Remembrances Of Manteo Family: Screening Later Today At Italian American Museum In Little Italy
The Italian American Museum cordially invites you to attend Sicilian Theater in Little Italy: Remembrances of the Manteo Family
Editor’s note: Here is a brief bio of the puppeteer from National Endowment for the Arts: Miguel “Mike” Manteo was born September 2, 1909, in Medosa, Argentina. His parents, originally from Catania, Sicily, moved to Argentina around 1900, bringing with them the marionette theater they had inherited from their forebears. In 1919, the family, led by grandfather Agrippino Manteo, moved to New York City, where they opened another theater, Papa Manteo’s Life-Sized Marionettes, in Little Italy. Agrippino ran an electrical business by day and staged marionette performances at night, assisted by his wife, Catarina, who collected quarters at the door, and his four sons and a daughter helping backstage.
“I started out as a kid cranking the pianola — an old hurdy-gurdy,” Mike said. “But whenever my grandfather wasn’t around, I’d practice handling the puppets. All the while he pretended not to know. I guess he figured it would kill my interest if he was always looking over my shoulder. Eventually, I was allowed to manipulate the marionettes onstage, and my father came down to direct the show from the wings.”
Panel Discussion and Film Screening
Saturday, March 15th, 3:00 pm, 151 Mulberry Street, New York, NY 10013
Step into the world of Little Italy in 1919 when the Manteo family brought their Sicilian puppet theater to Mulberry Street from across the world. This form of entertainment proved to be the most popular for Italians in America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. While several theaters existed, the Manteo Theater, was the last in New York to execute the artform, performing through the 1980s.
Join us as we meet members of the Manteo family and hear their stories and recollections firsthand. We will also be joined by Anna Lomax Wood, a public folklorist who worked with Italian immigrants from Sicily and Dr. Jo Ann Cavallo, (Italian Chair, Columbia University) author of her award-winning book, The Sicilian Puppet Theater of Agrippino Manteo (1884-1947): The Paladins of France in America alongside the Museum’s Curator Janine Cortese Coyne. The presentation is accompanied by a film screening of It’s One Family: Knock on Wood (1982), directed by Tony De Nonno, 23 minutes.
Then explore the Museum’s rare set of puppets on view from the permanent collection, donated by the Manteo Family in our current exhibit, Sicilian Theater in Little Italy: The Return of the Manteo Puppets.
Saturday, March 15th, 3:00 pm
$25 per person
Italian American Museum
151 Mulberry Street
New York, NY 10013
Banner Image: Event graphic. Image Credit – Italian American Museum
Italian American Museum
Logo A NEW HOME IN THE HEART OF LITTLE ITALY New Exterior The new Italian American Museum (IAM) will serve as a cultural hub and community nexus for Italian Americans and the Little Italy neighborhood. Through permanent and temporary exhibits, robust educational and cultural programming, and collaborations with the community, the IAM will become the preeminent center for learning about and engaging with Italian as a platform for sharing Italian American voices and celebrating Italian American achievements, the IAM will be interesting to both Italian Americans and non-Italian Americans, bringing Italian American culture and heritage to younger generations and a wide range of new audiences. The Italian American Museum preserves, promotes, and celebrates the culture and history of Italian Americans, serving as living record of their contributions to America and a bridge between the remarkable past and the evolving future of the community. By allowing Italian Americans to share their story in their voice, the Italian American Museum will encourage a full appreciation of what it means to be Italian American. News Progress Photos Building Update / Annual Appeal Dear friends, We are pleased to report that we have topped off our new building and the new brick facade is being applied. Below please find pictures of the new building and the brick facade. Topping off the building Close up of the new brick facade View of the brick facade on our building Due to COVID-19 we have postponed all of our fundraising activities for the year including our annual Golf Classic and Ambasciatore Awards dinner. However, we ask that you be as generous as possible during this time of our Annual Appeal since it will be our sole fundraiser for 2021. Please know that we sincerely appreciate your contributions and that funds raised will be used to support the construction for the new building. We do so look forward to seeing you again at the reopening of the “New” Italian American Museum in Fall 2022. We will be bigger and better than ever before. Thank you for your continued support of our Italian American Museum. Andrà tutto bene! Respectfully, Uff. Prof. Joseph V. Scelsa Italian American Museum 19th Annual Golf Classic to be held on Monday, June 6th at North Hills Country Club. North Hills Country Club Exhibitions The New Italian American Museum: Architectural renderings and model for the forthcoming newly designed museum. OUR STORY FROM COLUMBUS TO CUOMO From our beginnings in Little Italy The IAM is located on Mulberry Street in the heart of what was once the largest Italian community in the United States in the first quarter of the 20th century. We became aware of the need for our own Museum in 1999, with the launch of the first major exhibition on Italians in America at the New York Historical Society, “The Italians of New York: Five Centuries of Struggle and Achievement”. The exhibit was a great success and we realized that in order to be part of the cultural dialogue in America, we needed our own Museum. So in 2001, we were chartered in New York State as the first Italian Museum in America. In our Museum, we seek to tell our whole story from Columbus to Cuomo and everything in between, our struggles and our accomplishments through hard work, ingenuity and perseverance. It has not always been easy but we have much to be proud of, for our contributions to American society are enormous. Now we will have a secular cathedral for all to see, experience and appreciate where we came from and what we have achieved.
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