Living History - Augustin Fresnel - Frederick Law Olmsted
My mission is "to create excitement and curiosity about history
by giving voice to stories that celebrate the human spirit."
Performing Artist of Living History
Theatrical Background
Characters have ranged from playing John Merrick in The Elephant Man, Philip Lombard in And Then There Were None, Ty Cobb in Cobb to Virgil in Dante's Inferno.
Joseph Smith as The Recordkeeper in Jacob Marley's Christmas Carol
Living History
There is magic and joy in doing a living history performance in front of an audience. I decided that I would take my love of acting and history and bring them together as a Performing Artist of Living History.
Joseph Smith as Philip Freneau, Poet of the American Revolution, for the Matawan Historical Society
(Photo credit: Donna Dimino)
My Inspiration
I am a Performing Artist of Living History. Through research, writing and performance, my portrayals bring people from history forward in time in an entertaining and engaging way, serving museums, historical societies, cultural and educational organizations with theatrical performances that support their missions. My passion is to create excitement and curiosity about history by giving voice to stories that celebrate the human spirit.
Joseph Smith as Augustin Fresnel for the 25th Annual Gala for the American Lighthouse Foundation
(Photo credit: Dominic Trapani)
My Director and editor
Donna Dimino has been involved in theatre for over 30 years. Some of her acting credits include “Crimes of the Heart”, “The Last Night of Ballyhoo”, “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, “A Winter’s Tale”, “The Laramie Project”, and “Prince Hal”, which won an OOBR Award for Excellence in Theatre.
From 2002-2003, Ms. Dimino created and portrayed Victorian actress and suffragette Edith Kingdon Gould at Georgian Court University. This was Ms. Dimino’s first taste of combining Theatre & History, which sparked an interest in her to give voice to historic figures that could teach and inspire our world today.
In 2006, Donna directed Island Anthologies: A Living Tour of an Abandoned Cemetery, a full length play which she co-wrote with Joseph Smith that received a COAHSI JuneFest Exhibiting Arts Award.
In 2010 Donna directed and script edited Joseph Smith in Staten Island’s History Now: William T. Davis, which received a 2010 DCA Premier Grant from COAHSI and since then has continued to direct and script edit Joseph in his Living History performances of An Evening with Charles Rohlfs, Philip Freneau: A Poet’s View, Seeing Staten Island’s Lights Through A New Lens: Augustin Fresnel, which Mr. Smith was the recipient of a 2016 DCA Art Fund Grant and most recently, Frederick Law Olmsted on Staten Island: His Journey Begins, a collaboration with Friends of Olmsted-Beil House, which received a 2021 DCA Premier Grant, and A Ramble with Frederick Law Olmsted, performed in collaboration with the Friends of Anderson Park in 2022.
She will direct the sequel, Frederick Law Olmsted on Staten Island: His Journey Continues, in 2022.
Other directing credits include a full length Dance Theatre Piece called “Passages: A Celebration of Women”, which received a grant from The Greater NY Arts Development Fund Regrant Program and a Snug Harbor Cultural Arts Grant, and went on to direct several theatrical pieces including: “The Visitors from London” from California Suite at Staten Island Shakespearean Theatre & “Arsenic and Old Lace” at TimeSpace Theatre Company.
Contact Me
Feel free to send me a message
My living history programs of Frederick Law Olmsted, Augustin Fresnel, Philip Freneau, and Young Abe Lincoln are available for museums, historical societies, libraries and cultural organizations. Do you have someone from history that you would like to see performed for your audience and organization? Let's see what's possible!
I look forward to hearing from you.
Raisinghistory
New Jersey, United States
