Sun, Nov 22 2009
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Theater owner has long career in entertainment biz “The auditions were at Disneyland but not for Disneyland,” he said. “They were for a touring arena show called ‘Disney on Parade.’” It was kind of like an ice show without the ice. It was dancing and character in costumes and that kind of stuff.”
Not only did the persistent Levanti get a part but he was with the show for the entire two years of its existence, touring throughout the nation. It was not long after that when another touring show, “Peter Pan,” flew into the picture. “That was seven months on the road and six and sometimes seven days a week,” he said. “It wasn’t a Disney production even though it was a similar show. Cathy Rigby (who achieved worldwide recognition as a champion U.S. and Olympic gymnast and later turned to acting) played Peter Pan. NBC produced it, and we played all the major cities.” Levanti couldn’t suppress a smile as he recalled, “I played two parts. I was one of Captain Hook’s villainous pirates, and I was also Nanna the Family Dog.” From California to Missouri After “Peter Pan” and finally giving up on a year-long attempt at a combination book store/lecture hall business, Levanti’s show-business career did an about turn ... literally. “Friends of mine who were in show business or connected with show business started telling me I really ought to be a stage hand,” he said. “They told me the work is steady, and it pays well. Even though I couldn’t visualize myself behind the camera or back stage, I was at the point where I needed money. “A friend of mine from ‘Disney on Parade’ said, ’Hey, the stage hands union is taking applications so let’s go down.’ We both went down and filled out applications and about a month later they called me and they never called him. “So I worked the next 23 years as a stage hand, 18 of those on the soap opera ’General Hospital.’” Levanti retired at 63 after a stage-hand career which saw him rub elbows with many show-business personalities. “I was an assistant prop man on a show called ‘I Am a Big Girl Now’ starring Diana Canova and Martin Short before Short was known as well as he is now,” he said. “I worked shows on ABC like ‘Family Feud.’ Although I wasn’t assigned to the shows, they put me where they needed me. Being on the Hollywood lot, you could be a prop man one day, an electrician the next and a carpenter the next, just wherever they needed you.” It was during Levanti’s job with ‘General Hospital’ that the idea emerged for his Missouri move. The stage manager with the long-running soap opera, a Missouri native, returned from vacation in Kansas City and showed him pictures of his sister’s new Victorian home, which she had bought for much less than what the same home would cost in California. “He showed me the pictures and it kept running through my mind that this would be a million-dollar house anywhere in L.A.,” said Levanti. “He added that his sister paid $180,000 for the house and Phyllis (Levanti’s wife, who died in 2005) and I were living in a $180,000 house in California that didn’t look anything like that.” Taking their vacations in Missouri the next three years and looking over a big part of the state, the Levantis decided on the Mount Vernon area, guided by a real estate agent who lived there. 
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