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Tony Amato

Tony Amato of Manhattan County, NY was married to Sally Amato. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Tony Amato.

Tony Amato

Antonio Amato, Anthony Amato

Manhattan County, NY

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Tony Amato's History

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Introduction

Anthony Amato, Founder of Amato Opera, Is Dead at 91 By MARGALIT FOX DEC. 14, 2011 Anthony Amato, the founder and artistic director of the Amato Opera Theater, the scrappy, often threadbare and very rarely dull chamber operacompany on the Lower East Side of Manhattan that was a mainstay of New York’s cultural life for 61 years, died on Tuesday at his home on City Island, in the Bronx. Mr. Amato, who was also the company’s stage director, music director, prompter, vocal coach, diction coach, caterer, broom pusher and emergency tenor, among other things, was 91. The cause was cancer, said Rochelle Mancini, an editor and former principal singer with the company who helped Mr. Amato write a memoir, “The Smallest Grand Opera in the World,” published this year by iUniverse. Founded in 1948 by Mr. Amato and his wife, Sally, Amato Opera was long the brightest star in the constellation of semiprofessional opera companies spread over the city — the Off Broadway of the opera world. From its repertory of more than 60 productions, it staged half a dozen each season, including old reliables like Puccini’s “Bohème” and rarely heard works like “Lo Schiavo,” an 1889 opera by the Brazilian composer Carlos Gomes. Mrs. Amato died in 2000, at 82; Mr. Amato disbanded the company in 2009. In Amato’s first decades, when opera training programs were less ubiquitous, it was known as a proving ground for talented young singers. Many alumni went on to sing with major companies, including the Metropolitan Opera; among them are the tenors George Shirley and Neil Shicoff and the mezzo-soprano Mignon Dunn. Critics routinely praised Amato’s dramatic snap and sparkle, if not always its singing. But if the company’s later productions were often cast with singer-doctors, singer-lawyers and singer-dog groomers, that did nothing to dim the ardor of Amato’s perennially devoted audience. It was not only the ticket prices that drew them, though that was a consideration: Tickets cost $1.80 early on; in 2009, they were still only $35. (Nowadays, tickets for the Met normally cost $100 or more.) For the faithful, who returned year after year to the 107-seat theater at 319 Bowery, near Bond Street, a night at the Amato also offered the chance — a rare thing in this city — to witness grand opera as participatory democracy. Operagoers were greeted by Mrs. Amato, who, when not taking tickets, making costumes, running the lights or selling coffee and cookies at intermission, sang many of the company’s leading roles under her given name, Serafina Bellantone. Anthony Amato, the founder of Amato Opera Theater, in 1989.CreditRuby Washington/The New York Times On some nights the overture wafted through the theater on record, spun by Mr. Amato. (At first the orchestra pit had room for a piano or a pianist, but not both comfortably at once; it later accommodated a keyboard and a few woodwinds.) Costumes were rehabilitated until they fell to dust; many a wig began life as a mop. And if that wig sometimes became entangled with the scenery, the show went on. Onstage, snowstorms were accomplished with cascades of raw oatmeal, to the great satisfaction of the theater’s resident mice. Antonio Amato was born on July 21, 1920, in Minori, on the Amalfi Coast of Italy. At 7, he moved with his family to New Haven. He left high school amid the Depression to become a butcher, honest work that pleased his father. But young Mr. Amato, called Anthony or Tony, adored opera. He eventually prevailed, appearing as a tenor with regional companies and in summer stock. Mr. Amato met his wife in 1943 at the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, N.J., where they were performing in Rudolf Friml’s operetta “The Vagabond King.” Every night onstage he knocked her down, as called for, and every night offstage he apologized so profusely that she took pity on him and married him, in 1945. Survivors include a brother, Albert. Afterward, Mr. Amato ran an opera workshop at the American Theater Wing in New York. Many of his students were returned servicemen, and he conceived Amato Opera to give them a place to perform. (Mr. Amato, who sang till the end of his life, was the company’s default understudy for all male roles.) The Amato’s first production, Rossini’s “Barber of Seville,” opened on Sept. 12, 1948, in the basement of Our Lady of Pompeii Church in Greenwich Village. For many years, singers were paid in meatballs, tenderly cooked by Mr. Amato and consumed family-style by the company. In later years singers got a stipend: $10 a performance. After playing in various spots around town — the church had commandeered its space for bingo — the company moved in 1964 to its Bowery home, near the punk-rock club CBGB. Reviewers often called the Amato’s theater “intimate,” but the word scarcely did justice to its confines. The stage was just 18 feet wide, with negligible wings. Singers sometimes had to exit through the theater’s back door, then re-enter by running through the parking lot, around the corner, through the front door, down the aisle and onto the stage. The parking-lot sprint entailed rubbing elbows with the neighborhood’s skid-row denizens. As one singer later recalled, he once made the dash costumed in tie and tails. Several men, thinking fortune had sent them a millionaire at last, touched him for money on his way through. Correction: December 16, 2011 An obituary on Thursday about Anthony Amato, the founder and artistic director of the Amato Opera Theater in Manhattan, misidentified, in some editions, the composer of the opera “The Barber of Seville,” which was the company’s first production in 1948. It was written by Rossini, not Mozart.
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Professional Career

