2008-2009

Homing

An HB Staged Reading

Part of The 2nd 6 Playwrights in Search of a Production

Playwright: Maureen Laffey

Director: Jack Hofsiss

Homing was performed October 29th – 30th, 2009

Our Son’s Wedding

A Playwrights in Development Series

Part of “The 2nd Six Playwrights in Search of a Production…”

Playwright: Donna de Matteo

Director: Donna de Matteo

Cast: Marina Re*, Roger Serbagi*, Perry Ojeda*, Eric Rasmussen*

*Appearing courtesy of Actor’s Equity Association

Stage Directions: Chris Drury Managing Director: Marlene Mancini Technical Director: Giovanni Villari Office Manager: Tara Webb

The 2nd Six Playwrights in Search of a Production - HB Studio

Our Son’s Wedding was performed October 25th & 26th, 2008

Synopsis: Husband-to-be Michael and Dr. David Schwartz are bound to get married for the first time. Angelo Lo Presto, seemingly homophobic father of Michael and his wife of forty years, Mary Lo Presto are having an adversarial conversation in their hotel suite at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Boston, MA about their son’s marriage. Michael is crushed when he finds out about a huge wedding decoration error, his interior decorator mind drives him into destroying half of the decorations and punching his groom in the face after following his mother’s advice. Angelo Lo Presto is also involved in the feud when he has to face his wife’s secrets after being kept in the dark for a long time.

Cawfee Tawk

Part of “The 2nd Six Playwrights in Search of a Production…”

Playwright: Jenifer Badamo The 2nd Six Playwrights in Search of a Production - HB Studio

Director: Marlene Mancini

Cast: Nicole Pandolfo, Marina Re, Sophia Remolde, Jenny Mollen.

Managing Director: Marlene Mancini Technical Director: Giovanni Villari Office Manager: Tara Webb Stage Directions: Catherine Siracusa

Cawfee Tawk was performed 22nd – 23rd

Synopsis: In 1970, during the Vietnam War, childhood friends Maria, Luann, and Geri gossip about past relationships, including their personal ones. In Rosie’s apartment, Maria’s future mother-in-law, Rosie threatens to expose her secret from a past mistake if she doesn’t call off her wedding with her son.While Luann, an Irish-methodist struggles with the pressure of neighborhood rumors that her future husband is queer. Whereas twenty-three year-old, Geri is not concerned with her life decisions as she chooses a stable job career over a family.

What Keeps Us Going

An HB Studio Production

Part of The 2nd Six Playwrights in Search of a Production

Playwright: Barbara Dana The 2nd Six Playwrights in Search of a Production - HB Studio

Director: Anthony Arkin

Managing Director: Marlene Mancini Technical Director: Giovanni Villari Office Manager: Tara Webb

What Keeps Us Going was performed October 22nd – 23rd, 2008

Shortcomings: An Evening of Sketches

An HB Studio Production

Part of The 2nd Six Playwrights in Search of a Production

Playwright: Norman Kline The 2nd Six Playwrights in Search of a Production - HB Studio

Director: Karen Ludwig

Managing Director: Marlene Mancini Technical Director: Giovanni Villari Office Manager: Tara Webb

Shortcomings: An Evening of Sketches was performed October 17th – 18th

Synopsis-

The Selection Process: In the conference room in a government building, five panel experts in the visual and performing arts meet in order to select applicants who have been recommended for government support in the visual and performing arts. As they review the applications, they’re to consider those applicants who demonstrate high artistic standards, fiscal ability, community involvement, and cultural diversity.

Guns

An HB Studio Production

Part of The 2nd Six playwrights in Search of a Production

The 2nd Six Playwrights in Search of a Production - HB Studio
HB Studio Playwrights Foundation Presents- Guns, The 2nd Six Playwrights in Search of a Production

Playwright: David Loughlin

Director: Rasa Allan Kazlas

Managing Director: Marlene Mancini Technical Director:Giovanni Villari Office Manager: Tara Webb

