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Oregon Cabaret Theatre Artistic Director Jim Giancarlo dies By Teresa Thomas Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Teresa Thomas Mail Tribune Posted Aug. 6, 2014 at 3:04 PM Updated Aug 6, 2014 at 9:11 PM By Teresa Thomas Mail Tribune Posted Aug. 6, 2014 at 3:04 PM Updated Aug 6, 2014 at 9:11 PM » RELATED CONTENT • Oregon Cabaret's new owners are wife-husband team » Social News Members of Southern Oregon’s theater community are mourning the loss of their mentor, director, teacher, fellow dancer and friend, Jim Giancarlo, who died unexpectedly early Wednesday morning at the age of 66. “Today, I've been fielding calls from people up and down the West Coast — actors, singers, dancers, gypsies, students and others whose lives he touched,” said local actor and singer John Stadelman. “They all loved him. It’s an incredible legacy he’s left.” Giancarlo was born and raised in Buffalo, N.Y., earned a visual arts degree from SUNY College at Buffalo and, at the age of 25, moved to San Francisco where he founded Trenchmouth Musical Productions. His dance and theater pursuits later took him to Ashland, then to Seattle and then back to Ashland. In 1986, Giancarlo, together with Craig Hudson, founded Oregon Cabaret Theatre, where he worked as artistic director for the last 27 years. “He was the Cabaret," Hudson said. "There were a bunch of us who were good starters, but he kept everything up and running. He gave me a lot of credit, but ultimately, he took a good idea and made it work. "He had the temperament to get a bunch of artistic people going in one direction, which wasn't always easy," Hudson said. "Jim really was a great person." Stadelman and Giancarlo co-wrote “The Holiday Broadcast of 1943,” “Fascinating Rhythm” and "Kickin' the Clouds Away." Stadelman also performed in several of the shows Giancarlo choreographed and directed for OCT. The two performers have been friends for nearly 30 years. “Jimmy did what he loved — theater and dance,” Stadelman said. “But what was unique to Jimmy was that he ran a business like (the Oregon Cabaret Theatre) with such an understated charm. People who are theatrical tend to be big. Big energy. Big personality. But Jimmy was as smooth as the surface of a pond. He was gracious, and he managed everything without flurry or drama. It was how he danced, too. Smooth.” Giancarlo started teaching musical theater at Southern Oregon University in 1990 and also established the school’s musical theater minor, which, sadly, was one of the minors recently eliminated as part of SOU's retrenchment plan. Suzanne Seiber also taught musical theater at SOU and was Giancarlo’s “lifelong dance partner.” At one point, they were even roommates. “We met dancing for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in 1976,” Seiber said. “We did dance concerts together. We taught tap classes together. We both taught dance, musical theater and tap at SOU. And then, when he started at the Cabaret, he hired me, and I got to be directed by him a lot. “We’ve spent years on the boards together,” Seiber said. In addition to dancing, Seiber said Giancarlo was an excellent cook, enjoyed collage and drawing, loved traveling, and had an eye for color and a “wicked sense of humor.” “He also showed me that tofu can be good,” she said. Seiber said her favorite dance with Giancarlo was a Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire number, featured in “Fascinating Rhythm.” “I really loved that,” she said. “I’m disappointed that we won’t get to dance together anymore.” In 1991, Giancarlo asked Livia Genise to co-direct “The Mystery of Irma Vep.” Genise, who is now the artistic director for Camelot Theatre Company, said it was her first directing job. Since then, Giancarlo and Genise were friends and colleagues, and although they worked for different theaters, they were never competitors. “He always said the theater community was one community and we were in it together,” Genise said. “Oh God, he’ll be missed,” she said. Ashland singer and actress Presila Quinby described Giancarlo’s passing as “the end of an era.” “He was a great dancer and a great choreographer and an all-around great person with a very relaxed manner and a great sense of humor,” she said, laughing as she recalled Giancarlo and Richard Jessup chanting Hayes Code (also known as Motion Picture Production Code) as they rehearsed a tap number from “A Day in Hollywood, a Day in the Ukraine.” Quinby said she studied jazz dance under Giancarlo in the late ‘70s. “When he danced, it was as if the music was pulling him into different shapes and pulling him across the stage,” she said. “And that’s the way his choreography was.” Genise said Giancarlo would often cast his productions at Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts in Santa Maria, Calif. “He found a lot of his actors in that program and would give them their first professional gigs,” she said. Quinby said Giancarlo kept a list of people who couldn't afford to attend shows. When there was a dress rehearsal or show with minimal attendance, he would contact them and give them free admission. “He was the most gentle, kindest person I've ever worked with,” said OCT General Manager Julie Gurwell. “He was truly a remarkable colleague. He listened to everybody and valued us as human beings.” OCT is now in its 29th season and currently staging its 138th production, “Ain’t Misbehavin’.” Two more shows – “Backwards In High Heels” and “It’s A Wonderful Life – A Live Radio Play” – are scheduled for later this season. “The show will go on,” Gurwell said. “That’s what he would have wanted.” Reach reporter Teresa Thomas at 541-776-4497 or [email protected]. Follow her at www.twitter.com/teresathomas_mt. By Teresa Thomas Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Teresa Thomas Mail Tribune Posted Aug. 6, 2014 at 3:04 PM Updated Aug 6, 2014 at 9:11 PM » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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