Donna Bellone has played the role before and I was glad when she accepted my offer to revisit the part of Roberta again. Donna introduced me to Shanley when she cast me years ago in Italian American Reconciliation, so I feel a sense of coming back full circle working with her on this.
The role of the volatile yet vulnerable Danny was originally supposed to be played by another great actor, but when conflicts made that impossible, my dear friend Joe Lauriero perfectly stepped in. I told him tonight during rehearsal how I had been thiniking of the many amazing scenes he and I have shared together on the stage. Now it's an absolute honor to be directing them on this challenging but rewarding project.
The play is an emotional rollercoaster and would be difficult to mount as a full production with a lengthy rehearsal schedule, so what makes me think we can do it justice as a script-in-hand reading with less than a handful of practice sessions? All I can say is that Donna and Joe are bringing their all, laying their hearts out there under the stage lights, exposed for everyone to see. Come experience it for yourselves and see if we've succeeded. Any great moments of drama will be a testament to their talent, while any flaws in the production will be a product of my learning experience as a newbie director. Whatever the case, I welcome your honest feedback.
Here is all the information about the show. Spread the word.
Center Stage Playhouse presents a staged reading of
DANNY AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA
by John Patrick Shanley
Starring Donna Maria Bellone and Joe Laureiro
... Directed by Nick Leshi
An explosive, deeply affecting study of alienation and the redemptive power of love.
"The play is the equivalent of sitting at ringside watching a prize fight
that concludes in a loving embrace." —NY Times.
that concludes in a loving embrace." —NY Times.
Friday, June 1, & Saturday, June 2, @ 8:00 p.m.
French Family Auditorium at Mercy College
1200 Waters Place, Bronx, NY 10461
www.centerstageplayhouse.org
THE STORY: The setting is a rundown bar in the Bronx, where two of society's rejects, Danny and Roberta, strike up a halting conversation over their beer. He is a brooding, self-loathing young man who resorts more to violence than reason; she is a divorced, guilt-ridden woman whose troubled teenage son is now being cared for by her parents. Danny, whose fellow truck drivers call him "the Beast," seems incapable of tender emotion, while Roberta, who is still haunted by the memory of an ugly incident involving her father, is distrustful of men in general. And yet, as their initial reserve begins to melt, and they decide to spend the night together, the possibility of a genuine and meaningful relationship begins to emerge—the first for both of them. In the end there are no facile, easy answers, but thanks to the playwright's skill and compassion, both characters are able to probe within themselves to find an exorcism and forgiveness that, while painfully achieved, offers the hope of a future touched, at last, with more than the bitterness and loneliness that had been their lot before their fateful meeting.
0 comments:
Speak up your mind
Tell us what you're thinking... !