LIFESTYLE

Florence’s lifelong love affair with theatre

Kelcy Dolan
Posted 5/13/15

Theatre has been more than a hobby for Florence Pagliarini; it has been a love affair that has lasted her whole life.

From a young age theatre was not only a way to bond with love ones, but to …

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LIFESTYLE

Florence’s lifelong love affair with theatre

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Theatre has been more than a hobby for Florence Pagliarini; it has been a love affair that has lasted her whole life.

From a young age theatre was not only a way to bond with love ones, but to find new loves along the way.

The affair began when Florence was a young girl. She would attend operas at the Metropolitan Theatre in Providence with her grandfather, an Italian immigrant. She would join the older men in their standing ovations, fervently yelling “brava” to the actors.

She joked, “For Italian men, operas were like pop music. They knew every word and could sing along. That’s really when this all started.”

As she grew up, Florence, an only child, would accompany her mother on day trips to New York to see shows on Broadway.

Although the family was not “rich by any means,” for Florence was born in the “heart of the Depression,” the family had an appreciation for theatre and the arts, one they wanted to instill in Florence, an appreciation she fostered in her own two children, John Pagliarini and Karen Ferrara.

“I loved those trips. There was no thinking or theory to it, I was just enraptured with the stage.”

Then, while dating a set manager for Theatre by the Sea in Matunuck, Florence was able to attend the cast parties and was able to meet and interact with the stars of the show and get their autographs.

A collection of autographs that started so long ago has only continued to grow, almost exponentially. She has the play poster from many of the shows she has seen and a lot of them have the signatures from part of, if not the whole, cast. Framed posters line the walls of her home.

Florence has also kept the playbills of nearly every show she has ever seen; each has with it the tickets from the night and reviews. She has boxes filled with the playbills organized by the theatre she saw it in and then alphabetically by show name. Throughout her home she also has photographs and headshots of famous actors.

She joked, “Who else gets to wake up and find Cary Grant in their bathroom every day.”

Over the years Florence has been able to make lifelong friendships by finding others who have shared her passion.

When she first began teaching she met a young boy whose mother she taught with. The boy was “intoxicated” by theatre as Florence was, and because of their shared interest Florence became a mentor to Andrew. She even took him to his first play, “Phantom of the Opera,” while Michael Crawford was still the lead.

“We went on to have a tremendous friendship,” Florence said.

One of the strongest bonds Florence made through theatre was with her late husband, John Pagliarini. At the young age of 22, Florence went to Rhodes on the Pawtuxet with one of her friends when John came up to her and asked her to dance.

She said, “It was a beautiful night. He said he made up his mind about marrying me the minute he saw me.”

They got on the subject of their interests and found they both loved theatre and he invited her to go into Boston with him to see “Wonderful.” They were married a year later.

Building their life together, Florence and John would travel across the globe to see shows from around the world. They began a tradition of celebrating New Year’s Eve in another country and made a point to see a show for the holiday.

Although John passed more than five years ago, Florence continues to see shows frequently to keep the memory of her husband alive.

“Continuing to see shows keeps me fulfilled and keeps my husband always beside me,” Florence said. “This is what we loved to do together, and as long as I am alive and able to continue this lifestyle I will.”

Through her lifelong interest of theatre, Florence has been able to see some of the greatest actors perform and even met a few of them. She has seen Judy Garland and Barbra Streisand, Antonio Banderas and Marlon Brando in “A Street Car Named Desire” in 1948. During one scene, Brando had a monologue explaining how his house is run that Florence called “electrifying.”

“He stopped the show,” she said. “The whole place was silent and couldn’t believe what an amazing performance it was.”

Florence even got the chance to meet one of her favorite actors, Robert Redford, at the Pell Awards in 2002. He even signed one of her books.

“I felt like a teenager all over again,” Florence said. “I thought I would die; here I was looking at my idol. I couldn’t believe he was human.”

One of Florence’s favorite things is to follow up-and-coming actors and then follow them through their careers.

She said, “If you see a star early in their career when they make it you can say you saw them when. You can root for them along the way.”

Florence jokes that she could have a more “productive and cheaper hobby” but she is just so in love with theatre she couldn’t imagine not going to see shows.

She also enjoys movies, but Florence said that there is something about seeing live theatre that you just can’t explain.

“I like the idea of learning and experiencing a show various times,” Florence said.

Because there is a different director and cast, a show can always be new and reimagined through someone else’s interpretations.

“Your mind is never stagnant during a show. You are always embracing something beautiful and educational. Theatre is always stimulating and interesting,” she said.

Florence continues to see shows and often travels to New York to see shows on Broadway. She has a friend, a resident buyer for the boutique where she worked, who lives across from Carnegie Hall and keeps her updated on all the latest shows and actors.

“I could have a life beyond life if I lived in New York,” she said.

When now seeing shows, Florence enjoys her expansive collection of theatre memorabilia and has been archiving it, reliving her memories as she does so.

“It takes a lot of energy, strength and desire to do this,” she joked, “it never ends. My collection will always be a work in progress.”

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