‘The Barber of Seville’ comes to UCPAC
Light Opera of New Jersey presents Rossini’s “The Barber of Seville” at the Union County Performing Arts Center, 1601 Irving St., Rahway, on Saturday, Feb. 17, at 7:30 p.m. Bribery, deception and disguise: Rossini’s “The Barber of Seville” tells the story of two young lovers on a quest to be together. The main character, Figaro, needs all his wiles...
Confluences: Intersectional Visions of Italy
From January 27 2024 To April 07 2024. LOCATIONS: The Maria and Alberto da le Cruz Art Gallery and The Lucille M. & Richard F.X. Spagnuolo Art Gallery c/o Georgetown University Art Galleries - 3535 Prospect Street NW - Washington, DC 20007. The Italian Cultural Institute of Washington and the Georgetown University Art Galleries are thrilled to pres...
Italians in America – Our Immigrant Stories: From bustling deli to burgeoning beauty empire, family’s can-do spirit keeps on doing
Angela Scimeca’s parents emigrated from Sicilia around 1908 and settled in South Philadelphia, where they brought their passion for good food and entrepreneurship. They built a bustling store, Scimeca’s delicatessen, on the corners of Passyunk Avenue near Christian Street along with an even more bustling family of 11 children. When Angela was old e...
Route 71 Named in Honor of WWII Veteran John Tarantino
New Jersey Assemblyman Sean Kean has successfully spearheaded a bill to name a section of Route 71 in Spring Lake Heights in memory of World War II veteran John Tarantino. The bill (A4955), signed into law on Tuesday, designates mileposts 3.25 to 3.70 as the “John Tarantino Highway.” Tarantino, a Brooklyn native born to Italian immigrants in 1924,...
Italians in America – Our Immigrant Stories: ‘Reaching for more and succeeding’ might as well be the Bartolozzi family motto
Dr. Arthur Bartolozzi III’s father, Arturo II ( Junior, or Secondo), monitored the safety and chemistry of the water as health officer of Trenton, N.J., while his mother Maryann became renowned for her talent at knitting. She turned her gifted hands to cooking as well, crafting pasta in the finest shapes for a dinner she and her mother Maria hosted...
Musician, Academic, Entrepreneurial Expert: The Multi-faceted Career of Rudolph Phillip Lamone
Rudolph Phillip Lamone was born on December 20, 1931, in Wellsburg (population 6,398 in the 1930 Census), a town on the east bank of the Ohio River in the panhandle of West Virginia. His parents, Domenico Lamone and Maria Branchi Lamone, had emigrated from the Abruzzi region of Italy. Like many Italian-American boys growing up in hardscrabble area...
Great-great-grandfather started his new life as a 12-year-old stowaway on a ship out of Italy
My name is Katherine Perry, Kate for short, and I am a senior at Cape Henlopen High School. I am a fifth-generation Italian American on my mom’s side (the Perry side), and on my dad’s side (though the generation may not be the same). I have never thought about this concept much before nor took an interest in it till recently. I never knew that I ha...
The Italian Cultural Center officially opens in Delaware County
On Saturday, the doors will open to the Delaware Valley region's first Italian museum. It was a long road to this moment, and the curated collection is a historical celebration of the area's Italian roots. "Our goal is to showcase the greatness and the ingenuity of the Italians and what they've brought to America," says historian Michael DiPilla. T...
Scotch Plains Mourns The Loss of Fire Captain Carmen Grausso
The Scotch Plains Fire Department and the community at large mourn the loss of Fire Captain Carmen Grausso, who served the local community for more than four decades. Born in Plainfield, Carmen Grausso was a lifelong resident of Scotch Plains and a 1968 graduate of Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School. He was an active member of the Scotch Plains volu...
Bill Ronayne’s books, lectures and museum dedicated to the Lanza legacy
Bill Ronayne was just 7 when he became a fan of Mario Lanza, the tenor who was born in South Philadelphia in 1921 and made the cover of Time in 1951, when he starred in “The Great Caruso.” That fandom continues – even more so – today, with Ronayne semiretired and devoted to Lanza as president of the Mario Lanza Institute and Museum in Philadelphia,...
Italian stonemasons left mark on Bramwell
Guiglielmin Peraldo immigrated to America to earn money for his family back home in Piedicavallo, Italy. He was one of several stonemasons in his hometown in Piedmont, on the Swiss border. Unfortunately, he lost his life July 27, 1892, in a fall from a high stone column while working on a railroad trestle at Gauley Bridge, W.Va. Peraldo’s death lef...
Rehoboth nears installation of Italian terracotta fountain
Years in the making, a terracotta fountain from Italian artist Enzo Zago is expected to be installed in Rehoboth Beach’s Garden of the Navigators shortly after the new year. The city made the announcement on its Facebook page Dec. 21. Sposato recently poured the concrete pad, and the fountain is scheduled to be placed and plantings installed by ear...