by Maria SCRIVANI
Its as if some celestial Central Casting office sent Tony Conte to fill the chief
executive officer role at Sheas Performing Arts Center. Conte, a Utica native
whos been a Western New Yorker since 1969, brings an affability and can-do spirit to
the job thats in the best show must go on tradition.
Tony at 3 1/2 years old in 1948. |
Tony at age 10. |
In fact, Tony Conte was one of the folks most instrumental in saving Sheas from
the wrecking ball some 30 years ago. In 1969 the Ohio State University graduate, having
recently moved to Buffalo to be near his then-fiance who was a student at Fredonia, joined
M & T Bank as a management trainee. He soon took over the Main-Tupper branch office,
with Sheas as a customer.
Tony and Lindas engagement picture, 1968. |
Conte was more than a banker: He rose to the challenge of revitalizing that declining
section of Buffalos Main Street. Working with neighboring business owners and what
was then called the Buffalo Chamber of Commerce, he helped form the Upper Main Street Task
Force. We were at best marginally successful, he recollects. It was
tough. But Sheas was a key component of the neighborhood, and largely due to
the efforts of Friends of The Buffalo Theater, they managed to stop the city from,
literally, paving paradise to put up a parking lot. Conte facilitated loans from M & T
to cover the theaters outstanding utility bills, halting the citys demolition
plans and buying time to work out an extensive restoration program.
Its hard to believe how close we came to losing the treasure of this venerable
theater, built by Michael Shea in 1926 as an entertainment showplace for Buffalo. And so
it remains. Early on, Tony Conte signed on with Sheas growing volunteer corps to
help preserve and restore the glittering structure. Since the early 70s, he worked
in many volunteer capacities, including serving on marketing and development committees.
In 1981, the Sheas-OConnell Preservation Guild took over the work of the
defunct Friends of The Buffalo Theater. He spent seven years on the Sheas Board of
Trustees, finally serving on the Executive Committee. When the theaters esteemed
president Patrick J. Fagan announced plans to retire in June, 2002, the board created the
new position of chief executive officer, tapping Conte to fill the post. He has already
taken over responsibility for the theater, allowing Fagan to focus on fundraising and
assisting the new CEO.
Seen in theatrical terms, Fagan will serve in a supporting role to Conte, making what is
unquestionably a tough act to follow just a little bit easier. And since Conte has been in
the wings for a while, it looks like the transition will be smooth.
How did a kid from Utica, who spent his early working years tending bar in his dads
Utica restaurant, end up in a wood-panelled aerie with wide windows overlooking
Buffalos bustling entertainment district? Not in a million years did I imagine
this, Conte admits. When I retired I thought Id not work full time
again. Fate, as is so often the case, was reading from a different script.
Tonys family in 1955: Dad, Mom, Carla, Joyce and Tony. Missing from photo: sister Carolyn, born in 1964. |
Tonys dad Carl at work in the familys restaurant, 1955. |
In 1980, Tony Conte left M & T, where hed ended up managing a group of the
banks commercial lending officers, to take a job as corporate controller for Larry
Smith Office Equipment. By 1984 he was serving as the companys vice president and
general manager. In 1988, he and partner Greg Bruno purchased the firm from the Smith
brothers. In 1997, they sold the business to Ikon Office Solutions, and Conte, at the ripe
old age of 50, thought he would retire from the workaday world.
He and his wife Linda, whom he met back home in Utica when she had a summer job in his
familys restaurant, had plans to build a new vacation home on their Chautauqua Lake
property. Working right alongside a construction crew, he and Linda did much of the labor
themselves and, in just under a year had a beautiful year-round retreat ready for relaxing
and entertaining. The Contes, who also have a home in Snyder, are avid water skiiers and
swimmers.
As if the homebuilding project wasnt enough, Tony Conte also took a job as adjunct
professor of entrepreneurism at Canisius College. He recently completed his last teaching
commitment in the economics department. Oh, yesin his spare time, hes restored
a beautiful 1937 Packard automobilea project that neatly dovetails with Contes
appreciation for beauty and willingness to help bring it about.