Guns was performed October 11th – 12th, 2008

The Waiting Room Plays

One act play festival HB Studio - The Waiting Room Plays

Playwrights: Brian Cleary, Jenifer Badamo, David Temple, Natalie Bates, Peter Coston, Maureen Laffey, Pete Zinn, Stanley Taub, Jean Grillo, Elizabeth Primamore, Karen Ludwig, Lisa Dahlborg, John Murray, Nora Ferrari, Agnes Garrett, David Loughlin, Shane Mullery, Mark Rose, Maria Torres, John Cappelletti, Henry Holden, Chris Drury, Benny Benowitz, Brenda McGriff, Peter Alexandrou and Bill Quigley

Directors: Marsha Lee Sheiness, Amy Wright, Marlene Mancini, Nora Ferrari, Kate Bushmann, Jack Hofsiss, Sally Burtenshaw, Karen Ludwig, Rochelle Oliver,  Karen Azenberg, Jonatha Cerullo, Rasa Allan Kazlas and Peter Coston

Cast: Suzanne Limozinere, Fred Nelson, Dan Mason, Cecelia Riddett, Marci Occhino, Dave Weston, Georgina Bates, Nick DeSimone, Domenica Galati, John Golaszewski, Daniela Mastropetro, Marion McCorry, Tom Tinelli, Laura Esterman, Karen Song, Barbara Tabor, Billie Brouse, Paul Eisemann, David H. Holmes, Bill Rutkoski, Patricia Dodd, Dara O’Brien, Rick Ross, Kay Lopez, Eric Ramussen, Letty Ferrer, Gordana Rashovich, Martin Cohen, Georgina Bates, David Adams, Marlene Mancini, Shaun Bennet Wilson, Nicole Pandolfo, Jaclyn Smith, Trudy Steibl, Jen Danby, Mindy Luce, Emily Mitchell, Margaret Ritchie, Andrea Modica, Ella Jane New, Jack Davidson, G.W. Reed, Lori Gardner, Gary Corbin, Jessica Leigh Elwart, Rick Ross, Sean Gormley, Barry McBrien, Barry Lebmann, Ellen Steier, Kathy Lynn Wood, Jack Gerard Morris, Sly Augustus, Anthony Laurent, Gary Corbin, Yuval Boim, Sevan Greene, Peter Alexandrou, Emily Mithcell

Lighting: Corrie Beth Shotwell Lighting Tehnician: A.C. Davison Costume: Catherine Siracusa Assistant Stage Manager: Elise Teran Production Assistants: Jenifer Badamo, Sarah Nochenson, Kate Pressman Assistant Director: Adam LeGrant Sound: Adam LeGrant Movement:  Robert LaFosse

The Waiting Room Plays were performed December 10th – 22nd of the year

Plays:

EVENING A:

Divisions of the Office: At a therapy session an old couple, Sarah and Tim, “run” into each other. They are both going through emotional confusion because of each other, but relieved to see each other at the therapy place, showing that they really loved one another. Sarah proposes an idea of having a joint therapy session, but surprisingly it turns into a quarrel between the therapists who show they have history between themselves of an old relationship they once had, which turns into an argument using metaphors.

Fall Colors: A working woman and her husband converse about the tough financial situation they are in, being that a company they invested in went bankrupt. They soon come to a resolution and think of ways to get out of their financial situation.

Thin Ice: A woman, Nicole, is feeling neglected by her husband who is never home and always working. A man, David, makes her comfortable and she feels as though he’s the one for her instead of her husband. They converse in David’s car while watching Nicole’s daughter. As the conversation goes on Nicole confesses her love for David but is surprised to find out that the reason why Nicole is not getting as much attention is because her husband and David have been “messing around”.

Metamorphosis: Two woman, Nicole and Alexis, are in a Plastic Surgery waiting room for an appointment. As Nicole keeps talking about her body getting done, Alexis gets annoyed and talks about the traumatic reason she’s getting her body done.

Adagietto: A woman, Daniela, passes out in the train station as she hears a “powerful” music. When she wakes up a few people are surrounding her in the train station trying to help her recover. Most of the people around her heard the music but they say it sounded like it was playing in their head.

Gone: Two woman, a mother and a daughter are at an orphanage for elephant. Jae Hwa, the daughter of Beatrice is insisting her mother to come with her to California but she doesn’t want to go because of the elephants she wants to take care of.

Waiting to Land: Two men, Brandon, a surfer who works at a tile store and Steve, a CFO of a profitable software company have a friendly conversation of each other’s lives as they are on a flight to Chicago.

