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Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Veteran stagehand D’Aloia dies
There are actors and directors in Dayton theater who have received more applause. Few, if any, have had a hand in more professional productions than Nelson D’Aloia.
The longtime stagehand and head carpenter at the Victoria Theatre died March 14.
Inducted into the Dayton Theatre Hall of Fame in 2005, Mr. D’Aloia joined the Dayton local (Local 66) of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees in 1961.
For much of the next three decades, he traveled the country with first-run Broadway tours starring the likes of Carol Channing, Dorothy Lamour, Pearl Bailey, Robert Preston, Mary Martin, Lauren Bacall, Yul Brynner, Joel Grey and Tommy Tune.
He came back to Dayton during the summers to work backstage for Kenley Players theater productions at Memorial Hall and other shows.
After serving as an advisor on the renovation of the Victoria Theatre, he was hired as house carpenter there in 1991, a position one colleague described as “god of the stage.”
His leadership and mentoring are two reasons why Dayton audiences are accustomed to productions that run smoothly and why the city is still known by touring companies as one with first-rate stage crews. Stagehands are not created equal.
Before retiring, he supervised the backstage for virtually every one of the city’s resident performing arts groups.
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