"COURTING MAE WEST" Gets Support from Mark Ruffalo

(New York, NY) It was announced today that the play "COURTING MAE WEST' (http://MaeWest.blogspot.com), which will be directed by Thomas Morrissey at C.U.N.Y. Graduate Center on the 9th of February, and which will star sexpot Allison Tilsen in the title role as the blonde bombshell of Broadway MAE WEST, has received a letter of support from the famed Hollywood actor of stage and screen, Mark Ruffalo. Ruffalo's recent film credits include "We Don't Live Here Anymore," "Collateral" [with Tom Cruise], "13 Going on 30" [with Jennifer Garner], and "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" [with Jim Carrey].

Writing to the dramatist LindaAnn Loschiavo in Manhattan, Ruffalo said: "I see good things ahead and I wish you great success. You obviously have been working very hard and I'm sure your efforts will be rewarded."

Loschiavo said that Mark Ruffalo would be ideal for the male lead, the gentleman who is "courting" Mae West: the role of reporter Mario "Shortie" deAngelis.

Al Sapienza, an actor whose credits include the role of Mikey Palmice on "The Sopranos," was among the enthusiasts who turned out for a brief ribbon-cutting at The New York Public Library's Jefferson Market branch, where a month-long installation devoted to "COURTING MAE WEST" went on view on Monday January 3rd.

The sixteen colorful panels, drawn from archival photographs taken during 1927-28, are the work of Long Island artist Michael Di Motta, who collaborated with the playwright using the storyboards that Loschiavo prepared for this educational narrative. "It was an honor to help rediscover a lost chapter of New York City history with LindaAnn," said Di Motta, whose sketches appear monthly in Instinct Magazine.

Visitors to the library's second floor can explore the exhibition at no charge until January 30, 2005.

Al Sapienza, who is being considered for one of the roles in the upcoming workshop production of "COURTING MAE WEST," was overheard telling two willowy blondes that he used to reminisce about being on Broadway with the late actor Jerry Orbach, with whom he co-starred on a few episodes of "Law and Order." According to Sapienza, the failure to support writers of Italian descent has resulted in fewer scripts, fewer plays, and fewer choices for actors. "The Italian Americans are the only major ethnic group with not even one stage in New York or California. And shame on them," he emphasized. "Go put your name on a playhouse or a performing arts center and give actors some work instead of dumping on David Chase and the careers he's helped build."

John "Cha Cha" Carcia, an actor who broadcasts the Little Italy report on a weekly Sirius radio program called "The Wiseguy Show," said, "I hope 'Courting Mae West' goes to Broadway and I hope it wins a Pulitzer. Only one playwright of Italian descent has ever won a Pulitzer for Drama and that was almost 30 years ago, back in the 1970s." Ciarcia added, "Mamma mia! Even the Red Sox have a better record for World Series wins than my paisanos have for literary trophies."

[The Pulitzer Prize was established in 1917. A year later, the Red Sox won the World Series and traded Babe Ruth to the Yankees.]

According to Caroline La Rosa, a statuesque performance artist, the Italian American gossip mill wastes too much time on fueling a witch hunt against "Shark Tale" and "Growing Up Gotti" instead of pursuing a worthwhile goal — building at least one theatre, for instance. "You know you're Italian if the word TONY means Tony Soprano," said La Rosa, shaking her head in dismay. "Only if you are Jewish or Irish does it mean the theatrical award."

Reflecting the ethnic population of Greenwich Village during the 1920s, the roles in "Courting Mae West" include an Italian American reporter, Irish American boardinghouse owners, Jewish news dealers, and a WASP-y party girl.

The February 9th performance at C.U.N.Y. Graduate Center [365 Fifth Avenue, NYC] begins at 8:00 PM.

To learn more:
http://MaeWest.blogspot.com
MaeWestOnstageNY@aol.com

Contact Information
212-243-4334

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