THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, December 31, 1995 TAG: 9512290273
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Close-Up
SOURCE: Janelle La Bouve
LENGTH: Long : 103 lines
The acting bug first bit Joan DiGirolamo when she accompanied her daughter to an audition for a part in a Chesapeake Little Theater production.
``The theater was something my children were interested in,'' said DiGirolamo. ``I wound up getting involved, too.''
That was 16 years ago. Since then, DiGirolamo, 51, has made commercials, print ads, industrial training films, and has been on tour with shows such as Limelight Productions' ``Barefoot in the Park.''
Last year, she was nominated for an award from Portfolio magazine for her performance in ``The Cemetery Club'' at Virginia Beach Little Theater.
``I just did a wonderful museum piece called the ``New Capital City,'' she said. ``I played Margaret Bayard Smith, the very first newspaper woman in Washington, D.C. It is on touch screen in the Anacostia and Octagon museums as part of an exhibition on the growth of the city. It'll be there through March. I can't wait to go to see it.''
DiGirolamo regrets that she has to leave Chesapeake to do most of her acting.
``Way back then we began the fight for an art center, and it is still a fight,'' she said. ``It is such a shame we have to go outside our own city to perform.''
``When you do this, you just kind of wait for the phone to ring,'' said DiGirolamo. ``You audition and wait. That's what you do.
``You'll also just do anything,'' she said. ``If someone says, `I'll pay you,' you say, `OK!' In any craft, especially acting, you never give up your day job.
``To make money, you have to work very hard at selling yourself, and I don't do that,'' she said. ``I would have to leave this area to pursue acting further, and be willing to travel at a moment's notice. You get comfortable and lazy.''
``I'm very ethnic,'' said DiGirolamo, who has played mostly character roles. ``I seem to wind up as the Jewish mother or an Italian.''
What she most enjoys about acting is the ``absolute total escape.''
``I can feel like I don't even want to go to the theater,'' she said. ``But when I get there the aches and pains or problems at home are all gone. If you're another personality, it's like crawling into that person's skin for that length of time. You see, think and feel as that character. It's like a metamorphosis. At each rehearsal you shed another little layer of who you are.
``I was very proud that I was called up last year to audition for the soap, `One Life to Live.' ''
DiGirolamo's husband, a television lighting designer who won an Oscar for his work on ``Henry Winkler Meets William Shakespeare,'' is very supportive of her acting.
Full name: Joan L. DiGirolamo
Hometown: Portsmouth, where she graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in 1961
Fond childhood memories: ``The world was more perfect then. We were still a small town, and I miss that, the personal contact. I especially remember playing outside in the summer with all the children. Every night at 9 p.m., the shipyard would fire their cannon. When we heard the cannon, we knew it would soon be time to go in.''
Spouse: Tony
Children: Zayne Kennedy and Tommy Gay, three step-children, James, Jennifer and John DiGirolamo, and a 17-month-old grandson
Occupation: ``Homemaker. I'd like to say actress. The only money I earn comes from acting.''
Hobbies: ``I read incessantly. I still have my fairy tale books that were given to me as a child. I read all of those to my children.''
Last book read: ``I'm reading Pat Conroy's new book `Beach Music.' ''
What's your favorite game? ``I don't like games. I guess that comes from childhood. All we did was play games, and I never won.''
Describe yourself as a color: ``A bright, vibrant, warm color like gold. That's how I think of myself.''
If you could be any animal, what would it be? ``I've love to be a cat. I watch my cat. She just has the best time lying in the sun. Cats also seems to be so self-assured and independent.''
What irritates you the most? ``We don't talk to people anymore. The telephone is nothing but a computer. You call long distance and get a computer voice. You get a collect call and want to talk to your children but you have to wait for the computer shut up. I want to talk to people.''
Favorite type of music: ``I enjoy all music, but I love jazz. My favorite song is `God Bless the Child.' ''
Favorite movie: ``The one I was in - ``Once Around.'' I was Holly Hunter's aunt. It was filmed in Durham, N.C. You should rent it, then I'll get paid. Support our local talent.''
Can't resist: ``I'm a shopaholic. When I see a sale sign, bells go off. I'm the world's greatest toucher. I go through the store and touch, feel, look and smell. I get my all my senses involved.''
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? ``My patience. I have none. I'm so bad.''
Favorite TV program: ``I don't watch anything that much. There's too much sex and everything is too politically correct.''
Favorite Chesapeake restaurant: ``The nicest meal that I've had in Chesapeake was at Locks Pointe.''
Favorite way to spend a day: ``Doing nothing but curling up with a good book.''
What would you choose for a last meal? ``Pasta.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo by L. TODD SPENCER
by CNB