Patch Mayor Nancy Sasso Janis Wants To Keep Theater Alive

Seven years ago, something happened in Nancy Sasso Janis’ town that inspired her to start writing for Patch.

“A theater opened in my town and I wanted to keep them open as long as I could,” she said. “So, I thought if I wrote theater reviews, that I could help them out and it worked.”

That was the beginning of something new for the first-grade teacher who has been in education for 31 years. She became a regular contributor for Naugatuck Patch. When the option became available to become the Patch Mayor for her town, she jumped at the chance. Her regular stories on community theater have resulted in her being asked to voice a part in an upcoming, old-time radio show, Nutmeg Junction, in a neighboring town.

Patch caught up with Janis to find out what fuels her passion and what advice she may have to offer for those just starting out as contributors or Patch Mayors.

Q: How did you get started writing for Patch?

A: On a whim, I just went to the (theater) ribbon-cutting ceremony, took a couple pictures and I thought this was a way to support local theater. The name of the company was Phoenix Stage Company. Their first production was called Bleacher Bums. That’s the first production I have never seen in its entirety. The year after I started working with Patch, they had an audition for The Last Supper...I wanted to be a pit singer, so I auditioned and they gave me a part.

I think my little bit of helping them out with reviews has definitely helped them stay open. The theater just moved to Oakville (a neighboring town), so whenever I do reviews now, I mention that they are in a town near Naugatuck.

Q: What made you want to be Patch Mayor for this town? Have you lived in Naugatuck your whole life?

A: I’ve been Mayor for a couple of months now, but I have been contributing for almost seven years. I was a contributor. I was a Star Patcher at one point. There’s nobody else who regularly contributes to Naugatuck Patch. I grew up in Stratford, which is on the coast of Connecticut and I moved to Naugatuck after the birth of my first child, so I have been here since 1984.

Q. How do you marry teaching and writing?

A. I wouldn’t say I really teach (Journalism) too much in my first-grade classroom, but I definitely have used the Patch platform to share things about the high school. I cover (Naugatuck) board of education meetings when I can.

Q. Where does your passion for writing, journalism and theater come from?

A. I guess I was always a good writer in school. I just kind of always wrote all kinds of things. Recently, I just started writing music and I wrote a play for kids. When Patch came across my radar, I was like oh, what a great way to get my writing out there. I love theater, I am in theaters usually Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. I’m going to review a show usually three times every weekend. So I am in theaters a lot.
I used to do a top 10 list in December and it got to where I was doing so many shows that I had to break them down into categories.

Probably the best thing is that I get to see the up and coming talent on the high school stages.

That’s one of my passions.

Q. Tell me your favorite thing about your town and what advice would you give someone looking to be Patch Mayor of his or her town?

A. The people...we’re a really tight community with a lot of volunteerism. The non-profit things, school district things and of course community theater, of course that’s volunteer as well. So I would have to say the people.

I would tell others to start with things that you are really interested in because you are going to be really passionate about things you write and don’t be afraid of branching out.

I was surprised, I thought I would be just stuck with theater and that’s it. One of my big shared (posts) was something about a fundraiser for a young man who had cancer. It had like 1,000 shares.

If you start with a passion, that will encourage you to stay with it, that’s for sure.

Do you wish YOU had a place to sing the praises of people and events that make your town special? Interested in becoming a Patch Mayor? If you'd like to share on your community Patch, it's easy. Find out more here and let's make you a mayor!