"...Tina Cafeo should probably be put in charge of the Gulf oil spill after demonstrating her management skills here with a cast and crew that included more than 100 local people who had clearly worked very hard to produce a
fun-filled show...
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--The People's Critic
About Tina
I first met Tina Cafeo in 1986. I was nineteen: Tina was ageless. I was part of a church production of Godspell. It was my first time on stage, and I was playing Jesus. I was in serious need of prayer. Tina had been brought in to a rehearsal to offer feedback, and, I later realized, to work her magic on me. As we performed that day, Tina sat, downstage, at a table with her husband Manny, our director, and watched the entire rehearsal wearing one of the biggest pairs of dark sunglasses I had ever seen.
The room wasn't particularly sun-filled. With the dark glasses and her jet-black hair, Tina Cafeo looked every bit the star she still is. It was impossible not to look at her. We might have been performing, but her fabulousness had been the real show--and I was wowed. From that day forward, Tina would continue to work her magic on me, both as a performer, and as a human being, quickly becoming one of the best friends a person could ever have. To this day, I find her endlessly inspiring, fabulous, generous, entertaining, terrifyingly optimistic, and endowed with an irrepressible spirit, and a voice like Ethel Merman’s. For these reasons, I jumped at the chance to write this bio for her.
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Tina Marie (Cafeo) was practically born singing. A beloved child, her family (and most significantly her father Paul) realized when Tina was quite young that she was bound for the stage. As an infant, she was extremely fond of singing in church, though she only knew one song, Yankee Doodle Dandy. It’s not an especially religious song, but it didn't seem to matter to the congregation. As little Tina summoned all the gusto she had to accompany the choir each week, they, like audiences for years to come, were instantly charmed by her. Eventually, with a few more songs in her repertoire, Tina officially joined the choir and ultimately became a soloist. According to Tina, these were incredibly happy times.
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Eventually, Tina found her way to New York City. There, she studied drama with the legendary Stella Adler before quickly making a name for herself as a chanteuse, and as a musical theater leading lady. During her time in New York, Tina's credits include starring roles in numerous summer stock productions and multiple USO tours of (her then favorite shows) Gypsy and The Unsinkable Molly Brown--roles for which she often auditioned against Streisand. Tina's big break eventually came when she was cast as the lead in A Lady Named Jo, an off-Broadway musical version of Little Women by Peter John Stephens (book) and Ben Finn (book, music, & lyrics). Soon after, Tina was cast for her Broadway debut in The Roar of The Greasepaint, the Smell of the Crowd, and then her film debut in a movie the name of which I can never recall. I only mention it because her brief foray into film forever changed the course of the young starlet’s life, as it introduced her to her first husband, with whom she moved to Texas. She soon gave birth to their beautiful daughter, Sabrina.
After moving to Houston, Tina embraced motherhood, and eventually began teaching voice and drama with her characteristic unrestrained drive and passion. During that period of her life, Tina spent most of her time behind the curtain, teaching and directing chIldren and adults of all ages and levels of experience. One of my fondest recollections of those early shows, in fact, is Ina Bott (a delightfully Ruben-esque seventy-plus grandmother) tap dancing as Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer in a Christmas benefit Tina produced and directed. It's at this point that I met her, and my life was forever changed for the better. Eventually, in the the 90's, Tina found her way back to the stage, in a production of Nunsense, directed by her second husband, the love of her life (and a theatrical talent in his own right), director Manny Cafeo. Prior to returning to the stage, I vividly recall Tina insisting that she'd never be able to do so, because she'd "lost her voice." "It's changed, Michael," she'd say whenever I challenged her assertion. Happily for all of us, she was incorrect. When Tina returned to the stage as Nunsene’s spunky Sister Robert Anne, her rendition of I Just Want To Be A Star brought down the house. Tina has always brought down the house, in subsequent productions of Nunsense, Annie, Chicago, and eventually in Gypsy, in which she starred (twice) as the legendarily unflappable Mama Rose. Since the 90's, when not on the stage or teaching, Tina continued to direct and produce, until finally retiring in 2023 after directing a wildly successful production of Spamalot at The Crighton Theater.
Tina, as Sister Robert Anne, in Nunsense at the Crighton Theater. For this part of the show,Tina delighted audiences with her uncanny impression of the Wicked Witch of the West's voice from The Wizard of Oz.
Among the many things that I find incredible about our darling Tina is her generosity of spirit. This is attested to by the love for Tina seen within the pages of this website, and the recollections of her students, protegés, costars, cast-members, friends, and grandsons. Tina Cafeo is and was always willing to share her talent to make the dreams of others come true. And with Tina in your corner, the waters have no choice but to part--dreams are achieved, new heights are reached, and stars are aligned and made. In fact, Tina's protegés now include:
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Musical theaters stars (some of which are currently on Broadway and/or touring)
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Successful working actors & singers across the globe
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Opera stars
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Television stars
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A Miss America, a Miss Texas, and holders of many other pageant titles
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Famous writers
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Successful screenwriters
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Theater founders & owners
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Famous pianists
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Professional stage managers
But most importantly, Tina's charges include thousands of people to whom she has given the gift of theater, music, laughter, and love. THANK YOU, Tina, for sharing your light with us!