Port Summer Show Pays Tribute to Alumni John Fasano

Editor’s note: Port Summer Show’s “Urinetown” program devotes a page to pay tribute to John Fasano, a summer show alumni. Fasano, who died in July, established an illustrious Hollywood career.

The Port Summer Show has been a community tradition since 1972, and according to its mission statement, was formed in part to nurture a continuing appreciation of all creative aspects of musical theater production for teens entering grades 7-12. “Urinetown” runs Aug. 7-10 in Port Washington, NY. Below is the Port Summer Show tribute to John Fasano.

Last month, the Summer Show community lost one of its most accomplished and beloved alumni.

John Fasano (“On The Town” ‘77 –” Kismet” ‘82) made a big impression on Play Troupe and the Summer Show, as he did everywhere he went. Whether making an entrance carrying an entire squad of dancing girls onstage in “Kismet” or being one of the notorious pranksters who got Play Troupe banned from the Memorial Day Parade (for playing catch with Macbeth’s head in front of the reviewing stand), John was never one to get lost in the crowd. He was a unique mixture of Lou Ferrigno and Stubby Kaye, able to dance lightly across the stage and then break a 2x4 over his neck. Whichever side of John you saw, song-and-dance man or Incredible Hulk, nobody who ever met him could forget the man who embodied both halves of that unlikely pair.

John went on to a long, successful career in Hollywood, specializing in action films (“Another 48 Hrs,” “Tombstone,” “Alien 3”), and now-classic horror films (“Rock ‘n’ Roll Nightmare,” “Black Roses”). He paved the Hollywood path for many Summer Show alumni who now live and work there. His heart was always in Port Washington, and he married a Schreiber sweetheart - and Summer Show alum herself - Edie King.

Like the kids you’ll see tonight, John spent his summers building sets and rehearsing lines for the Summer Show, and it became part of him.

He was a grand collaborator, a skilled artist and a versatile talent, and a beloved friend to all.