Ligouri BCAC Award

From the Broome Arts Mirror

Oct 1, 2010, by Barb Van Atta

At a press conference this morning at the Broome County Arts Council’s downtown Binghamton office, council Executive Director Sharon Ball and board chairman Fred Xlander announced that this year’s HOTA (Heart of the Arts) Awards will go to veteran union stagehand William “Billy” Carroll; Lou Ligouri, executive director of the Endicott Performing Arts Center, and Pam Ondrusek, president of the board of directors of S.R.O. Productions III.

BAMirror asked each honoree how he or she got into the arts, and why.

(Lou Ligouri’s response):

“I’ve been involved in performing arts almost all my life,” Ligouri said, citing junior high and high school choruses and a musical theater debut as “First Cockney” in a Union-Endicott High School production of “My Fair Lady.” “Our high school music instructor was Ruth Hughes. She encouraged me to continue with music and musical theater. She was a great teacher, and she gave me the confidence I needed to continue to perform on stage.

“At the same time, it was the mid ’60s, and the folk music revival was at its peak. … Some of my high school friends owned guitars, and soon I was drawn by the music to buy my own guitar. I taught myself to play using a Peter Paul & Mary song book, and I’ve enjoyed playing and singing folk music all my life,” added Ligouri, who needs little persuasion to join local folk favorite Cobblestone Crossing on stage whenever the quartet plays at EPAC.

Ligouri performed with his church’s theater group, “The St. Anthony Players,” when he was younger but drifted away from live theater when it conflicted with his jobs in insurance and later banking. But, in 1993, when the Players were resurrected to celebrate the church’s anniversary, he joined in. “I met many wonderful performers, and my love for theater began to grow once again. I met Patrick Foti there, and when he became director of The St. Anthony Players, I became his assistant director.” In 1998, a group of people who met through the Players decided to buy the dilapidated Towne movie theater on Washington Avenue in Endicott. They asked Foti and Ligouri to spearhead the renovation and operation of the theater portion of the building.

During the first five years of its existence, the Endicott Performing Arts Center operated totally with volunteers, but in 2003, Ligouri and Foti were asked by the EPAC board to become fulltime employees, the former as executive director and the latter as artistic director.

“There are many reasons why I do what I do,” Ligouri said. “I love music. It moves me emotionally. I truly enjoy the creative process. … Collaborating with (Foti) to produce the hundreds of shows here at EPAC has expanded my creative efforts in many areas. I believe in theater education and participation for young people because it offers them the opportunity to learn invaluable life skills in areas such as creativity, self-confidence, self-discipline and communication. It helps young people understand the importance of team work, practice and that there is no substitute for hard work. I enjoy using whatever talent that God has given me. And truly, I do enjoy the applause.”

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