mcd14526 and GreenMan415:
I had the pleasure and honor of meeting Michael DeAngelis in the late 1980’s (see my post in Oriental Theatre Rochester PA). We also corresponded over the next the decade. I sought him out looking for information about the Oriental and discovered quickly that the real treasure was the architect!
I grew up in Rochester, PA and had the pleasure of seeing “The Sound Of Music” in the Oriental a few years before it closed. I became an architect and in the late 1980’s moved back to Rochester. In doing research on the Oriental (which helped inspire my choice of career), I tracked down Michael DeAngelis Architect firm in Rochester NY. I took a shot in the dark and called the office, hoping to talk to someone who once knew him and hopefully his early work. HE answered the phone. He was so sharp, and entertaining – clearly remembered every detail about the Oriental, the family that built it – plus he had some great stories. The phone call was not enough. I asked if I could visit and a few weeks later we spent the day together in his office in Rochester NY talking about the Oriental, his other theatres, his career, and the time he punched David L. Lawrence (later mayor of Pittsburgh and governor of PA) in the nose on the steps of the state capital! He told me he was a direct descendent of Michelangelo (he said he had proof from the Vatican!). He was a great story teller and self-promoter, but I believe him. He still worked, loved architecture, loved people, and loved cigars. He died at age 94 in 1999, about a year after our last correspondence. I had the honor of putting him in touch with Leonard and Ken Winograd of the family that built the Oriental in 1931 and the three reconnected and reminisced. By the way, he was 25 years old when he designed the Oriental.
mcd14526 and GreenMan415: I had the pleasure and honor of meeting Michael DeAngelis in the late 1980’s (see my post in Oriental Theatre Rochester PA). We also corresponded over the next the decade. I sought him out looking for information about the Oriental and discovered quickly that the real treasure was the architect!
I grew up in Rochester, PA and had the pleasure of seeing “The Sound Of Music” in the Oriental a few years before it closed. I became an architect and in the late 1980’s moved back to Rochester. In doing research on the Oriental (which helped inspire my choice of career), I tracked down Michael DeAngelis Architect firm in Rochester NY. I took a shot in the dark and called the office, hoping to talk to someone who once knew him and hopefully his early work. HE answered the phone. He was so sharp, and entertaining – clearly remembered every detail about the Oriental, the family that built it – plus he had some great stories. The phone call was not enough. I asked if I could visit and a few weeks later we spent the day together in his office in Rochester NY talking about the Oriental, his other theatres, his career, and the time he punched David L. Lawrence (later mayor of Pittsburgh and governor of PA) in the nose on the steps of the state capital! He told me he was a direct descendent of Michelangelo (he said he had proof from the Vatican!). He was a great story teller and self-promoter, but I believe him. He still worked, loved architecture, loved people, and loved cigars. He died at age 94 in 1999, about a year after our last correspondence. I had the honor of putting him in touch with Leonard and Ken Winograd of the family that built the Oriental in 1931 and the three reconnected and reminisced. By the way, he was 25 years old when he designed the Oriental.