Sam Scalamoni, a township native, established a theater company presenting at Oakside Cultural Center.
The Skyline Theatre Company, located right here in Bloomfield, will be commemorating its 25th anniversary next year as a venue for theater and concerts.
Its artistic director is Sam Scalamoni, who grew up in the township and graduated from Bloomfield High School in 1980. He started the company with BHS drama teacher Harry Berkeiser. Scalamoni had appeared on the high school stage stage in “Mary Poppins” and “Guys and Dolls,”
“Harry and I became great friends,” he said last week at a Broad Street diner. “We decided to start a theater company. It’s still going strong.”
Skyline began in Bergen County where Berkeiser was then teaching. Three years ago it moved to Bloomfield. Scalamoni, who had appeared on the New York stage, said many of his theater colleagues were moving to Bloomfield.
“There was a lot happening here,” he explained. “So, I reached out to Mayor Jen Mundell and Michael Sceurman, over at the recreation department. They were 100 percent behind the move.”
Berkeiser died in 2014 and Scalamoni said that had something to do with the eventual move.
“But there were a lot of things going on in town here and I thought it would be a good thing to have something in Bloomfield,” he said. “We started at the Oakside Cultural Center and then the Children’s Theatre, at the public library. I remember the Children’s Theater as a kid.”
Skyline produces five events a year — concerts, musicals and plays. It did two concerts this year including a reading of a bilingual musical titled “Parasita” or Little Clown.
Scalamoni’s professional undertakings include “Les Miserable,” on Broadway, a national tour of “Pippin,” with Ben Vereen and a musical version of “Cyrano de Bergerac.” For 24 years, he was the associate director for “Beauty and the Beast” and directed “Elf” for 12 years, on six continents, Madison Square Garden and the Kennedy Center.
“I started out in Talent Time as a nine-year-old,” he said. “It was a production of ‘The Music Man’ and I was hooked right away. I knew it was what I had to do. I did a couple of shows with Talent Time and then started taking the 33 DeCamp bus to New York and started auditioning right after I graduated from high school. I started working in regional theater and got cast for ‘Les Mis’ before my 10th high school reunion.”
That he was an actor came as no surprise to his classmates.
“I was always performing,” he said. “I sang in the choir and the Madrigals. I made all-state choir multiple times. I even sang the ‘National Anthem’ at Foley Field before football games.”
Skyline has a small staff — five people who run the company. Others are hired show-to-show. Auditions are held in New York City. The upcoming holiday show is “Joy Meets Girl,” a romantic comedy having its world premiere, Dec. 13, 14, 20 and 21, at Oakside Cultural Center.
“We’re hoping Skyline is a springboard for new works like this,” Scalamoni said.
The theater is non-profit with support from foundations, grants, individual sponsors and ticket sales. Anthony’s Cheesecake provides a discount to ticketholders
“We’re hoping Skyline brings something new to this area without the cost of crossing the river,” he said. “We’ll be bringing some of that magic to New Jersey.”
For “Joy Meets Girl,” several rooms at Oakside will be used with the audience moving from place-to-place.
“We’re working on our 25th season,” he said. “We hope to have a variety of performances to herald our anniversary. We’ll announce this in January. I really didn’t think Skyline would last this long. But coming to Bloomfield, it’s coming home and just great bringing our professional experience to the community.”
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