'All kinds of musical things'
By Geri Corey
GOSHEN — Everyone who has attended Memorial Day or Veterans Day ceremonies in Goshen has heard Mark Gargiulo’s strong baritone as he delivers the National Anthem, “The Star Spangled Banner.”
Old-timers may remember Gargiulo's dad, Joseph A. Gargiulo, doing the same.
“My father sang the National Anthem at the Good Time and Historic Tracks and the Memorial Day parades until the 1980s, then he suggested that I take over,” said Gargiulo. “What’s so interesting about our singing connection is that my father sang at the weddings of his friends, and now I’m singing at their children’s and grandchildren’s weddings.”
A lifetime Goshen resident, Gargiulo is generous in sharing with the community his abundant talent, honed on such famous stages as La Scala Theatre and Carnegie Hall — and encouraged by his equally talented father, who sang on Broadway and the new mediums of radio and television.
Joe was a plumber, having learned the craft from his father while growing up in Coney Island. However, before he came to Goshen to start his plumbing business — Joseph Gargiulo Plumbing — he had a notable career on stage. He, too, had an outstanding baritone.
At age 12, Joe’s talent as a boy soprano, performing with his Catholic school choir, was starting to get noticed. He was offered a scholarship to sing with the Grace Church Boys’ Choir.
“In the early '20s, a Catholic boy singing in a Protestant church was a ‘no-no,’ so he didn’t accept the scholarship,” said Gargiulo.
Joe’s mother helped launch his singing career by suggesting he audition for the "Major Bowes Amateur Hour," which aired every Sunday night on NBC Radio. The show was the start of weekly talent search programs.
“People sat around the radio in the early 1920s and listened to singers, harmonica players or harpists, comedians, and even dancers — any kind of talent competing to win the title as 'best' talent," Gargiulo said. "Performers on the amateur show weren’t paid. They were just given the opportunity to be heard.”
Joe won the competition and invited to join other winners to perform across the country.
“At one time, there could be 10 or 12 units traveling around the country doing shows,” said Gargiulo.
Stepping into the Great White Way
Joe traveled with the group for nine months when, in 1935, he auditioned for Broadway songwriters Rogers and Hart. He was chosen for the chorus in the 1937 musical "I’d Rather Be Right,” starring the popular George M. Cohan of “Yankee Doodle Dandy" and "Give My Regards to Broadway." Cohan played Franklin D. Roosevelt in the musical, which introduced the song “Have You Met Miss Jones?,” later recorded by Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald, among others. Joe was proud to deliver the first line in the play.
In 1938, with the stage name Joe Granville, he performed in his second Broadway musical, “The Boys from Syracuse,” with Eddie Albert and Burl Ives. During this time he worked with Rogers and Hart Choreography under the extraordinarily talented George Balanchine.
In 1940 he sang in the Broadway musical “Higher and Higher,” starring Jack Haley (the Tin Man in the “Wizard of Oz") and June Allyson.
After Broadway, Joe’s life was full of what Gargiulo calls “all kinds of musical things,” like singing the National Anthem at special events, singing at weddings, and performing in musicals at Jones Beach Stadium, where Shubert Productions were held on a floating stage. One production was “The Gay Divorcee,” starring Roberta Frederika, best known for singing “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes.”
Additionally, he did band tours and became friends with Frank Fontaine, who played the famous character “Crazy Guggenheim” on the Jackie Gleason Show.
'Not a musical family'During this time, Joe’s personal life took a new direction. A priest he knew hired him to sing at a wedding, and when he showed up, he was introduced to a suitable — and attractive — young lady whom the priest had invited.
The priest’s plan worked. Joe and Audrey R. Degan were wed in Brooklyn in 1942.
“They married in April, and Dad left in May, since he had joined the Army," said Gargiulo. "He wanted to go overseas to see the great opera houses in Europe. But to his disappointment, he didn’t get there at that time. He was sent on ‘bond tours,’ traveling all over the country with actor Cesar Romero, promoting bonds to support the war."
His parents did a lot of traveling later, and Joe did finally get to see Europe, he said.
In 1946, Joe and Audrey followed Audrey’s parents to Chester, N.Y., where Joe put his knowledge of plumbing to good use. Several years later Joe purchased Goshen Hardware on Main Street and continued his singing at St. John’s Church and with many local groups, such as The Dafine Players, and an operetta group in Goshen.
In 1959, Joe and Audrey purchased an attractive home on South Street — where Gargiulo, 55, now now lives — and settled down to raise their large family: John, Audrey, Kathy, Ned (Edward), Ann, Joseph, and Mark. (Their son Stephen died at one-and-a-half years old.) Gargiulo, the youngest child in the family, was the first one brought home from the hospital to South Street. Previously, the family lived in a lovely Victorian on Murray Avenue.
