This fall semester brought a notable change in the arts department at
‘Right now I’m obviously focused on the department 24/7. I’m in a profession that I love,’ he said.
A native of’ Long Island, Mangano’s career has taken him to numerous cities in the
‘It was a wonderful training ground. I was very lucky,’ he said.
Even with his’ success as an actor,’ Mangano still hoped to fulfill his life-long dream of becoming a director. In order to do so, he returned to school. ‘ ‘Even when I was in high school, I felt directing was my path,” Mangano continued.
Mangano received a Master of Fine Arts from
He also studied history and architecture, with an emphasis on European history, at
Mangano is a firm believer in the traditional Bachelor of Arts as opposed to a Bachelor in Fine Arts. He said many schools are developing an interest in specializing as a method of training young professionals.
‘I find the problem with that is the restriction. They specialize at such a young age before I think they really know what they want to do and therefore not exposed to a wide range of subjects,’ he said.
Mangano said exposure can help students find their interests and passions, and if in fact they are committed to a career in theater arts, having a broad background will make them better equipped. ‘We are losing that in education today, completely losing that,’ he said, ‘to pre-professional trade schools.’
After finishing his education,’ Mangano had a professional opportunity in
‘I’m really fond of
It was this connection he felt when formed the Garson Theatre Company’ there three years ago, the Garson Theatre Company. The Company’ was housed and sponsored by the
‘The company is based on a belief that universities are great resources for theater and are under used in a country where the government’s support for theater arts has always been negligent,’ he said.
Mangano said if more professional companies were associated with academic universities then theater would be thriving. In regards to the Garson Theatre Company, he takes ‘great pride in the fact that it’s still up and running and is still dedicated to new work.’
As a strong advocate for new work, Mangano said one of the best organizations dedicated to this was the Humana Festival, which is part of the Actors Theatre of Louisville, Kentucky.
‘Who would have thought that
Of the many examples of Mangano’s work with live theater would be his experience directing two theater pieces, the international tour of ‘The Cave’ and the world premiere of ‘Three Tales,’ composed by long-term associate Steve Reich.
This November marks the third time that they will be working together while in
Another example of Mangano’s work evolved from a horrific tale. He had left
‘In 2001, what I witnessed there were riots as a result of the shooting and death of an African American boy, 19 years old, by a white police officer,’ he said.
At the time, he was teaching a class called Alternative Form. His students spent three years interviewing various people about this devastating experience. From this, Mangano created ‘When the End of the World Comes’hellip; A Collaborative Piece about Race Relations in
‘I’m drawn to work that really reflects the world we live in,’ said Mangano. In this piece, he had blacks play whites and whites play blacks specifically for the purpose of gaining experience outside of their own. It is indeed a work that reflected the world we live in, ‘and I’d really like to foster that type of work here,’ he said.
‘I think it’s time for the arts to flourish and clearly there is a commitment from the president of the university for the arts to develop,’ Mangano said.
When asked what his goal was for SBU, he said it was simple: ‘To make theater arts at Stony Brook one of the top programs in the university,’ he said.