Flight into Health: A woman and a man are in a room waiting for the psychiatric doctor. The man asks her for the time and after that she starts to have an attitude with him. They start arguing and as soon as things are about to get intense the man threatens to commit suicide so the woman gets in front of him to stop him and then they struggle and after start kissing. They end up leaving together to spend the day with each other.

Off to the Races…Manhattan Style: Two wealthy couples, Warren and Laura, and, Manuel and Maria, are at a place to test their children to see if they would be eligible for schools of gifted and talented students. As the couples speak they converse about their children and how their process is going resulting in disappointment for one of the couples.

Dr. Donner: A gay couple, Fred and Jon, are in a doctor’s office waiting room sitting across from a lady, Julie, who is holding a cat carrier. They converse about the problem that Julie is going through and why she has a cat. As the lady has to use the bathroom, Jon and Fred, discuss why they’re as the lady leaves the cat with them since she supposedly had to use the bathroom. Neither the lady or doctor come back to the room for a while so the couple ends up leaving with the cat.

Questioning: A woman, Susan, is in a waiting area of a police station speaking about a murder that happened to a doctor.

The Other Side of the World: A young man, Warren, got drafted by the army to fight in the Vietnam War. His mother and sister converse with him minutes before he has to take the bus to leave.

Gift Giver: Two men, Mark and Carlos, are in a room waiting for a doctor to see if Carlos results are for having HIV. Mark and Carlos are conversing until the doctor comes out with the results, relieving from his worries as his results were negative. The doctor then converses with the two and then after, asks Mark a question, resulting in a surprising response.

EVENING B:

Waiting for Anthony: Two woman, Barbara and Mary, are waiting in a room for their husbands, who suffered from heart attacks. As they wait in sorrow they converse, and soon find out that both of them are married to the same guy. This shocks them and brings them to argument but after allowed them to come to peace as they converse a bit more about the situation.

Edward: Myra and Grace, two sisters, are at the vet trying to take care of Myra’s dog. Unfortunately, that dog is costing both of them a boatload of money, which is affecting them in drastic ways with there house and other bills. Grace threatens Myra to get the dog out of the house or she’s leaving, as put in the same words Myra’s ex-husband said.

Scratching the Surface: A couple, Juliet and Ralph, are in a waiting room at the doctors, so Juliet could get her lips done. They get their much earlier than the time they were supposed to so they converse for the time being. A few moments later, the doctors assistant, Loretta, comes to ask Juliet questions and hand her paperwork before she goes to the doctor. A surprising response that Ralph was unaware of was that she wanted to get her breasts done and wanted to keep it a surprise for Juliet. After, Juliet didn’t want to answer the questions so then she left to get coffee from the machine outside the office. As she left, Ralph and Loretta converse as Loretta throws hints to be with her instead of Juliet.

White Noise: A man, Joe, and a woman, Melanie, are in the waiting room of a therapist’s office. Melanie is waiting for her boyfriend to get out as the two converse. At the end of the conversation they schedule a meeting business-wise to be potential business partners.

Brother and Brother: A man named Didier Diderot is yelling at a statue of his brother explaining why he dislikes him.

Comrades: A man is conversing angrily with the woman he’s with about critics saying harsh things about his play. He allows there responses about his play to get in his head but then soon ignores it as he continues to converse with his wife about the situation.

The Executive: Three people, Ronald, Malcolm and Sandy, with three different types of looks are auditioning for a big role in a movie. They each as they’re waiting for their names to be called converse with each other. After Sandy is overrun with joy it turns out that there are three roles for which they thought they were competing for one.

Open House: Two brokers, David, an artist who is working in real estate to get money, and Jack, a VP at a real estate firm, are trying to get an offer for an apartment or house. Jack wants David to make a sale so he leaves the talking up to him when the client arrives.

Beazil: Two men, Robbie and Jim, were in a waiting room of a gynecologist’s office. They were conversing about Robbie’s “idiot” cousin, Beazil, who was dropped on his head as a baby but was still the most helpful person in Robbie’s family.

Packing Heat: A hispanic woman, Maria, and a white woman, Carol, was in a waiting room at a hospital waiting for the news of there grandson and son, who both got shot. They converse about the situation and it turns out that both of the young men were shot in the same store.

Central B.S.: Two guys were in a jail cell because they cursed at a cop as they were smoking a blunt. They were conversing and arguing as they were waiting to be released. It soon turned into fighting and yelling which got them separated from the same cell.

