VOLUNTEERING: Jackie Amigone
For nearly 24 years, she has volunteered behind the curtain at Blackfriars Theatre
By Mike Costanza
If you looked behind the curtain of a Blackfriars Theatre production, you might see Jackie Amigone back there helping to make it a hit.
For nearly 24 years, the Rochester resident has volunteered for the mid-sized professional theatrical company as the stage manager or assistant stage manager of various works.
“I have been involved in almost 50 productions,” said the 61-year-old, who gives as much as 25 hours a week to Blackfriars while working her full-time job.
Amigone developed a desire to work in the theater while a student at SUNY Fredonia. After acquiring a Bachelor of Arts degree in stage production, she headed to the New York City area, intent upon making her career in that field. Though she had some successes, after four years she realized that she couldn’t make a living in her chosen field and decided to seek work of a different kind.
Amigone eventually moved to Rochester and was impressed by Blackfriars’ production values. In 2001, the theatrical company gave her the chance to stage-manage “The Heiress,” a play by Augustus and Ruth Goetz.
“The stage manager is the director’s assistant and coordinator during the rehearsal process,” Amigone said. “Once the show opens, then they run the show and coordinate backstage operations.”
Since then, she’s thoroughly enjoyed volunteering for the theatrical company as a stage manager or assistant stage manager.
“You get the opportunity to be part of something that you can really be proud of,” she said. “That’s something that’s always been very important to me.”
She’s particularly proud of having stage-managed Blackfriars’s 2021 production of “Silent Sky,” a fictional play that’s based upon real events in the life of the astronomer Henrietta Swan Leavitt. Leavitt conducted astronomical research in the early 1900s, the results of which allowed other astronomers to measure the distances to faraway stars.
“Her work and her research essentially allowed us to determine the size of the universe,” Amigone said. “She was a very independent and strong and intelligent woman who was not recognized for her contributions because of her times.”
In addition to working full-time and giving her time and energy to Blackfriars, Amigone also sits on the board of the Astronomy Section, Rochester Academy of Science.
“I’m an astronomy enthusiast,” she said.