The Amato Opera was an opera company located in the East Village neighborhood of the Manhattan borough of New York City. The company was produced by the husband and wife team of Anthony and Sally Amato and presented opera on a small scale with a reduced orchestra at low prices. Over its 61 years in existence, it encouraged and trained many young singers. Early years The company was founded in 1948 by husband and wife team Anthony (July 21, 1920 – December 13, 2011) and Sally Bell Amato (September 27, 1917 – August 16, 2000). Tony Amato acted as artistic director, choosing the repertoire, rehearsing and conducting the operas. In the early productions, he often cast students from his opera classes at The America Theatre Wing, where he was the Director of the Opera Workshop. There was no admission charge for the company's early performances, because union rules prohibited it. Instead, during the intermission the Amatos would "pass the hat around" for contributions. Sally acted as costumier, ran lights and box office and managed publicity and business matters. Under the alias Serafina Bellantoni, she sang in productions for over fifty years.[1] Their first production, Rossini's The Barber of Seville, was mounted in the auditorium of Our Lady of Pompeii Church at Bleecker and Carmine Streets.[2] The following week, the company produced Cavalleria rusticana and Pagliacci. The company used many other locations in its early years, including the Kaufman Auditorium of the 92nd Street Y, the Fashion Institute of Technology, and Washington Irving High School auditorium. In 1951, the company moved into its first permanent home at 159 Bleecker Street. In its new 299-seat theatre, the company gave four performances during nearly every weekend of the year. The company's repertory soon spanned 21 different operas, and it gave over 1,296 performances at the theatre. Productions were occasionally presented in nearby cities, such as New London and New Haven, Connecticut, and abridged children's performances were also given at The Town Hall. The Bleecker Street theatre closed in 1959, but the company continued to perform at other venues, including The Town Hall and 126 West 23rd Street. Later years Anthony Amato Amato found a new permanent home in 1964 in a four-story building, next to a gas station and near the famous rock club CBGB, at 319 Bowery near Second Street, a former Mission House and restaurant supply store, which was converted into a theatre with rehearsal and storage space, 107-seats, a 20-foot stage and a tiny orchestra pit. Each season included five or six different operas, typically a mix of comedies and tragedies, and the repertory eventually expanded to over 60 operas.[2] Each opera ran over five weekends, and the company used multiple rotating casts. Amato also mounted Saturday morning Opera-In-Brief performances. Aimed at children, the Opera-In-Brief performances are full-length short operas or abridged versions of longer operas interspersed with narration. Throughout its life, Amato Opera maintained a policy of keeping prices low, charging only $1.80 a seat in 1964. By 1975 ticket prices were $3–4 and in 1998, they were $23. In 2008, tickets were $35 ($30 for students, children, and seniors), still modest compared to those at larger opera houses.[2] PBS made a documentary film about Amato in 2001 called Amato: A Love Affair With Opera.[3] PBS wrote, "The Amato Opera has grown famous as a testing ground for young singers; many of its performers have gone on to sing, direct, and conduct in opera companies around the world ... The orchestra is phenomenal. The sets, designed by Richard Cerullo for the past twenty years, are wonderfully designed to make the most of the Amato's small stage. And what the theater lacks in seating capacity it makes up for in intimacy." Amato Opera received commendations and awards from Mayors Abe Beame, Ed Koch and Rudy Giuliani, and the Amatos were inducted into City Lore's Peoples' Hall of Fame, honored by the American Cultural Roundtable, and the Italian Heritage and Cultural Committee, in recognition for their contribution to the artistic life of New York City. Amato Opera closed after its last performance of The Marriage of Figaro on May 31, 2009.[5] Anthony Amato announced the planned closure on January 10, 2009, before a performance of The Merry Widow. He told The New York Times, "Now, with Sally gone, I have decided that it is time for me to start a new chapter in my life". Following the closure of the Amato Opera, some of the former performers and members of the Amato board of directors formed Amore Opera. Tony Amato gave all the sets and costumes of Amato Opera to this new company. Amore Opera has continued to present opera seasons since then. Another successor company, Bleecker Street Opera, performed from 2010 through 2011. In 2010, Amato published a book about the company called The Smallest Grand Opera in the World. Amato died on December 13, 2011. References
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11 Memories, Stories & Photos about Tony

Amanda S. Stevenson

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10/20/2018

Tony Amato, rehearsal

A photo of Tony Amato

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Amanda S. Stevenson

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10/20/2018

I absolutely love this portrait of the Maestro.

