Following Your Art

Scratch the surface of most anything—a wall, a canvas …a person—and you’re bound to find layers of what you might least expect—surprising, delightful, sometimes shocking …but nearly always interesting.

Scratch the surface of longtime Darien resident Carole Claps, a talented actress, dancer, singer and prolific past volunteer for more than 20 years at the Darien Arts Center (DAC) and you’ll discover an incredible story of shared beginnings, forever friends and the many types of success they found on stage—and off. It centers on Stage Door for Youth (SDY), a local theatre group started by two 16-year-olds in 1963. Carole joined in 1965. It was just a bunch of local kids doing what they loved years before the world knew them …locals like award-winning actor Treat Williams, Tony Award-winning director & playwright James Lapine, multi-talented Broadway choreographer Wayne Cilento, and the first male supermodel Carmine “Tony” Spinelli, among others.

Such a collection of talent. All locally born and raised. You never can tell where young passions may lead, and the impact the connections made while pursuing them can have on a life. As the former members of SDY gather for a reunion on Saturday, May 13th in Stamford, here’s Carole’s story.

The year was 1963 and the event that changed the lives of so many young people in Fairfield County, including me, was the formation of Stage Door for Youth (SDY). Founded by 16-year-old visionaries Tana Sibilio and Charlie Clute, it became an oasis for everyone who signed up to “put on a show.” For me, SDY meant summers of fun and dedication that sealed my love for the performing arts.

Thousands of stage struck youngsters between the ages of 14 and 21 would spend their entire summers on stage and backstage during the 12 years SDY existed—learning what it meant to be part of a dedicated theater company, whether acting, singing, dancing, playing in the pit or designing and building sets, hanging lights or discovering the importance that sound plays in a musical. Our director, the late Joe Catalinotto, was tough. He yelled. He was demanding. He gave us discipline. We gave him shows the newspapers said were worthy of Broadway. We loved him. What we learned from him on the stage during those magical summer nights could never be taught in a classroom.

Most of my closest friendships date back to that time at SDY, including Toni DeCarlo who, at age 15, already was choreographing. DeCarlo was a preliminary judge for Darien’s Got Talent; she choreographed musical productions for the DAC; and was production manager for Darien’s Bicentennial.

Tony Spinelli went from playing Bernardo in SDY’s 1968 production of West Side Story to becoming one of the most successful male models of all time.

Treat Williams, who got his start at SDY, and Wayne