Now Boarding: Two middle eastern men, Yussef and Mohammed, were getting ready to board a plane and make a bad decision that would kill many people. Yussef was very scared and nervous so he kept on questioning Mohammed’s actions. As the plane was about to leave they made a final decision to board the plane and commit an evil crime, which seemed righteous in their eyes because they felt they had to prove a point.

The Sleeper Awakens

An HB Ensemble Production

Playwright: Julie Mckee

The Sleeper Awakens - HB Studio
Playbill

Director: Carol Rosenfeld

Cast: Elizabeth Grey*, Johanna Leister*, Robin Christian McNair*, Nick DeSimone, David Khouri, Frank Anderson*, Laura Gilreath, Nathalie Bryant.

*Members of the Actors Equity Association

Set and Costumes: Michael Masse Costume Assistant: Catherine Siracusa Light: Les Dickert Sound: Bob Murphy Stage Combat: Ian Marshall Managing Director: Marlene Mancini Technical Director: Giovanni Villari Office Manager: Tara Webb Assistant Directors: Nina Baddock & Yveyi Yi

The Sleeper Awakens was performed April 18th-May 5th, 2009

The Sleeper Awakens reimagines Pedro Calderon’s Life Is A Dream, seen through the lens of a Preston Sturges screwball comedy.

Synopsis: This play takes place in various locations in Florida. Wanting to name his successor, Uncle King has to make up for his abandonment of daughter Doleen, who was vanished from the family tree because of a portent during her birth. Introduced to freedom, power, and wealth, Doleen becomes aware of her family’s lifestyle and is ready to become the next heir. Uncle King, scared for all his hard work to go to waste opts to teach her the ropes of the business but harshly warns her not to mess things up.

Lady with a Lapdog With Jokes and A Happy Ending

An HB Ensemble Production Lady With a Lapdog - HB Studio

Playwright: Aleksey Burago

Director: Aleksey Burago

Cast: Georgina Bates, Snezhana Chernova, Matthew Conlon, Daniela Dakich, Jen Dbnby, Pascal Escriout, Jack Gillespie, Koichiro Goto, Hanna Hayes, Vadim Krol, Mindy Luce, Joseph Larocco, Andy McCutcheon, Danijela Popvich, Danusia Trevino, Giovanni Villari, Sharon Wajswol, L.B. Williams, Julia Wolfermann, Marius Zilberstein

Set & Costumes: Olga Rogova Lighting: John Burkland Managing Director: Marlene Mancini Technical Director: Corrie Beth Shotwell Office Manager: Tara Webb

Lady with a Lapdog was performed September 13th- 30th

Synopsis: As time passes, Andrei marries Natalya and devotes himself to gambling, while Natalya has babies and takes over the household. Masha has a romantic affair with Vershinin; Natalya commits adultery with the school administrator. A fire rages through the town, but Chebutykin is drunk and unable to help the victims. In the end, just before the Army contingent moves to another post, Irina’s fiance is killed in a duel.

Hedda Gabler

An HB Ensemble Production

Playwright: Henrik Ibsen Hedda Gabler - HB Studio

Director: Amy Wright

Cast: Candace Bryant, Snezhana Chernova, Chris Chinn, Selma Cifka, Jen Danby, Chris Gilmer, Hanna Hayes, Ross Kramberg, Philip Kushner, Alicia Lobo, Midy Luce, Don Marlette, Arnie Mazer, Andy McCutcheon, Dara O’ Brien, David Shih, Catherine Siracusa, David Smilow, Robert Spence, Toshiji Takeshima, Maruis Zilberstein

Director: Amy Wright Lighting: Corrie Beth Shotwell Managing Director: Marlene Mancini Technical Director: Giovanni Villari Stage Manager: Aj Dobbs Office Manager: Tara Webb

Hedda Gabler performed June 12th – 29th, 2009

Synopsis: Hedda, the daughter of an aristocratic and enigmatic general, has just returned to her villa in Kristiania (now Oslo) from her honeymoon. Her husband is George Tesman, a young, aspiring, and reliable (but not brilliant) academic who continued his research during their honeymoon. It becomes clear in the course of the play that she has never loved him but married him because she thinks her years of youthful abandon are over. It is also suggested that she may be pregnant.