MOUNT CARMEL - It's deep into rehearsal for the Anthracite Citizens' Theatre's (ACT) production of "Annie" and director Ronnie Scicchitano is watching as cast members Tom Pat Noonan and Elyse Erdman go over the ending of the song "NYC." As the duo sings the final lines, Erdman picks up her head to sing, then falls back to sleep. Scicchitano offers a suggestion.
"Just carrying her like a baby doesn't work, maybe hold her so she can rest her head on your shoulder," Scicchitano said.
After running through the ending again, with the new staging, the director smiles.
"I really like that - really like it. Do it once again and make a mental note about what you are doing," he tells the actors.
The director's chair is very familiar to Ronnie Scicchitano, director of various ACT productions over the last 20 years.
A resident of Atlas, Scicchitano saw a need for the theater group after watching various Mount Carmel Area High School productions, then seeing the talent behind them slip away.
"I watched those productions and they were marvelous. When the kids who appeared in those shows graduated, some of them moved on to study their craft. The 90 percent that stayed had no outlet, so here we are," he said.
Rounding up a group that included himself, Ray Rothermel, Maria Scicchitano, Mary Jane Bradley, Jackie Matlow, Eleanor Greco, Rev. Rodney Henry, Marilyn Kanezo, Rose Hynoski and Wanda Smith, the Anthracite Citizens Theatre was born.
Starting with "A Night of One Acts," three one-act plays in one show, to the current production of "Annie," ACT continues to entertain audiences under Scicchitano's direction.
The theater group has had its ups and downs, but Schicchitano said that there are people it wouldn't survive without.
"You have people like Louanne Olson, who is by my side in every production. Things get done because of her. We could never do any musical production without Vic Boris or Sharon Styer. Also, the help that the Mount Carmel Area School District, school board and administration provides - we could not do what we do without their help."
Olson heaps the same praise onto him.
"Ronnie Scicchitano is ACT; there is no ACT without him," Olson says.
"When he is here, he worries about every aspect of the show," said friend and cast member Mark Porter Jr. "Outside of the director's chair, he is a big teddy bear, ready to help when he can."
Scicchitano has made an occasional, but rare, appearance in production - the last one being the most memorable.
"We were doing a production of "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" and I was singing on stage with another actor," he said. "He developed a nose bleed and had to leave the stage, so I had to fill time," he said.
For the next 10 to 15 minutes, Scicchitano improvised by telling jokes to keep the audience engaged.
"Vic was down with the pit band, going, 'Close the curtain!' and I looked at him and said, 'I sign your check, you're not closing the curtain on me,'"
In addition to his work with ACT Scicchitano is the owner-operator of a hair salon in Atlas boasting 51 years of experience, first, working in New York City before returning to the area to raise his children, Caprice Parisi and Aaron Scicchitano.
"I came back here because I didn't want to raise my kids in the city, and now one lives in Philadelphia and the other in Florida, and I'm still here," he joked.
But Scicchitano wouldn't have it any other way.
"Everyone that has worked with me through ACT, I consider lifelong friends," he says. "This organization has made great friendships, even a few marriages. Everyone wants to see it continue, and I'm happy that everyone is here to make that dream continue to come true." Name: Ronnie Scicchitano
Hometown: Atlas
Age: 67
Family: two children, Caprice Parisi, of Philadelphia, and Aaron Scicchitano, of Florida.
Education: 1962 graduate of Mount Carmel High School. Graduate of the Charles of the Ritz beauty school in New York City.
Occupation: Owner of a hair salon in Atlas.
Organization: Founder and director of Anthracite Citizens' Theatre since 1991.
Hobbies: Cooking and reading.