The Real Life Character Scot Saggiomo

I did not expect what I got with Scot Saggiomo when he portrayed the character Sweeney Todd on stage at Ti-Ahwaga Community Players in Owego, NY. I read through the play bill, admiring all the actors, appreciating their dedications, until I got to Scot's section. Then I laughed. Scot's humor and wit was a charming delight. Soon fog filled the stage, the lights dimmed, and I wondered how a man who made jokes about candy shops and boyhood trips with his father would portray the devastated, depressed, and mournful character that was Sweeney Todd.

I was surprised again. Scot didn't bring the audience a mournful character, he brought us rage and an almost unhinged thirst for vengeance and violence. Tethered one moment only to shock you with a furious outburst the next.

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And then the voice . . . raging in one instance then soothing with rich melodies and heartfelt emotion to settle the emotional whiplash.

I gobsmacked. So I set things in motion because few things would delight me more than to have this sort of unhinged personality in my studio.

Just kidding. Scot is the opposite of unhinged. He's very hinged, or as someone who's a better writer than I am would accurately say- Scot is confident.

On stage he wasn't trying to be anyone else, which I realize is an odd thing to say about an actor. 

But not for Scot. 

He was simply, or not so simply, bringing to life his version of that character. He truly was embodying a story, not mimicking someone else's version.

Who wouldn’t want to photograph that level of uninhibited confidence?

All I ever want is to photograph real people, because that is what's most beautiful. That's what stays with you when you look at an image.

And Scot is real, even when he's acting.

Compared to other actors, he's being himself, creating a new and unique version of a charecter, as opposed to being someone else who was being someone else. (think acting like Johnny Depp as he plays Sweeny Todd instead of creating your own version of Sweeney) That level of confidence is impressive and admirable. It leaves few places to hide . . . it's brave.

Scot had to work to be this bold, confidant version of who he is now.

“I learned not to be that tall blade of grass that got taken down," Scot told me before I photographed him. 

The confidence he has now didn't come naturally. 

It wasn't always easy. 

It took building good habits, journaling, yoga, breath work, and theater to release himself from the endless game of comparison where he always came up short. 

And of course, he finally listened to his mother. His mother Lucia who adores him. A constant force for good in his life, always reinforcing and encouraging that fire in his soul that told him he was great, kind, capable, talented, and limited only by his own mind. 

If you didn’t guess, Scot comes from an exceptional family. 

Now he just gets to learn from himself (with his family always near by with an inspiring word), encourage the best in who he is, and strive for the greatness he knows he can achieve.

Scot, my friend, you are . . . outside the normal. You bend expectations and with that give the rest of us permission to let go and be.

You’re exceptional. 

What an honor. 

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And what a delightful surprise.

Love Melinda 

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