Profiles

For Jeff-award winning actress Paula Scrofano, the journey to accomplished actress began from childhood; growing up in the Cleveland area, she was surrounded by art, music and the magic of Italian culture — which explains how she learned at least a dozen songs in Italian by her high school years. The daughter of a Sicilian father (from the town of Augusta) and a Czech-Hungarian mother, the Riverside, Ill. resident stars as Frau Schmidt in “The Sound of Music.” This Chicago-area production of the award-winning Rodgers and Hammerstein musical runs through Jan. 8, 2013 — you read correctly, 2013 — at …

Opera owes much to Italian culture, but you might be hard pressed to find young, talented Italian Americans carrying the torch in large numbers these days. So it’s a good thing soprano Jamie-Rose Guarrine has stepped up. At the tender age of 33, she’s turning heads for her work with the Sante Fe Opera, the Chicago Opera Theater and the Utah Opera — where Opera News praised her portrayal of Susanna in “Le Nozze di Figaro” as “light, flexible and vibrant — well suited to the part of a scheming maid and romantic ing?nue.” “I was extremely fortunate to grow …

There’s a long tradition of great Italian rock drummers, from Dick Boccelli (Bill Haley and the Comets) to Carmine Appice (Rod Stewart) and Terry Bozzio (Frank Zappa). That’s the old guard; make way for the new: Chicago’s Dan Leali has performed with everyone from Grammy-nominated artist Peter Himmelman to jazz-funk group Liquid Soul (with whom he shared a Grammy nomination for the 2000 recording “Here’s the Deal”). And if you’ve seen Leali play, look out: Here’s a guy who does it all, from sweet finesse timekeeping to powerhouse throb to demolish a brick wall. “My older sister had had a …

There is an old saying in Italian culture: “Families are like a fortress.” Tucked away in west suburban River Forest are two small businesses started by an Italian immigrant who wanted to create a fortress for his family and a business for his five children. Frank Bertolli is the proud owner of Bertolli’s River Pizza and Frank’s Deli, located at 7973 and 7971 Lake Street respectively. All five of his children — Carlo, Tony, John, Nora and Marilda — have had a hand in Bertolli’s success. Bertolli was born in 1949 in Mola di Bari. He came to the United …

When a young man works behind a deli at age 15, does he dream one day of owning it? Pat Roberto did. Most high schoolers work evenings, weekend and summers mowing lawns, babysitting or painting homes. But Roberto’s part-time job blended his Italian heritage with his quest for the future. “I had jobs here and there at Calabria Imports,” describes Roberto. “I always had the time in the summer to work at the store behind the deli, as a stock boy or a cashier. I grew up in it.” Spending the majority of his extracurricular life at Calabria Imports set …

Ernest Hemingway once wrote, “Wine is the most civilized thing in the world.” Michael Mangini wholeheartedly agrees. When you’re sipping a Chianti at your favorite local ristorante, chances are good that it was made available by Mangini’s company, Tuscany Distributors of Illinois. After all, Mangini’s company distributes about 200,000 bottles of wine a year in the Chicago area alone. “We are the exclusive distributor for 230 different Italian wines,” Mangini explains. “Our wines come from all over Italy: Sicily, Lombardia, Venice, Naples, Bari and, of course, Tuscany.” Mangini was introduced to the wine business by a friend who owns Tuscany …

Celebrating 25 years in business is a quite an accomplishment. But when you hear the founder of the company is only 42, you have to ask, “How did he do that?” Meet Gino Fioravanti. A River Forest native, Gino is celebrating his silver anniversary in the irrigation and landscape lighting trades. Gino was a regular teenager growing up. He was a star on the Oak Park & River Forest High School wrestling team and got along with everyone. But he was far ahead of his classmates when it came to entrepreneurial spirit. Going into his senior year, Gino and classmate …

Extremely talented artists are born with a gift, and sometimes that gift isn’t realized until later in life. Case in point? A retiree from the City of Chicago is now a nationally recognized heirloom glass artist who is using her talents to keep her Italian heritage alive. Victoria Onorato always knew she loved art. Her uncle, Vito Davi, was a world renowned sculptor and Onorato was always amazed with what he did with his hands. “From my upbringing, I had something artistic influencing me,” recalls Onorato. “When I was a little girl, I was always getting into trouble for playing …

Italians aren’t really known for baking pies. When it comes to sweets, things like cannoli or biscotti are what usually come out of an Italian kitchen. But Peter Fasano’s family must be doing something right. Fasano Pies has been in business in the Chicago area for four generations. Our story begins in 1927, when Italian immigrant Joseph Fasano Sr. started loading trucks for Wagner Pie Co. As a dedicated employee, he worked his way up to driving and selling pies on a route he started from scratch. “Why pies? My grandfather just loved, loved, loved the pie business,” says Peter …

  It’s hard to grow a family business growing without completely transforming it, but third-generation meat packing exec Angelo Brooks Carmignani is keeping 75-year-old Randolph Packing Co. in a strong growth mode by sticking to one simple ingredient, loyal employees. Randolph was started in 1928 by Angelo Carmignani, an immigrant from Lucca who came to the United States with a skill for making Italian sausage, and scraped up enough money to start a business that played to his strengths. “Everything was based around the family,” says the 43-year Brooks, who currently served vice president at Randolph. “And my grandfather had …