakeside Playhouse by Past President Frank Oberhausen. Anthony's daughter was in attendance and, in accordance with her father's wishes, scattered his ashes over Lake Jackson, giving an even deeper significance to the name "Lakeside Theatre." It cannot be said that our fairly young theater is not without lore, for the story of Anthony's dramatic exit is one that can take a stand with the best that older and more famous theaters can offer.
During Anthony's five seasons with Highlands Little Theatre, he was associated with twelve plays and three Zenon Ceremonies. He was awarded a Board Service Zenon at the First Zenon Ceremony for his many contributions to the theater. His name appeared in seventeen HLT newsletters and ten local news items for a total of forty-two theatrical citations. But perhaps, he will be most remembered for his singular personality that prompted those who knew him to name Anthony's Lounge after him, a tribute that still attests to a very unique man.
