| |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
 |
 |
James
A. Tantillo
Chief Executive Officer
jim@historicithaca.org
607-273-6633 James
A. Tantillo is chief executive officer of Historic
Ithaca and has previously served as interim
executive director and chair of the Board of
Directors of the Tompkins County SPCA. In this
capacity, he was responsible for managing all
shelter operations and played a key role in
the SPCA’S successful capital campaign
to build the newly opened Dorothy and Roy Park
Pet Adoption Center. Prior to the SPCA, Tantillo
worked in a variety of supervisory roles for
the Massachusetts State Parks system at historic
sites such as Plymouth Rock, Walden Pond State
Reservation, and Fort Warren in the Boston Harbor
Islands State Park, all registered National
Historic Landmarks. Tantillo is also currently
a lecturer in environmental history and environmental
aesthetics in the Department of Natural Resources
at Cornell University, where he continues to
teach part-time. Jim holds his bachelor’s,
master’s, and Ph.D. degrees from Cornell
University. He is married to Wendy Tarlow, an
attorney, and the couple lives with their two
children and numerous animals in a restored
1850 farmhouse in Trumansburg. |
| |
Dan
Smalls
Executive Director
dan@stateofithaca.com
(607) 27-STATE ext. 890
Dan Smalls brings a diverse and wide-ranging
skill-set to the State Theatre. His interest
in the arts began humbly in the small town of
Monticello, NY in the famed Borscht Belt of
the Catskill Mountains. Growing up on Rubber
Soul and Revolver-era Beatles coupled with the
country-blues of Mississippi John Hurt and others
on the family turntable, his musical heritage
could not have been started on a better track.
The business of entertainment took hold while
Dan was a sophomore at Cornell University here
in Ithaca and produced his first concert, a
combination of Blues Traveler and The Spin Doctors
at Bailey Hall, before each rose to stardom.
After that sell-out and several others, Dan
joined local impresario John Peterson at the
Haunt on Green Street and quickly became the
manager. It was the heyday of the famous red,
gold and green painted façade that played
host to the likes of such diverse acts as Stevie
Ray Vaughan and Pearl Jam as well as nearly
every major blues and reggae act including Buddy
Guy, Albert Collins and The Wailers. Their Two
Just Men and Topspot Promotions presented many
shows at the State Theatre back in the early
nineties and at various other regional theatres.
Dan stayed on for several years after graduating
in 1992 and eventually moved on to expand his
musical future in a bigger pond.
This path led him through various positions
in Boston that began as a booking agent for
local and national acts and led to working for
Great Northeast Productions. While there, the
company produced over seventy live events per
year with acts like Bob Dylan, Lyle Lovett,
Chris Isaak, Joan Baez, among many others. Every
year culminated in producing the annual end
of summer tour camping festivals for Phish (Clifford
Ball, The Great Went, Lemonwheel) that took
place in several locations and hosted over 80,000
fans. Dan also worked closely with musical act
Squirrel Nut Zippers, assisting in their growth
and eventual platinum selling success that catapulted
out of the Boston market. He also started the
successful Swing Night at the Roxy in Boston
that hosted dozens of acts and consistently
drew over 1200 patrons to a Friday night event
that featured national acts on stage, dance
lessons, period clothing sales and more, a concept
that the company shared with similar venues
around the US.
In 1999, Dan took the opportunity to work for
the Gerry Foundation, started by cable TV pioneer
Alan Gerry, and assist in production of a summer
concert series on the original Woodstock concert
site for a break from the big city and a chance
to be closer to his family. The series went
off well and became the impetus for the recently
completed Bethel Woods Center for the Performing
Arts which opened last season.
Family situations led Dan to stay in the Catskills
and take the helm of his family’s 40-year
entrenched mechanical contracting business.
Although this was not his ideal career choice,
he enjoyed the challenge and the ability to
further cultivate his business skills. While
there, he nearly doubled sales and shifted the
focus from a local service based business to
a regional construction based powerhouse.
A visit to Cornell early in 2005 though changed
his direction once again. On that trip, Dan
met Emily Russell who has since become his wife.
She and her mom own The Frame Shop on Buffalo
Street. His enduring love of Ithaca made the
decision to move here and sell the business
quite easy. So, Dan brokered a deal with a longtime
foreman to sell the family contracting business
which included staying on for a year as a consultant
to ensure the success of the company.
Here at the State Theatre, Dan plans the season’s
events, negotiates contracts with talent and
for theatre rentals, manages the staff, oversees
fundraising efforts, and manages the State Theatre
budget. |
| |
Mark
Scarborough
Production Manager
mark@stateofithaca.com
(607) 27-STATE ext. 892
With a long and varied career in theater and
dance production, Mark Scarborough brings a
high level of professionalism and just plain
“get it done” attitude to his work
at the Historic State Theater. Working with
top acts in this grand old historic building
here in downtown Ithaca is “an exciting
opportunity on many levels”, he says.
