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YSU Theater Director Frank Castronovo will bow out after 4 decades A heckuva run
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Director Frank Castronovo (center, rear), with “1940s Radio Hour” cast members Joey Alvey, Natalie Martzial and Connor Bezeredi.
By GUY D’ASTOLFO
YOUNGSTOWN
Things were a lot different when Frank Castronovo started teaching theater at Youngstown State University.
It was 1971, and YSU had become a state institution only four years prior. Today’s modern, manicured campus didn’t exist — the homes and buildings of the old neighborhood still stood.
Theater classes fell under the communications department back then, and took place in Jones Hall. Plays were staged in the building’s gym with portable platforms forming a stage.
But in the ensuing four decades, theater blossomed at YSU, and Castronovo played a lead role in its growth and transformation. Today, theater is a stand-alone department within the university. It is nationally accredited and boasts two modern performance venues.
Castronovo is the director of the department, but he is nearing the final act. He will retire when the current school year ends.
The last play he’ll direct will be “1940s Radio Hour,” which opens Thursday.
During a break in his duties last week, Castronovo looked back on his four decades at YSU.
It is with some trepidation that he ends his academic career, he said. But it’s clear he does it with a sense of satisfaction.
The most rewarding aspect of his day was working with students. “It’s the only reason you put yourself through this,” he said. “The transfer of knowledge.”
Castronovo is the second long-time faculty member to leave the department in two years. Professor Dennis Henneman retired last year, and has since been replaced by Matthew Mazuroski. A search committee will be formed to find a replacement for Castronovo.
“The old guard is leaving,” noted Castronovo, who credits his colleagues with the growth of theater at YSU, especially Henneman and former Professor William Holsopple, who was the only other theater instructor at YSU when he started and was the former chief.
“Transforming the department has never been a single person’s effort,” he said. “We all shared a vision to make the theater department something more.”
The theater department is located in Bliss Hall, where it utilizes Ford Theater, a traditional auditorium with a proscenium stage, and Spotlight Arena Theater, with its flexible blackbox design.
Castronovo is a native of northern New Jersey. He has a bachelor’s degree in theater from Cleveland’s Case Western Reserve University, and also holds a master’s degree from the University of Arizona and a doctorate from Kent State University.
He has done it all in his career — directing, script analysis, theater history, and enough acting “to know what they go through” — but prefers directing and teaching.
Many of his students have gone on to have careers in theater, the most famous being Ed O’Neill, star of ABC’s “Modern Family.”
A highlight of Castronovo’s tenure was the formation of the Department of Theater and Dance. Prior to 2007, theater was part of the communication and theater department.
Becoming an independent department — and adding dance to it, which had been part of the exercise science curriculum — gave both curricula a higher profile.
“This was always our goal,” said Castronovo, who has been director of theater since 2001.
He is pleased that dance was brought into the fold in recent years. “It belongs [in the same department with theater],” he said. “Dance is the closest discipline to theater. It is theater without words.”
Another milestone was earning accreditation by the National Association of Schools of Theater. “It’s a feather in our cap,” said Castronovo. “Only 160 out of 1,000 schools [that offer theater] have the accreditation.”
The status, he said, enables YSU to attract serious theater students.