Broadway comes to Athens church

Barbara Matera's star-studded credits include designing costumes for Broadway stars like Angela Lansbury and an inaugural gown for First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton. Her creations have also been chosen to adorn prima donnas of the Royal Birmingham Ballet Company in England.

Lesser known is that Mrs. Matera also decorates a small church in the Albany Diocese each Easter and Christmas -- and helps to keep fresh flowers on the altar year-round. Beneficiaries of Mrs. Matera's stewardship of time and talent are the parishioners of St. Patrick's Church in Athens.

In an interview from her New York City studio where she supervises a staff of 75 employees, Mrs. Matera said the church-decorating tradition began roughly a decade ago when she asked Rev. Richard Doyle, pastor, if she might place some freshly cut flowers from her garden on the altar.

"There had been a fire in the church some time before. After it burned, we weren't really provided with a new church for services, but rather part of a hall," she explained. "The interior includes terra cotta walls, and it can get rather dreary, and I just felt some flowers would make it look and feel more cheerful."

Easter color

Her altar-decorating project simply blossomed from there. Mrs. Matera's most recent endeavor is "An Easter Story in Gold and Yellow."

On Good Friday, she and husband Arthur brought "bundles of plathesia" and "boxes of daffodils, yellow tulips and orchids" as well as decorative palm fans up to the church from New York City. Working at St. Patrick's from around 7 p.m. Good Friday till just after midnight, the Materas -- along with a crew of loyal parish volunteers led by Teresa Delveccio, Brian and Margaret Whiteman, and their son Brian Jr. -- transformed the church altar.

The altar includes a miniature scene of Christ's tomb, complete with a little grotto where the empty shroud can be seen inside, and a rock rolled away at the entrance. Last year's Easter altar featured colored birds perched upon flowering branches. The theme continued last Christmas with red cardinals on bare branches. (Plans for the 1997 Christmas altar are being kept "under wraps" until December.)

Not only does Mrs. Matera pour heart and soul into decorating the little Athens church twice yearly, but she also does the same for Holy Cross Church on West 42nd Street in New York City. After putting the finishing touches on the altar at St. Patrick's, Mrs. Matera circled back to the Big Apple on Holy Saturday to prepare that church for Easter services.

Mass as anchor

Mrs. Matera serves as a lector at St. Patrick's in Athens every other Sunday and at Holy Cross in New York City each weekday at 7:15 a.m.

"Daily Mass is my anchor," Mrs. Matera told The Evangelist. "It is there that I draw my inner strength each day. Without it, I'm not much good."

Following Mass, she heads for a nearby gym where she works out for about an hour before walking through the doors of her studio on Broadway at 19th Street. By the time she arrives at 9 or 9:30 a.m., Mrs. Matera is in top spiritual and physical shape. The rest of the day -- and often long into the night -- is spent exercising her incredibly creative mental muscles!

Broadway and ballet

Her current projects include putting the finishing touches on costumes for "The King And I" with actress Hayley Mills and preparing clothes for a new Broadway show, "The Titanic."

In a few weeks, she'll fly to England to prepare costumes for the Royal Birmingham Ballet Company. Mrs. Matera and her staff also design costumes for the New York City Ballet Company. Other recent achievements have included designing costumes for major operas and Broadway's "Beauty and the Beast."

In her 50 years as a costume designer, Mrs. Matera has rubbed elbows with many of Broadway's and Hollywood's brightest stars. Some, including Angela Lansbury, have become close friends.

"Angela and I met when she was starring as 'Mame' some 30 years ago. She's just a delightful person and a joy to be around," said Mrs. Matera.

"Delightful" is among the adjectives used by Father Doyle to describe his number-one altar decorator. One would never guess from Mrs. Matera's down-to-earth nature that she spends so much time among the stars, he stressed.

"She's quite a gal, and we feel very fortunate to have her in our parish," Father Doyle said.

(04-03-97) [[In-content Ad]]