Cavalero will be remembered for impact on the arts in Butler County
Last week, the curtain fell on the life of a Butler native who gave many of his years to the county’s arts scene.
Gordon Cavalero, who died Friday, July 18, at the age of 78, was a major part of Butler County’s theater scene for decades.
The last of many shows he oversaw for Butler’s Summer Dramatics Project, “Grease,” premieres this weekend.
His venture into the arts started in the U.S. Navy, where he served as a photographer during his tour of duty in the late 1960s.
By 1974, he had parlayed this experience into a photography business, The Studio, on Butler’s Main Street. Later in his photography career, he also worked for LifeTouch, where he took school photos.
According to a 2007 Butler Eagle article, Cavalero was initially attracted to the theater during his 20s by a director who was recruiting actors for a production of “West Side Story.”
Cavalero went on to work with or lead multiple local theater groups, including the Summer Dramatics Project, a theater troupe for youths age 10 to 24, as well as the Butler Musical Theatre Guild and the Moniteau School District.
Regina Spafford worked with Cavalero at the Summer Dramatics Project for 28 years. Spafford said his skills extended beyond photography and directing musicals and plays.
“He was the director and he ordered all the scripts from New York,” Spafford said. “He pretty much kept the program alive by his organization skills, directing us and telling us what to do.”
Those who knew Cavalero noted how well he seemed to get along with the children in the theater programs he ran. This included Butler Mayor Bob Dandoy, a friend of Cavalero for decades. Prior to becoming mayor, Dandoy appeared in some Musical Theatre Guild shows.
“For me, the thing that was memorable about Gordon was his patience,” Dandoy said. “He would work with dozens and dozens and dozens of kids in some of these shows. Those kids would think the world of him. He never lost his cool.”
“He still followed kids that he’s had in his programs into the future and traveled to see them when they were in bigger shows,” said Gordon’s daughter, Casey Cavalero. “He’s been such a selfless, generous person, and he was always rooting for everyone to succeed.”
“He was fantastic with the kids,” said Kathy Campbell, who has worked with the Summer Dramatics Project for nearly three decades. “The kids that he directed back in the early 2000s … they still have so much good to say about him, because he really impacted a lot of the kids’ lives.”
Former Butler Eagle advertising representative Nedra Sutch knew Cavalero well from the many times he would come into the Eagle office and drop off an ad to be placed in the paper for Summer Dramatics’ next show.
“He was always such a kind man,” Sutch said. “He enjoyed talking about the upcoming show. I always enjoyed our conversations whenever he did come into the place. We would just catch up once a month.”
Life with Cavalero was like something out of a fairy tale, according to Casey, who said he was involved with photography and theater before she was born.
Moreover, each year for her was marked by a trip to Walt Disney World with her father — even into adulthood.
“He’s taken me to Disney World pretty much every year of my life,” she said. “That’s a huge memory for me, because it’s an entire week that I get to spend with him every year, even into my adult years. We actually had a trip planned in September.”
The last Summer Dramatics show Cavalero worked on, an adaptation of “Grease,” will premiere at 7:30 p.m. Friday, July 25, at Succop Theater at Butler County Community College, with other showings scheduled for Saturday and Sunday.
