By WARREN DILLAWAY - Staff Writer
Michael Silva, a 2005 Lakeside High School graduate, is finding his way in the city that never sleeps while working at the “David Letterman Show” at CBS in the heart of Manhattan.
Silva, a graduate in music from Baldwin Wallace College last May, hoped to find an entry-level position somewhere in New York. After applying for a page position with NBC, he became a aware of a similar program at CBS, and the rest is history.
“I got an interview, and I got the job,” Silva said of the part-time position that involves working directly with the “David Letterman Show” audience.
Silva said he loves music and other aspects of the entertainment business but sees himself eventually on the business side of the equation.
“I just really enjoy being creative,” Silva said. He said he also got a practical side of entertaining from his having working for his father’s catering business, Nappi’s Deli, on State Road in Ashtabula Township.
Silva said he has been evaluated by superiors as having an excellent work ethic, which he credits to his parents Tony and Dianne Silva. He said the Midwest small-town attitude of going above and beyond has served him well.
There are 21 other pages working on the show.
“We are from around the country,” Silva said. He said he does a variety of tasks prior to and during the taping of Letterman’s daily show.
“We pump everybody up,” Silva said of his daily contact with people from all over the country who come to the show. He said the tickets are free but are often “earned” through the correct answers to trivia questions.
“We even go into Times Square,” Silva said of the interactions with the potential 417 audience members who will watch the daily taping of the show.
The show is held in the (Ed) Sullivan Theater, which was built in 1927 and carries the name of the entertainer who owned Sunday night television for decades. He said the theater was renovated in 1992 and is located at 1697 Broadway.
Silva was active in the music program at Lakeside High School but didn’t get involved in theater or other aspects of the entertainment industry.
“It (working in television) never crossed my mind,” Silva said. He said his experience at Baldwin Wallace led him toward the idea of living and working in the Big Apple.
Liza Minnelli and Frank Sinatra made the lyrics “If you can make it here (New York), you can make it anywhere,” famous in the song “New York, New York,” and Silva feels like he’s living that age old dream — and it’s not easy.
“It’s difficult. … It really does take a lot of struggle and courage,” Silva said. He said the page position only lasts from nine months to a year, so he is trying to figure out the next step in his work life. Silva said he hopes to find a position as a receptionist or an assistant producer.
“It’s really about contacts,” he said.
The opportunity to live in a multicultural city is a great experience, Silva said.
“For me, it just felt right,” he said.
Silva said he spends most of the time with the audience, so he doesn’t get to meet too many guests on the show. Early in his time at the show, however, he had the opportunity to meet a man who got his start on the same stage more than 45 years ago.
“I did get to see Paul McCartney. I was star-struck,” he said of the Beatle who took America by storm on the “Ed Sullivan Show” in the early 1960s.
Silva said he lived with a relative in New York until recently but now has his own apartment. He said he is not sure how the next phase of his life will progress. In the meantime, Silva works the phones of the ticket office, greets the audience and dreams of what may come his way in the years to come.