While touring with everyone from rock and roll
bands to classical ballet companies from around
the world, Mark has crisscrossed the United
States and worked as far away as Taiwan. With
his experience, Mark knows first hand what the
acts that travel to the State Theater are going
through. His years as Technical Director and
Production Manager at the North Carolina Theater,
which mounted such shows as Evita, Steel Pier
and Singing in the Rain helped him develop that
well-known calm attitude in the face of production
difficulties. (Sure, they happen-- we just don't
let the audience see them.) Mark’s many
years of teaching at SUNY Brockport make the
work he does with local college and high school
students here at the State a natural.
Though his first day as a theater tech was three
days before his twelfth birthday, Mark has pursued
other interests along the way. He’s worked
as the Managing Director of a successful race
car manufacturing company and run a successful
foreign car repair business. He’s been
both a formula car mechanic and driver, racing
at tracks like Watkins Glen, Lime Rock, and
Nelson Ledges.
A Western New York native, he says of the typical
January-in-Ithaca weather that welcomed him
when he started at the Historic State Theater
in 2007, “Piece of cake.”. |
| |
Jean
Hubbell
Business
Manager
jean@stateofithaca.com
27-STATE ext. 801
biography
to come...
|
| |
Sheryl
L. Fishel
Box Office Associate & Volunteer Coordinator
607-277-8283 ext.898
Sheryl@stateofithaca.com
Sheryl hails from the old coal-bustling town
of Shavertown, Pennsylvania. Her involvement
with the performing arts began at the age of
3. Today, Sheryl is proud to have participated
in over 150 live performances including the
original works Tales of Wonder and Corcieve,
along with multiple theatrical productions and
vocal ensembles.
Sheryl migrated to Ithaca in 2003 to obtain
a degree from Ithaca College’s Theatre
Arts Management Program (TAM). In the future
she plans to continue her education in the performing
arts and business.
At the State Theatre, she is overjoyed to be
working with a motivated staff and dedicated
volunteers. The performers, audience, staff
and volunteers make the “magic”
happen. Every performance energy and life fills
the crevasses of our theatre. |
| |
Don
Welch
House Manager
Don is a former Thespian and local jewelry craftsman
who has been with the State Theatre for seven
years. He began his association with the State
Theatre as a volunteer usher, and has helped
out with a wide variety of ongoing maintenance
and restoration jobs in the theatre.
Don is now a member of the staff at the position
of House Manager. |
| |
CJ
Stone
Cj started her career working in women’s
health as an employee with Planned Parenthood
of Broome and Chenango Counties for 23 years.
Starting as an Outreach worker, she advanced
to Support Service Supervisor, with her primary
responsibilities including supervision of the
Medical Records personnel and the Volunteer
Program. After retiring in the late 1990’s,
Cj went to work for the Temporary Placement
Service, Manpower. There she recruited prospective
employers for the employees; she tested, placed
and evaluated the employees to ensure their
placements would meet the needs of the employers
and employee’s abilities and requirements.
Cj moved to the Ithaca area in 2000 and secured
a job with the Ithaca City School District,
one that she found to be both challenging and
rewarding. In October 2008 she began working
at the State Theatre.
Cj has always chosen to work in and for the
public. She personally finds this to be an exciting
time to be employed at the Theatre, as it is
a time of growth in all areas of the Theatre.
She is looking forward in growing with the Theatre
in terms of her job responsibilities as the
Theatre grows. |
| |
Carolyn
V. Ambrose
Patron’s Sales Associate
A native of Boston, MA (and avid Red Sox fan),
Carolyn came to Ithaca as a full-time Ithaca
College student interested in pursuing a career
in sports. After receiving a bachelor’s
degree in Sport Studies and Writing, she decided
to stay in Ithaca for a couple of years to work.
Carolyn hopes to pursue a Masters degree in
the future and eventually have a career in the
non-profit sector. |
| |
Jessica
Evans |
|
|
Sara
Johnson
Sara interned at Historic Ithaca during the
summer of 2007 and continues her work there
as a preservation associate. During the summer
of 2007, Sara and fellow intern Kristen Olson
focused their work on the history and current
conditions of Ithaca City Cemetery. Some of
her ongoing Historic Ithaca projects include
research on Ithaca's film history and the history
of female architects in Ithaca. Sara is a first-year
graduate student in Historic Preservation Planning
at Cornell University and received her B.S.
in Urban Studies from Cornell in 2001. As a
Central New York native, she's interested in
promoting greater awareness of the rich cultural
and architectural heritage of the region. |
|
Kristen
Olson
Kristen Olson graduated from Colby College
in 2003 and lived briefly in Norfolk, Virginia
before moving to Ithaca in 2006 to begin graduate
studies in Historic Preservation Planning
at Cornell University. She worked as a summer
intern at Historic Ithaca, and joined the
staff in fall 2007. She is writing her masters
thesis on the National Park Service’s
management and interpretation of the Cades
Cove historic district in Great Smoky Mountains
National Park. Her interests in Ithaca include
the City Cemetery and the reuse of former
industrial buildings. She plans on staying
in Ithaca after her graduation in 2008. |
| |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|