A memorial services will be held for John Petrafesa on Monday, September 10th, at 3pm at the New Amsterdam Theatre, 214 West 42nd Street. RSVPs, which are recommended, should be called into 212-827-5456.
Petrafesa, who died on July 18 at the age of 54, was vice president of labor relations for Walt Disney Theatrical Productions. Prior to joining Disney in 1994, he was the assistant to the international president of the IATSE. He also served as director of theatre operations for the Shubert Performing Arts Center in New Haven. Earlier in his career, he owned Connecticut Theatre Supply and worked on such Broadway shows as Evita, Annie, Marilyn, My One and Only, La Cage aux Folles and Merrily We Roll Along. He began his professional career at the Shubert Theatre in New Haven at 14, as a stage technician, working on over 130 pre-Broadway productions. During this time, he also worked for Connecticut’s Criminal Justice Division, preparing grant applications and as a family relations officer. His wife Millicent, his son and daughter-in-law, John Jr. and Melissa, his daughter and son-in-law, Jennifer and Brian McLaughlin, and two grandchildren, Aidan Patrick McLaughlin and Katie Petrafesa, survive him. His son is the production sound engineer for the Broadway revival of The Music Man and his daughter is an adjunct instructor in the history departments of Fordham and Sacred Heart Universities.