In Loving Memory, September 9, 2018
Sal Pernice was raised in Brooklyn and attended the High School of Performing Arts. Upon graduation he performed with the Santa Fe Opera Ballet Company and soon after went on tour as Baby John in Jerome Robbins’ unparalleled West Side Story. Sal was a veteran of nine Broadway shows, including Baker Street, Illya Darling with Melina Mercouri, The Unknown Soldier and His Wife, Dear World with Angela Lansbury, The Apple Tree with Alan Alda, Molly with Kaye Ballard, Georgy, Heathen, and Goodtime Charlie with Joel Grey. He toured with the national companies of Hello Dolly with Betty Grable, Mame with Edie Adams, and Helizapoppin’ 67 with Soupy Sales. His industrial credits include the Milliken Breakfast Show and the Ford Industrial Show. His work in stock also brought him into contact with Molly Picon in Milk & Honey, Jan Murray in Bye Bye Birdie, Alfred Drake in Kiss Me Kate, and Anna Maria Alberghetti in West Side Story. Having achieved success and a sense of completion performing under others’ direction, Sal decided to create his own choreography and teach others. For 20 years he taught at the 92Y Harkness Dance Center, and was also on the faculty at Ballet Academy East in New York City.