Local Artist Stages Revival of Theater in Malverne

Looking around the room at all of his gifted students, young men and women who had grown from timid teens to talented, confident performers, Dave Coonan was not ready to say goodbye. As a teacher of English, journalism and theater at Hicksville High School, he had found a way to combine his three loves, while working with a great group of students and faculty.

"I really liked what I did," said Coonan, 28, who now lives in Lynbrook, but grew up in Malverne.

Since coming to the Hicksville High School in 2008, he had staged several dramatic and comedic plays and helped hundreds of students grow as actors and individuals. However, as the school year came to a close in 2010, he learned that he longer had a job. On his last day, he looked around at the all the faces of the students he had taught to hone their craft, value the arts and pursue their dreams, and he realized he needed to start practicing what he preached.

"It was really the kids who inspired me to stop talking about what I'd like to do and start doing it," said Coonan, who had been toying with the idea of starting a community theater company in his hometown for nearly a decade.

"I knew Malverne would be the perfect place to do this because there is a history of theater here and residents support the arts," he said. "There is the potential to do great things."

During the 1920s, Malverne was home to many vaudeville sensations and other performers, including Frank Britton Wenzel, who had an illustrious career in show business. The Malverne Club Players, the first community theater group in the village, was established in 1921 and staged productions for two years until the curtain fell on their last show in 1923. For decades, the village was without community theater until a group of thespians led by Sal Zaccaro formed the Malverne Theatre Company in 1966. For over four years, the company, under Zaccaro's direction, put on noteworthy performances, including"Oedipus Rex," "Anastasia," "The Odd Couple," "Finian's Rainbow," and several original one act plays at its spring art festivals. An article in the Malverne Herald published in May 1968, described the theater company as "a mecca for playgoers who demand the best productions right at their door."  The group also attracted the attention of other news outlets including Newsday, The Long Island Press, and The Helm-Review. Despite its success, the company disbanded in 1969.

Coonan had heard the abridged version of the history of theater in Malverne, while attending Malverne High School, where he was an active member of the theater program. He originally planned to work on the school productions behind the scenes, but in his freshman year, the theater director "tricked" him into reading for the part of the dentist in the musical, Little Shop of Horrors. He nailed it and made his stage debut. From that day, he was hooked. He performed in several shows during his high school career. He took on straight plays ("The Lottery" and "Trifles") and musicals, including "Peter Pan," "Flower Drum Song,"and  "Grease," in which he played "Knicky."

He credits his high school theater director for giving him the push he needed to pursue his dream of performing and helping him grow as an actor. He even stayed in contact with him after he graduated, working with him on productions he directed throughout Long Island.

"He's my dramatic mentor," Coonan says. "The guy is brilliant, and his shows are awesome."

When Coonan found himself at a cross roads in college, questioning whether he should take a break from theater to purse a newfound passion, journalism, it was his mentor who assured him that it was okay to chase after other dreams too.

"I was afraid of losing it forever," Coonan recalls. "But my mentor said, 'You don't lose talent. It will always be there for you when you're ready for it.'"

"It eased my mind knowing I could do both," says Coonan.

And who was this master of theater, man of wisdom, mentor of Dave Coonan?

His students called him Mr. Zaccaro, but the theater world knew him as Sal or S.A. Zaccaro, the former director of the now defunct Malverne Theatre Company.

"When I found out he was one of the founders of the [past theater company] it seemed symbolic," Coonan said. "He was the one who planted the theater seed in me."

Coonan decided it was only right that he should breath new life into his mentor's legacy.

"I've always been ambitious," Coonan said, as he reminisced how he had tried to start a theater group in the village twice before, when he was only a teenager, but both times his projects "fizzled."

"I was inexperienced then," he added.

This time around he's bringing in some big help. Ron Parrella, a Brooklyn resident who used to run a performing arts group in the '80s and '90s when he was a resident of Malverne, will be assisting him. Cathy Temps, who worked with Coonan on several shows for Hicksville High School, will serve as his technical director.

"She can building anything and we make one hell of a team," Coonan said.

Also, on his board of directors is Rose Tummarello and ofcourse, Zaccaro, his mentor. Robert Powers, president of Malverne's historical society, also came to his aid. 

Coonan has already selected a name, Malverne Repertory Company, designed a logo and business cards, and a Web site is under construction. Click here to check it out. Personal issues put the brakes on the project in recent months, but now he's ready to take his plans to the next stage and hopes to be working on the company's first production in 2011.

"I don't want it to be typical community theater," Coonan says. "I want it to be artistic and creative, and not just for entertainment purposes. 

He said he doesn't care if the play is well-known, in fact he would prefer to be the person who introduces his audience to a lesser known piece of work by a great playwright.

"The first play needs to be interesting and have that 'Wow factor,'" he said.

Then, the teacher in him spoke out, adding, "There will be a learning aspect. That's just who I am."