New Hartford senior is athlete and actor who likes 'challenge of playing different roles'
The Class of 2022 will say farewell to a high school career that included nearly two years under the cloud of a global pandemic. While COVID-19 may have marred some of their high school experience, this class has grit and they have made it to the finish line. As members of the graduating class prepare to move on to the next chapter in their lives, the Observer-Dispatch sat down with several seniors across the Mohawk Valley. They offered advice for their fellow students, shared their college and career goals and more. Congratulations to the Class of 2022.
Gaetano Fornino, 18, already has taken on many roles in his young life — he's lived under a curse that turned him into a teacup, stolen silver candlesticks, committed several murders and kidnapped an orphan.
And he went through it all with a song on his lips and a spring in his dance step.
Fornino has been one of the stars of New Hartford Senior High School’s musical theater program, starting in second grade when he played Chip in "Beauty and the Beast," with only his teacup-covered head sticking out of a cart.
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He’s also played Rooster in "Annie," the god of death in "Once on This Island," Sky in "Mamma Mia," Jean Valjean in "Les Misérables" and the murderous J.D. in "Heathers."
“I do like the applause,” Fornino admitted. “But I also like the challenge of playing different roles and seeing what I can do with it.”
In the fall, he’ll take on a new role as a business administration major with a focus on finance at Ithaca College. After college, he plans — by choice, not family pressure — to join the family business, Casa Imports, where he works during his summers.
He's grateful for the opportunities the family business has given him.
“It was good having that security blanket,” Fornino said, “that I could pursue what I wanted to do and always have that to fall back on.”
On stage, Fornino shines in every role, said Matt Romanow, the musical director, advisor of New Hartford’s theater program and a high school math teacher.
“Gaetano has, I would say, the ‘it’ factor when it comes to being on stage,” he said. “He is, on top of being a very strong singer, on top of delivering lines very proficiently and very well, on top of being able to create relationships and bonds with people on stage around him, I think that when he is on stage, he is someone your eyes are drawn to.”
'He's an all-around cheerleader'
After some thought, both Romanow and Fornino agreed that J.D. in "Heathers," the character who — SPOILER ALERT — kills people and plots to blow up the school, was probably his best role because the character is so different from Fornino’s own personality.
At the beginning of the play, J.D. might have seemed close to the real Fornino, but as the story progressed, the character’s true colors came out, Romanow said. “That arc,” he said, “is something I will find impressive for the rest of my life.”
Outside the shows, though, Fornino is respectful, supportive and happy to talk to his peers or adults, Romanow said. “He’s one of the first people to offer congratulations, one of the first people to say, ‘Hey, good job,’” he said.
“I think,” Romanow added, “he’s an all-around cheerleader for the people around him just as much as he is for himself.”
Theater is not Fornino’s only high school love. He was a three-season athlete throughout high school, serving as co-captain of the soccer team his senior year and running both indoor and outdoor track, specializing in distance events.
When he’s not working, playing or performing, Fornino just likes to hang out with his close-knit group of friends, he said. And spend his pay check on his third passion; Fornino described himself as a sneakerhead who owns a good variety of shoes, including some designer pairs. His favorite brand, though, is a classic — Adidas.
Asked whether he enjoys sports or acting more, Fornino hesitated.
“I’d rather watch a soccer game than go watch a play,” he admitted. “But playing and performing, I love both of them so much.”
But then he recalled a telling memory. He cried, he said, at the end of every sports season.
“I don’t think I ever cried more than after the show was done (in March),” he said. “The final day of performing was a sad, sad day.”
Amy Roth covers issues that affect families for the Observer-Dispatch. Email Amy Roth at aroth@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Observer-Dispatch: Stage and soccer are happy places for New Hartford's Gaetano Fornino
