Italian heritage celebrated at SHS
Published on October 18th, 2000
STONEHAM, MA - It may have been a smaller crowd than expected, but the 400 or so area residents who did attend Sunday's Italian Heritage Celebration at Stoneham High School were treated to an entertaining afternoon of music, food, exhibits, and entertainment, courtesy of Stoneham's Italian Heritage Committee.
"It was excellent...I'm not exaggerating," said committee chairman Rocco Zizza.
October is Italian Heritage month, officially designated as such by Governor Cellucci last year. This was the second annual festival celebrating Italian heritage and this year, the celebration highlighted the region of Puglia in Italy.
Visitors enjoyed the upbeat tempo of Toronto's Paul London who performed traditional Italian songs. In addition, the Orsogna Folk Group entertained and, according to Zizza, "people were literally dancing in the aisles."
Father Vincenzo, pastor of Sacred Heart Church in Boston's North End also performed folk songs from Puglia.
"He brought the place down. It was beautiful," said Zizza.
Zizza also praised the Brown Bag Opera Company's performance of "Carmen," but was disappointed that more people missed out on the experience.
"It was like actors giving an academy award performance to a small number of people...It's too bad for those who did not attend...They lost out."
Admission to the exhibits was free. A $7 ticket got visitors into the Brown Bag Opera show at 7 p.m. This set up may have been one reason for the relatively small numbers. Many people came and enjoyed the festival early, but did not stay for the evening performance of "Carmen."
In addition to the program's scheduling, which on a Sunday may have been the leading cause for lower attendance than last year's Saturday celebration, Zizza acknowledged the day's beautiful weather for keeping people away.
"The exhibits and show were excellent. It even exceeded last year...It's too bad we did not have more (people), but it was great. That's what everybody's telling me."
Food was provided by Ezio's Catering.
Many more area events are scheduled for the remainder of October. Soprano Cecelia Bartoli will be performing at Symphony Hall on October 22 at 8 p.m. as part of the Fleet Celebration Series.
Also on Oct. 22, at the Ahabat Shalom Synagogue in Lynn, an Italian-Jewish special will take place, featuring traditional Jewish-Italian specialties, with dancing and sing-a-longs to classic Klazmer Yiddish favorites and traditional Italian songs.
Two performances by the Brown Bag Opera are planned for Oct. 28 - "Hansel and Gretal" for children and "La Traviata" for adults. Both are sponsored by the Dante Society.
Pasta, Amore and Fantasia, an Abruzzo celebration featuring a sampling of wines and pasta recipes and authentic folk costumes will be held at Orsogna Plaza in Everett on Oct. 29. For more information, contact Norm DiCarlo at (781) 729-3903.
For more details on the above and other happenings celebrating Italian heritage, contact Rocco Zizza at 438-5542.
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