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A Ray through my tears...New York actor comes to Hamden, his hometown
HAMDEN -- My teen and professional reporting years collided on Saturday night when I was invited to be at Hamden High School when a professional actor who grew up in Hamden, Ray DeMattis, nee DeMatteis, spoke to theater students after their fifth and final performance of Grease.
Ray graduated HHS in 1963 and told them he hadn't been to the high school since graduating. He told the students how he and 16 others became the first national touring cast of Grease out of the 1,750 who auditioned. In that first cast was the late Jeff Conaway and John Travolta. Travolta at the time predicted he would one day play Danny Zuko and DeMattis said that everyone scoffed at that possibility at the time. Obviously, they were wrong.
I have always loved the Hamden Theater Department, of which I am a graduate. Also, while at Hamden High, I was a reporter and editor for the school newspaper, The Dial.
Long ago, those of us in the drama club were friends with a senior, John Colello, who worked at the Shubert in New Haven. He told us if we acted as ushers at the shows we could watch them for free! A number of us took advantage of the offer.
I don't remember exactly how things transpired, but one day in 1973 or 1974, I was lucky enough to interview Ray DeMatteis, who was performing as Roger in Grease at the Shubert. My story appeared in the Dial.
So, imagine how thrilled I was when the HHS drama director, Eric Nyquist, invited me to the high school after the final performance of Grease on May 5 to watch as Ray spoke to the students. I told Nyquist that I had interviewed Ray in the past and would love to be there.
So, after the show, I was on stage with the students while Ray was talking, and the whole thing brought tears to my eyes. He was saying that a show like the Mainstage Ensemble did never would have come off the ground when he was a student at HHS. "When did it become cool for guys to be in musicals?" he asked.
He also called Nyquist a "genius" for producing such an upbeat, professional show, and said the students were wonderful.
One of the reasons why the tears were rolling down my cheeks, I now believe, is that I was emotionally connecting with how today's students feel about Nyquist: It's the same wonderful connection we alumni had with our drama coaches, Julian Schlusberg and Joseph Juliano.
Also, it's just thrilling for me as a reporter and a Hamden alum, to meet someone who has done so well in a career. And, the fact that I interviewed Ray when I was a student at HHS and then got to do so on Saturday night, was just an awesome thing in and of itself.
Read more about what Ray had to say in the New Haven Register or on nhregister.com.
Here is the video of some of what Ray had to say to the students:
Ray graduated HHS in 1963 and told them he hadn't been to the high school since graduating. He told the students how he and 16 others became the first national touring cast of Grease out of the 1,750 who auditioned. In that first cast was the late Jeff Conaway and John Travolta. Travolta at the time predicted he would one day play Danny Zuko and DeMattis said that everyone scoffed at that possibility at the time. Obviously, they were wrong.
I have always loved the Hamden Theater Department, of which I am a graduate. Also, while at Hamden High, I was a reporter and editor for the school newspaper, The Dial.
Long ago, those of us in the drama club were friends with a senior, John Colello, who worked at the Shubert in New Haven. He told us if we acted as ushers at the shows we could watch them for free! A number of us took advantage of the offer.
I don't remember exactly how things transpired, but one day in 1973 or 1974, I was lucky enough to interview Ray DeMatteis, who was performing as Roger in Grease at the Shubert. My story appeared in the Dial.
So, imagine how thrilled I was when the HHS drama director, Eric Nyquist, invited me to the high school after the final performance of Grease on May 5 to watch as Ray spoke to the students. I told Nyquist that I had interviewed Ray in the past and would love to be there.
So, after the show, I was on stage with the students while Ray was talking, and the whole thing brought tears to my eyes. He was saying that a show like the Mainstage Ensemble did never would have come off the ground when he was a student at HHS. "When did it become cool for guys to be in musicals?" he asked.
He also called Nyquist a "genius" for producing such an upbeat, professional show, and said the students were wonderful.
One of the reasons why the tears were rolling down my cheeks, I now believe, is that I was emotionally connecting with how today's students feel about Nyquist: It's the same wonderful connection we alumni had with our drama coaches, Julian Schlusberg and Joseph Juliano.
Also, it's just thrilling for me as a reporter and a Hamden alum, to meet someone who has done so well in a career. And, the fact that I interviewed Ray when I was a student at HHS and then got to do so on Saturday night, was just an awesome thing in and of itself.
Read more about what Ray had to say in the New Haven Register or on nhregister.com.
Here is the video of some of what Ray had to say to the students:
posted by Hamden-North Haven Times at
2:44 PM
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