Theater community pays tribute to Irish Classical founder’s impact on Buffalo’s stages and on individuals

By Lindsay DePietro
(Images courtesy of Irish Classical Theatre Company)

How big of an impact did Vincent O’Neill have on Buffalo theater? 

According to Peter Palmisano, it was because of O’Neill’s accomplishments and success with the Irish Classical Theatre that, “You have all these other theaters that now exist in Buffalo.

“Vincent proved that it [professional theater] could be done on a smaller scale and become very successful, not just financially, because all these theaters struggle financially, but artistically that bar was raised so high that it gave everybody else something to aspire to.”

O’Neill died Tuesday, June 22, at 75 after a long fight with cancer. 

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Anthony Chase’s recollections of Vincent O’Neill

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O’Neill was born in Dublin, Ireland where he received extensive training and had a successful career before moving to Buffalo. 

He underwent training at University College Dublin, Trinity College and the prestigious Abbey Theatre School of Acting. He also trained in Paris as a mime under Marcel Marceau at Ecole Internationale de Mimodrame de Paris. 

O’Neill taught French and Spanish at a Catholic girls’ school before directing and acting at the Abbey Theatre and touring internationally. 

O’Neill first came to Buffalo in 1985 with his brother, Chris O’Neill, to perform “Waiting for Godot” at Airways Hotel. Chris then moved to Buffalo and Vincent followed in 1989.

David Lamb, who established The Kavinoky Theatre on the D’Youville College campus, hired both brothers.

Palmisano, a fellow actor and director, said that it was Lamb who encouraged O’Neill to open his own theater in Buffalo, more specifically an Irish-based theatre.

In 1990, O’Neill co-founded The Irish Classical Theatre Company. In his funeral home obituary, the theater is described as “his third child.” O’Neill appeared in 67 shows on the ICTC stages, directing 30 productions. 

Palmisano was a performer at The Kavinoky Theatre when he first met O’Neill through Lamb. Soon after, O’Neill cast him in his production of “Private Lives” at the Irish Classical Theatre in 1993. It was there that they first performed together and became friends. 

According to Palmisano, Studio Arena Theatre was the only professional theater in the Buffalo area for many years. Besides the Studio Arena, there was dinner theater and community theater. Lamb eventually established a small professional theatre, The Kavinoky Theatre, in 1979. 

The Irish Classical Theatre Company “served as a beacon for thousands of artists, many of whom still refer to it as their artistic home,” said Kate LoConti Alcocer, O’Neill’s direct successor as executive artistic director with ICTC. 

“In addition to hundreds of award-winning productions, the company has forged countless relationships, collaborations, and partnerships, bolstering the artistic and cultural fabric of the area, nationally, and internationally,” she added.

Tom Makar met O’Neill in 1991 and became the resident sound designer at the Irish Classical Theatre. Makar knew O’Neill for 34 years and worked at his theater for 32. 

“I worked for many directors and companies, but O’Neill and his Irish Classical Theatre Company was the most supportive,” Makar said. “It was a family collaborative feel.”

Over the years, O’Neill won many awards, including Artie Awards for Outstanding Actor, Director, Playwright, Production, and Career Achievement. In 2022, he was inducted into the Buffalo Theatre District’s Plaza of Stars.

In 1999, O’Neill won an Artie Award for Outstanding Director. “He came off the stage and I congratulated him and he said, ‘You know, you’re as much a part of this production as I am,’” Makar said. 

There was no award for sound design during this time, according to Makar. O’Neill didn’t like that fact and he insisted that Makar have the award O’Neill had received, letting Makar keep it. Makar still has that Artie. 

“He was Irish, so he had a twinkle in his eye and a huge heart. He was such a sparkling, impish personality, and when the two of us were together it always started with a smirk and a giggle, and we would just start laughing” Maker said. “The most important thing I would say that I got from him was the fact of being appreciated and supported.” 

“Beyond ICTC, Vincent touched multitudinous lives, especially as a father, husband, and brother, as a teacher (most notably as chair and director of Theatre Performance for UB’s Department of Theatre and Dance, where he taught from 1990 to 2024), mentor, artist  and friend, sharing his creativity, intellect, wit, humor, kindness, compassion, advocacy and great love of theater, Ireland and the Bills,” Alcocer said.

Stan Klimecko, who performed in several plays at the Irish Classical Theatre, said, “He brought world class talent to every element of his life and he impacted so many people and he did it with such class, such dignity, and such style. On top of everything else, he was the kindest. He was a gentleman,” Klimecko said. 

Klimecko said that the biggest impact O’Neill had on his life was giving him confidence. 

RELATED MEDIA: Vincent O’Neill talks about his 2024 role in “Faith Healer” at the ICTC.

“When he believed in you, there were no ends to that,” said Michelle Eisen-Hayes, a former University at Buffalo student of O’Neill’s and Irish Classical Theatre stage manager.

Eisen-Hayes said that the most important thing O’Neill taught her was how to trust herself, her instincts and that she was capable of absolutely anything, because O’Neill himself believed so. 

“I think the [O’Neill’s] impact is immeasurable. He mentored so many people, I mean the list is so much longer than even I was aware of,” said Eisen-Hayes, after scrolling through Facebook and seeing “like the hundreds of tributes of former students, and brand new artists who maybe had just moved to town and were looking to get their foot in the door, and designers and just people that he fostered this love for the arts in.”

It was that impact on people that may be O’Neill’s greatest legacy. 

Actor David Lundy said, “Vincent was a man who made anyone he came in contact with feel as though they were just the person he wanted to see. In his position as a college professor and a founder of the Irish Classical Theatre Company, he knew that people looked to him for approval, and so he was generous and specific with his praise. He made that theater a happy workplace, and, when you worked there, you felt as if you were part of a family. The Buffalo theater world has lost one of its guiding lights, and I will miss him terribly.”

Keelie Sheridan has been the artistic director of the Irish Classical Theatre Company since 2023. In a statement on behalf of ICTC, she said, “It would be difficult to overestimate Vincent O’Neill’s impact on our community. As an actor, director, leader and educator, his work touched countless artists, audiences and students, inspiring a love of live theatre, storytelling and cultural preservation. We are all richer for having benefited from his talent, passion, vision, and kindness. We at ICTC are honored to carry forward the torch that Vincent and his co-founders lit 35 years ago, and will honor his memory every time we step on our stage.”

The Wake Celebration of Life for O’Neill will be held on Monday, June 23 at 5 p.m. at The Banshee Irish Pub. You can RSVP today (Sunday, June 22)  HERE.

Donations to the Irish Classical Theatre Company in O’Neill’s memory can be made HERE.