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Amanda S. Stevenson

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10/20/2018

Tony Amato

A photo of Tony Amato in rehearsal.

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Amanda S. Stevenson

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10/20/2018

I absolutely love this picture. It should be a painting.

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Amanda S. Stevenson

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10/20/2018

Tony and Sally Amato

A photo of Tony Amato with wife, Sally.

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Amanda S. Stevenson

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10/20/2018

Sally and Tony Amato

A photo of Tony Amato and beloved wife Sally Amato

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Amanda S. Stevenson

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10/20/2018

I never saw her without a smile. A lovable, brilliant and supportive wife.

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Amanda S. Stevenson

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10/20/2018

Tony Amato and Nathan Hull

A photo of Tony Amato and Opera Director Nathan Hull

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Amanda S. Stevenson

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10/20/2018

Tony Amato

A photo of Tony Amato

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Amanda S. Stevenson

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10/18/2018

Tony Amato and Licia Albanese

A photo of Tony Amato and Licia Albanese
People in photo include: Licia Albanese

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Amanda S. Stevenson

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10/18/2018

Tony Amato's Opera House

A photo of the Opera House, owned by Tony Amato

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Amanda S. Stevenson

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10/18/2018

Tony Amato

A photo of Tony Amato

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Amanda S. Stevenson

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10/18/2018

Tony Amato

A photo of Tony Amato

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Other Biographies

Other Tony Amato Biographies

Amato, Tony (Aug 27, 1947 - Mar 21, 2010) Amato, Tony (Jan 21, 1920 - Feb 24, 2007) Amato, Tony (Aug 13, 1927 - Feb 2, 2003) Amato, Tony (Jun 18, 1924 - Jun 5, 2007) Amato, Tony (Apr 5, 1909 - Oct 1985) Amato, Tony (Sep 25, 1887 - Aug 1967) Amato, Tony (Aug 25, 1887 - Sep 1963)

Amato, Tony (Jan 9, 1908 - Feb 1976) Amato, Tony (May 12, 1905 - Dec 1975) Amato, Tony (Oct 7, 1926 - Jan 27, 1994) Amato, Tony (Jun 5, 1929 - Mar 23, 2004) Amato, Tony (Jan 31, 1905 - Aug 1969) Amato, Tony (Jul 2, 1903 - Jan 1977) Amato, Tony (Oct 1, 1915 - May 1970)

Other Amato Family Biographies

Amato, Anthony (Mar 24, 1920 - Apr 21, 2010) Amato, Tammi (Feb 21, 1971 - Jul 26, 2009) Amato, Frank (Oct 25, 1875 - Sep 1967) Amato, Mary (Mar 18, 1898 - Nov 12, 1993) Amato, Joseph (Jan 23, 1916 - Jan 3, 2002) Amato, Louis (Mar 2, 1928 - Feb 14, 2004) Amato, Salvatore (Jan 1, 1936 - Dec 1982) Amato, Dominic (Mar 16, 1904 - Sep 1971) Amato, John (Feb 10, 1894 - Nov 1971) Amato, Angelo (Apr 11, 1907 - Jul 1964)

Amato, Mary (Feb 4, 1906 - Sep 8, 2001) Amato, Vera (Sep 7, 1917 - Jan 22, 2005) Amato, Waneta (Jun 4, 1920 - Sep 25, 2003) Amato, Josephine (Aug 17, 1912 - Jul 2, 1992) Amato, Nicholas (Aug 28, 1897 - Feb 1977) Amato, Lucienne (Oct 25, 1918 - Apr 1, 2007) Amato, Janet (Dec 14, 1920 - Feb 16, 2010) Amato, Anthony (Nov 2, 1911 - Nov 1987) Amato, Paul (Jun 22, 1934 - Jul 26, 2007) Amato, Anna (Jul 14, 1910 - Feb 1983)

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Tony Amato

Tony Amato's History

Introduction

Birthday

Professional Career

Death

11 Memories, Stories & Photos about Tony

Tony Amato's Family Tree & Friends

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Sally Amato

Tony Amato

Tony's Friends

Other Tony Amato Biographies

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