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Joe Scalzo
 1967 seems like a long time ago all of a sudden. I grew up in Danbury in a pretty visible family. Dad and brothers had the floor covering store on Crosby Street, cousins and uncles were Scalzo Refrigeration.
I was the one my dad targeted for not being in the business. No tiles for Joe. Joe was to be a lawyer, a smart guy. My dad called me lots of names; The Canary was one, as you might remember, I loved to sing in every choir I could get in and performed Leads in all the musicals. The first one was My Fair Lady where I got to play Eliza Doolittle's father-Get me to The Church on Time etc...Funny because I was 16...now that I'm 56, I could actually play that guy his age!!! Oh well, I went to Hartwick College in Oneonta, NY and both loved it and fell in Love with Donna who is now an ex-wife, I have two of those by the way and a current wife I'll get to later.
I went to Georgetown University Law School in Washington, DC. For exactly three weeks...it took me three weeks to realize I had absolutely no intention of being a lawyer. I walked out in the middle of a lecture on Wills and Contracts and never went back. My dad didn't speak to me for almost a year, but he let me come back to Danbury and try to make a living. Exit wife number 1.
My aunt, Mary who always pushed me on-stage, said there were auditions at The Brookfield Playhouse for Cabaret...I rehearsed all day...When I got to the playhouse they had already given the Master of Ceremonies part to one of our High School teachers Larry??? Drama Class? Don't remember his last name. He was there. I told the director I wanted to audition for that part anyway. She at first shook her head, then said, what the hell.. go for it.
I wanted to act and sing again so bad...I blew them out of the water. Even Larry? Came over to me and said congratulations Joe.
It changed my life... that role, that play, that time, the fall of 71.
I formed a theatre company in Danbury then moved to NYC. I did a role on As the World Turns, then two Broadway plays, including one with Ted Knight Of The Mary Tyler Moore Show Called "Some of My Best Friends" and I did George Bernard Shaw's "Caeser and Cleopatra" at The Kennedy Center in Washington and at The Palace Theatre on Broadway with Rex Harrison as Caesar and Elizabeth Ashley as Cleopatra, what a trip! I played Rex's Egyptian head servant, I wore literally nothing but one of those little Egyptian pleated skirts and small gold hat. My body was covered with Egyptian Number Nine make up every night from head to toe literally. I got very chummy with the make-up girl. Anyway...
 I started with some partners The Actors Institute in New York, started with five students, a year later we had 500 Years there...Met and married wife #2 We were together 15 years with a Daughter and a Son. I lead The Mastery Of Acting Workshop all over; London, Paris, Dublin etc. By 1985 and the birth of my son I had enough of New York...We bought a house in Roxbury Ct. Not far From Stephen Sondheim.
I thought the money I made from selling my share of the institute would last me 6 years. It lasted 1 and 1/2. I sold Real Estate for two years, and then some friends from the 70's asked me to join JMW Consultants. I have been there ever since. I still travel all over the world. I have worked in 23 countries in 16 years. I have lived in Glasgow and Aberdeen Scotland, Shanghai, China Alaska, and both Perth and Sydney Australia...I met my wife Jane Chrystal an Australian in Sydney, her family owns a large farm 5 hours from Sydney. We are about to celebrate 8 amazing adventurous years.
I live in Washington Depot, CT. between New Milford and Litchfield. I love it here; my son is in College studying what else? Musical Theatre. My Daughter Kate is 23 and getting married in 06.
Like I said, 1967 seems like a long time ago, those four amazing years together were probably though some of the very best years of my life.
I will definitely be at the 40th...look forward to seeing and hearing from you...my email is joes@jmw.com
Joe
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