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Lester D. Malizia, Jr.
March 16, 1952 to September 26, 2021
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Lester D. Malizia, Jr., 69, of Addis Street, died Sunday, September 26, 2021, at Washington Health Center in Washington, PA. He was born in New Castle, March 16, 1952, a son of the late Lester D. Malizia, Sr. and Dorothy (Champ) Malizia, his mother survives in New Castle.
Lester was a graduate of Westminster College in New Wilmington, PA and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City. Lester served as Director-in-Residence at Playhouse on the Square in Memphis, Tennessee, Artistic Director for the Town and Country Playhouse in New Hampshire and has been co-director of the Young Playwrights Festival in New York. Lester was also a founding member of Orlando’s Rogue Theater Company. Lester was with Seaside Music Theater in Daytona Beach, FL for over thirty years, serving as Artistic Director for twenty. While at Seaside, he directed over one hundred productions, including the first professional production of Million Dollar Quartet, which went on to Broadway and won a Tony award, as well as a production of The Marriage of Figaro, for which he did the English language adaptation. His production of the operetta Floradora is in the permanent video collection of the Library of Performing Arts at Lincoln Center. He has served on the board of the National Alliance of Music Theatre, has been chairman of the Professional Division of the Southeastern Theater Conference, chairman of the Professional Division of the Florida Theater Council, and President of the Florida Professional Theater Association. He won the 1997 Ila Murphy Memorial Award for Excellence in Directing. In 1999, Mr. Malizia was awarded the Distinguished Career Award by the Florida Theater Council. In 2006 Lester was awarded the Volusia County Arts Advocate Award (Now the Tippen Davidson Award) for over 25 years of service to the arts in Volusia County, and the Richard G. Fallon Award for Excellence in Professional Theater by the Florida Professional Theatre’s Association. Lester was a profound lover of the arts. He believed they could heal and challenge people in times of uncertainty and ultimately draw people closer together. He also believed they could bring you great joy and the courage to open your mind and risk falling in love with life.
In addition to his mother, he is survived by one brother, Floyd Malizia of New Castle, one sister, Maureen Donaldson of New Castle, one nephew, Brandon Donaldson, and one niece, Ashlee Sidorchak.
He was also preceded in death by one niece, Gabrielle Malizia.
Services, conducted by Deacon John Carran of Holy Spirit Parish, will be held Wednesday, September 29, 2021, from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm at the William F. & Roger M. DeCarbo Funeral Home, 926 Cunningham Avenue.
Give Lester eternal rest, O Lord, and may your light shine on him forever. Let us find in your Son comfort for our sadness, certainty in our doubt, and courage to live through this hour. Make our faith strong through Christ our Lord. Amen.