“My father was a great dad, and in our home, the fact that he had worked as a musician was almost nonexistent," Gargiulo said. "We weren’t a musical family. For my dad, singing was about making a living, not about fulfilling dreams. He was interested in having a job."
However, he did encourage his son's musical talents.
A dramatic turnIn 1976, when the Goshen Drama Society was founded, Gargiulo’s brother Joe and a few of his friends decided to perform and “dragged me into it," Gargiulo said.
That's when he fell in love with singing and acting.
After attending John S. Burke Catholic High School for one year, Gargiulo transferred to Goshen High School to be with his friend David Wright, whom he had first met in fourth grade in public school. David was the son Paul Wright, director of the yearly high school musical, and performed in all the productions.
“He did some amazing things with his father,” Gargiulo said. He knew then that he wanted to be part of those stage productions. And he was, performing in “Hello, Dolly,” “No, No, Nanette,” “Finian’s Rainbow,” and “Oliver” while still a student in Goshen High School.
After a year at Orange County Community College, Gargiulo went to Alfred State College, earning an associate's degree in landscaping design. While there he studied singing and, at a teacher’s suggestion, entered a musical competition. Winning the competition encouraged him to apply to music schools. Gargiulo enrolled in Temple University, graduating with a bachelor’s in music.
Taking a break after graduation, Gargiulo backpacked through Europe for 10 weeks. The highlight of his trek was singing at the Barbican Center in London. Comparing it to Lincoln Center in New York, Gargiulo said, “I worked with the best, premier Gilbert and Sullivan performers in the world. It was wonderful! I had a great time.”
After returning to the states, he auditioned and won acceptance to the Academy of Vocal Arts, which he attended for four years on a full scholarship. During what he called an “incredible, wonderful” experience, he won the Mario Lanza Competition, the Bel Canto Competition, and the Luciano Pavarotti Competition, and studied with a conductor at the famed La Scala Theatre in Milan, Italy.
“The Pavarotti Competition opened incredible doors for me, and my career started to blossom," Gargiulo said.
In 1990 and 1991 he sang solo pieces at Carnegie Hall in New York City.
Was he following in his father’s footsteps?
“No, not really,” said Gargiulo. “My father had an incredibly beautiful voice. He was never educated. He learned by rote, with no formal musical education, and he couldn’t read music well. But he succeeded. And he was so proud of me for the scholarships and education that I received.”
For 10 to 15 years, Gargiulo sang “Oh, Holy Night” in French on Christmas Eve with his good friend Paul Wright, Minister of Music at the First Presbyterian Church of Goshen. Additionally, he performed in “Songs a Poppin’” productions at the church with Wright as the director.
One summer, Gargiulo performed in the Wright production of “Shenandoah,” which he called a “fantastic production." He has many good memories doing the show with his friends and Wright at the helm.
Through the years, Gargiulo sang with the Opera Company of Philadelphia, the Lyric Opera in Dallas, the Eugene Opera in Oregon and toured through France singing “Aida” with the Teatro Lirico di Europa, a Bulgarian Company that when the group came to America, Gargiulo went on a 10,000-mile tour around the United States with them.
His widely acclaimed career also included singing with the Virginia Opera Company, the Ashlawn Highlands in Charlottesville, Va., and the Opera Northeast.
Drawn back to GoshenIn 1994, Gargiulo started his own landscaping business, Allegro Landscaping, and has settled down once more in Goshen. For many years he had juggled his singing career with his home life and his business. But with the birth of his daughter, doing it all became difficult.
Currently Gargiulo teaches voice. Aaron Tveit is his best-known success story.
“He’s Broadway’s newest leading man," he said. He's been cast in the leading role of "Catch Me If You Can."
Tveit, a Middletown native, has an impressive list of roles on Broadway, including "Wicked," "Hairspray," "Rent," "Next to Normal," and originating the lead role of Frank Abagnale Jr. in "Catch Me If You Can." He’s been in films and on TV in numerous series, including as the recurring role of Tripp van der Bilt on "Gossip Girl" and Mike Warren on "Graceland." In January, Tveit will be on TV in a live performance of “Grease,” playing Danny, the role made famous by John Travolta.
But Gargiulo has talent in his own family too. Daughter Olivia, a sophomore in Goshen High School, loves music, has a good ear, and plays percussion in the high school band.
“She’s smitten with Broadway," Gargiulo said. "One of her favorite activities is going to the city to see the musicals."
She’s not interested in singing but plays the piano beautifully. And so, perhaps, the musical Gargiulo legacy continues.