Rowan Centennial Oral History: Phillip Graneto

Phillip Graneto, a retired associate professor of theatre, discusses the creation and development of Rowan's Theatre program starting in the 1970s.
This is an excerpt from an oral history interview recorded for Rowan University's Centennial celebration, 2023-24. To learn more about Rowan's Centennial, please visit rowan.edu/centennial.

[@walester01]

I was a student of Phil Graneto at Holy Cross before he moved to Rowan University. I enjoyed this oral history very much, but I must take issue with what he shared about being more impressed with the Rowan students. While I'm sure that's how he remembered it, I must defend my fellow classmates who were in the very new Theater Department at Holy Cross. For instance, I went on to a long and successful career on Broadway. My first show was HAIR at the Biltmore Theater, and my last was RAGTIME at the Ford Center. In between, I worked on over 50 shows. Another student became a well-known director and writer, TONY nominated for Best Musical, Best Director, and Best Book, and was a writer for the TV Show FRASIER. Another student became the managing editor and news director at a major NY TV station (for over twenty years) and was a TONY voter. Yet another student has been the artistic director (for over twenty years) at a well-known theater in New Jersey. I could go on. We were a small class of about 15 students, and we were inspired by our professors, including Phil Graneto, Bernie McInerny, and Ed Herson. So that's pretty impressive to me. IMHO