Spotlight: Edinburgh Festivals - The Festival Fanatic

From his first visit, performing on the Fringe in 1988 with his university drama group, to today, when he brings his own students to perform in Edinburgh, Michael Calderone simply can’t get enough of Edinburgh, Scotland, and the magic, international atmosphere of the biggest arts festival in the world.

Born and raised in New Jersey, Michael, now 51, (above, with his wife Jennifer) grew up looking across the Hudson River to the bright lights and skyscrapers of Manhattan. Although Broadway – the ‘Great White Way’ – was just a short car or rail ride away, it always felt like another world for him.

Little did he realise then that one day he too would be treading the boards, directing and producing plays, and passing on his passion for live theatre to fresh generations of starry-eyed students.

Like the streets of Edinburgh’s historic Old Town, Michael’s route to Scotland’s capital city was a winding one. He first heard of the International Festival and the Fringe while at New Jersey’s Rutgers University, where, while studying theatre, he threw himself into the University’s student drama group, The Shoestring Players.

In 1988, thanks to the American Theater Festival, the group was invited to perform at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Today, Michael teaches drama and public speaking at the prestigious Hopkins School, in New Haven, Connecticut. Founded way back in 1660, the school is one of the oldest in the United States and everyday Michael enters the grounds with a strong desire to pass on his passion for drama to his students.

Part of his teaching method is to impart on his students the importance of 'wow moments' - moments that make you stop and wonder at the greatness of the world. For Michael - he remembers his first 'wow moment' like it was yesterday.

It wasn’t just the city and Scotland that were new to Michael, the Festival’s unique mix of people, races, audiences and performers were also an eye-opener. He was immediately struck by the magical energy that courses through the city during the month of August. Each year, thousands of performers and hundreds of thousands of eager spectators pack the city streets, embracing the sheer madness and vibrancy that Edinburgh's festivals have become synonymous with.

So, what does Michael put that magic down to, and why does he think audiences and performers continue to come back to Edinburgh year after year?

As well as soaking up as much of the festival atmosphere as he possibly can, Michael also always tries to escape the city on his visits, to see more of Scotland.

Among his many visits to the country, he has completed a long, 16 mile bike ride to Blackness Castle as well as taking trips to some of Scotland's other world-famous attractions, including Rosslyn Chapel, the Trossachs National Park. He's even managed to squeeze in trips to one or two of our stunning castles, including Stirling, Doune and of course - Edinburgh.

Over the years, Michael has seen the Festivals change and adapt, but there is a magic that keeps drawing him back.

Now married, with three children, Michael will be dashing home from this year’s Edinburgh Festival early, to be present at his daughter Molly’s 10^th birthday. To be fair to him though, he has previously missed three of her birthdays due to his Festival commitments.

Edinburgh is so deeply ingrained in Michael's life, it even played a starring role in his marriage proposal to his wife, Jennifer. It was 1993, and armed with a bouquet and ring, Michael had worked out a plan – a walk in the city’s Princess Street Gardens, a stop by the Floral Clock, and a proposal beside the Ross Fountain. What he hadn’t figured on was a surprise appearance by a big Edinburgh policeman.

The couple now have a permanent reminder of that proposal. When they bought their first home together, Michael’s father, who makes stained glass windows, created a panel featuring the view of the castle from the Ross Fountain for them. For his 50th birthday, Michael went one step further, getting a tattoo of their engagement spot on his left arm.

In the meantime, Michael is busy putting this year’s crop of 16 eager student actors through their paces ahead of their Fringe debut, a production of Shakespeare on a Shoestring: The Comedy of Errors!

So, as the curtain falls on our tale, how would Michael describe Scotland to someone who have never visited?

With Michael’s passion for theatre, the Edinburgh Festival, and Scotland, we look forward to welcoming him, Jen and rest of the Calderone clan ‘home’ again for many years to come.