Beloved and visionary founder and executive director of Creative Ministries Performing Arts Center in Oakdale, Noel S. Ruiz, who died in 2013, was inducted into the Connetquot Fine Arts and Music Hall of Fame on Saturday, May 10.

In February 1987, along with co-founders Joseph Campanello, Brian Shurnman, and Lynn Cahalan, Ruiz established Creative Ministries.

While serving as a youth pastor at St. John Nepomucene Roman Catholic Church in Bohemia, Ruiz produced a captivating retelling of the crucifixion using dance, music, and pantomime.

Titled, “The Journey, Cross and Crucifixion,” it is still performed by more than three traveling troupes in schools and churches across Long Island and New York City.

The popular performance group quickly outgrew theater space in Bohemia and Holbrook, producing major musicals involving cast and crews of over 150 people.

In 1997, Creative Ministries found a home at the former Oakdale movie theater on Montauk Highway.

Over $150,000 was raised for the renovation of the building that had been vacant for nine years and over 100 volunteers painted, sanded, hung electrical wire, and lay carpet.

On May 23, 1997, the CM Performing Arts Center opened with its first production that Ruiz starred in, “The Man of La Mancha.” A favorite musical of Ruiz’s, he often spoke of the culmination of the troupe into a full theater as the “impossible dream.”

Following his death in 2013 at the age of 58, a devastated but determined CMPAC continued Ruiz’s impossible dream and now produce eight mainstage shows a year, with musicals like “The Wizard of Oz,” “Cabaret,” “Into the Woods,” “Jekyll and Hyde,” “Grease,” “Hello Dolly,” and “The Sound of Music.”

Under CEO Marc Hollid-Ausset, CMPAC continues in Ruiz’s spirit to make new dreams come true with his establishment of LAPAA, Local Artisans, Performers, Artisans, and Authors, who spotlight those in the local arts community with events and exhibitions at the theater.

“It was the honor of lifetime to induct Noel S. Ruiz into the 2025 Connetquot High School Fine Arts and Music Hall of Fame.  Noel was not just an artist, but a visionary, a builder of dreams, and a true champion of the human spirit.  He was, and always will be, the heart of Long Island theatre,” said Hollid-Ausset.

The monikers of “heart of Long Island theatre” and “Broadway in Oakdale” have characterized the performances enjoyed by thousands of audience members.

A regular actor at CMPAC, Michael Sherwood, said, “When you’re in the cast at CM, you feel like you’re performing on Broadway.”

In his ceremonial speech, Hollid-Ausset said, “Noel, alongside his husband Joseph Campanello and his dear friends Brian Schnurman and Lynn Cahalin, created a space where people from all walks of life weren’t just accepted for who they are, but rather celebrated for it. Noel believed deeply in the transformative power of theatre and in the beauty of each individual. He believed in letting artists shine, and he was most content not in the spotlight, but holding, it making sure others could be seen. He had a rare gift for encouragement onstage and off. He challenged us all to be the best versions of ourselves. He had a way of softening disappointment and turning it into hope. When a child wasn’t cast in a show, he wouldn’t say they weren’t good enough… he’d say, ‘You may be the most beautiful blue that ever existed, but for this particular painting, I need a red.’ And with that, hearts healed and confidence remained.”

“At CM, we often say there’s a kind of magic that lives in our walls. Shows come together against the odds. Strangers become family. That magic, that belief in community, in volunteering, in the power of live performance—that’s Noel’s legacy.”