Tony working on his 1937 Packard in 1972. |
During these retirement years, of course, Conte also remained an active
Sheas volunteer. His wife joined the theaters restoration volunteersan
elite crew of some 40 workers trained by renowned art restorer Doris Collins to
painstakingly rehab the Sheas interior, from repairing fabulous marble and terrazzo
work to cleaning delicate paintings and light fixtures. It is truly a labor of love,
already three years in the making and estimated to require another 10 years of intricate,
careful work to complete. Its an amazing and unique collaboration involving
volunteers of all ages, from all walks of life, choosing to spend time learning
restoration skills not for moneywe couldnt afford to pay people to do
this kind of work, as Conte notes, but for the love of Sheas.
If his genial personality and business acumen were not qualification enough, Tony Conte
also brings to the Sheas leadership team a love of music that appears to be in the
Conte family gene pool. He played trombone in the Ohio State Marching Band during his
college years (in addition to attending classes full time and working in a camera shop as
assistant manager and shooting yearbook photosa day in the Conte lexicon is clearly
longer than 24 hours). His wife is a former music teacher who now gives private piano
lessons.
Tony in 1988. |
They are the proud parents of three children. Son Michael, 30, is a high school band
director in Orchard Park. His wife Marni is band director at Mill Middle School in
Williamsville. They have two children, Nicole, 4 and Jordan, 1 of whom the Contes are
doting grandparents. Second son Carl, 28, is major accounts manager for A T & T in
Buffalo. He and wife Ceaton, a social worker at Buffalo General Hospital, are expecting
their first child this fall.
From top: Jeanne, Michael, Marni, Linda, Tony, Carl and Ceaton. |
Tonys grandchildren; Nicole, 4 and Jordan, 9 months. |
Daughter Jeanne, 23, is high school band director at Lakewood High School in Hebron, Ohio.
She is also a substitute French horn player for the Columbus Symphony.
Conte remains a very active Ohio State alumnus. Tony is president of the local Ohio
State Alumni Club and he and Linda are lifetime members of the Presidents Club. They
travel to all the universitys home football games, giving them an excuse to visit
their youngest child. Their two boys live near their parents Snyder home and the
whole family convenes for vacations and holidays at Chautauqua Lake. Though the Contes
love to travel, long distance and exotic places are out of the picture for now, since the
grandchildren have become such a good reason to stay home. Plus, theres the small
matter of the retirement that turned into a bigger, better and busier-than-ever full-time
job for Tony Conte.
Is he complaining? Not on your life. My wife calls me the eternal optimist, he
laughs. He claims inspiration from his father, a respected Utica businessman who worked
long hours and supported a family though he was totally disabled, a victim of rheumatoid
arthritis. I learned a lot seeing what my dad put up with, Conte says,
and seeing how he made it through the day.
Tony and Linda on a cruise to the Bahamas in 1999. |
At Ohio State I studied the various aspects of business and learned how to manage my
time...and I guess Ive always been one to see the positive side of things.
Thats what you focus on in times of adversity; how to make things better.
Theres always room to improve. Thats whats always driven me, through my
whole business and personal life. He also believes in the great football coach Woody
Hayes admonition to pay forward, not back.
To me, thats about community support. By paying forward we provide
community amenities that enhance life for future generations. We all need to recognize our
responsibilityand thats what makes a community great.
With that kind of philosophy as the driving force behind Sheas, the theater will
shine even more brightly. Talking of the future, Conte is a one-man band of contagious
enthusiasm. We are now bright 200 nights a year, from September to June.
Id like to see us go to 250 nights. I think theres room to do some additional
shows. Id like to see us do a few more community-oriented programs and more work
with the local school districts.
Another challenge for Conte is the Smith Theater, recently acquired by Sheas. The
facility, next door to Sheas on Main Street will be run as a 200 seat cabaret style
theatre. Conte is presently searching for off Broadway shows in order to open the Smith
Theatre by Curtain Up! Its one more theater for the Theater District,
Conte says.
Maria Scrivani is a freelance writer.