Dixon Stage Left welcomes Broadway actor as artistic director

DIXON – After closing its doors in May to move locations, Dixon Stage Left welcomed an award-winning Broadway actor as its new artistic director – something Executive Director Scott Fattizzi said “is one of those once-in-a-lifetime opportunities in the theater world.”

Jimmy Ferraro, originally from Long Island, New York, has worked in almost every position in the theater business: as a Broadway actor, singer, stage director, producer, teacher and playwright. His “claim to fame” was starring as Tevye in the Broadway musical “Fiddler on the Roof,” performing in three national tours with more than 3,000 productions. Most recently, he was on the 2012 national tour in which he was given BroadwayWorld.com’s Best Actor in a Musical Award.

“I tell everybody it’s kind of a coup to be able to bring someone like Jimmy to Dixon and to Stage Left,” Fattizzi said, “to be able to tap into someone with so much experience at every level of theater.”

Ferraro decided to come to Dixon because of Fattizzi, who’s a longtime friend and colleague in the entertainment field.

“When I knew that Scott was looking for an artistic director, I put my name in the hat,” Ferraro said in an interview with Shaw Local.

It came as a surprise to Fattizzi, who didn’t even think to reach out to Ferraro because of his extensive experience and background.

“I won’t be able to get someone like Jimmy,” Fattizzi said of his thought process at the time.

After going through the hiring process and comparing resumes, Fattizzi said he decided that Ferraro made the most sense based on what his plans are for the future of Dixon Stage Left.

The theater closed its doors in May and moved its operations to 105 S. Peoria Ave., which allows the organization to consolidate all its operations under one roof, expand the theater’s capacity in the future and offer patrons first-floor access to the auditorium, according to an April news release from the organization.

Extensive renovations have been underway since early that month as the organization works to convert the old storefront into an auditorium and expects to reopen in early 2025.

Oct. 1 was Ferraro’s first official day. During his first week, the theater held auditions for its first production since April – an interactive dinner theater piece written by Ferraro.

“We’ve gotten a magnificent response for this murder mystery. We already sold out the first show and had to add a second performance,” Ferraro said.

The production “My Big Fat Italian Wedding Murder” is an interactive whodunit where audience members become the detectives trying to solve the murder that occurs during a traditional Italian wedding reception. It is showing at 6 p.m. Nov. 16 and 17 at the Dixon Elks Lodge, 1279 Franklin Grove Road, and includes a four-course meal, prizes for the audience and a cash bar.

Ferraro wrote the play back in 2001 by drawing inspiration from his own family’s weddings during the 1980s.

“I think it’s so important to write what you know and, of course, expand on it,” he said.

The production has toured in Florida, North Carolina, Arizona and Chicago, where it received the 2022 Post Readers’ Choice Award.

After its debut in Dixon, the theater plans on bringing it to a venue in Rock Falls as well, which is something it hopes to do for more of its productions in the future as it “introduces Stage Left to those who may not know us because they don’t live in Dixon. Hopefully, then they’ll start coming into Dixon, going to the restaurants and attending our shows,” Fattizzi said.

They’re also planning to kick off Stage Left’s “reader’s theater” in January.

Traditionally, a reader’s theater is when a playwright has written a work and brings in actors to do a reading of it without all the lights and movement of a full production. It gives the writer some feedback on their work from hearing it performed out loud.

In the past, Stage Left has put on its version of that concept using published works for the performance, but this year, it decided to change it up. Instead, Stage Left will be soliciting new unpublished works and select one of those works by using a crowd feedback system to produce the following year as a full onstage performance, Fattizzi said.

The idea is that “it kind of becomes like a theater festival,” Ferraro said.

For the upcoming 2025 season, the theater will be focusing more on musicals and comedies. It plans on holding the first production at the theater’s new location in March, even though renovations won’t be completely finished yet, Fattizzi said.

But now – in October – Stage Left is “actually ahead of schedule,” Fattizzi said.

On the first floor, the drop ceiling was removed, revealing the old tin tiles that the theater plans on restoring throughout the lobby, bar and bathroom areas. In the auditorium – which will seat 120 people – Fattizzi plans on coming up with a similar design “to carry that feel into the auditorium” because, unfortunately, it is not good for acoustics, Fattizzi said.

The second floor will be used for offices, rehearsal space and storage for props and costumes.

“It’s really nice to have everything in one building,” Fattizzi said.

Before the move, Stage Left had upward of four locations, including a separate box office, performance and rehearsal space, and several storage units.