Dec 15, 2014
Gypsy Stage premieres “Life Upon the Wicked Stage”
An evening of short comedies that provide an inside peek at theater life!
Jan. 8-9-10-11, 2015 at Studio@620 and through Feb. 4 at other locations
DUNEDIN, FL: Gypsy Stage Repertory Theater Company presents Life Upon The Wicked Stage, an evening of six short comedies by Jo Morello and Jack Gilhooley. “Jo and Jack are a dynamic, multi-award winning, albeit cantankerous, husband-and-wife duo based in Tampa Bay,” said Lil Barcaski, Artistic Director for Gypsy Stage. Morello and Gilhooley rarely extend their real-life partnership to writing together. Until now, the exception was The Split, a comedy, produced in St. Petersburg and Bradenton in 2004 that was about—what else?—married playwrights. Now they’ve teamed up again with a funny look at some not-so-funny experiences in the theatre. “It’s a show filled with wicked, irreverent, clever, quirky comedy,” Barcaski said.
Life Upon the Wicked Stage includes six plays, from approximately 6 to 25 minutes each, presented in two acts. The show opens at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 8, at Studio@620, 620 1st Avenue South, St. Petersburg, with a theater industry and media night. It’s a pay-what-you-can basis for the opening show with light refreshments included. Jack and Jo will be on hand to meet and greet and sign programs. Additional performances are set for Studio@620 on Jan. 9-10-11 with a ticket price of $20 ($15 for students and seniors) and at other Tampa Bay and Sarasota locations through February 4.
The evening of plays include Connubial Bliss, with married playwrights Charlie and Marie trying to keep their sagging career from destroying their professional as well as personal relationships. The Hetero Chorus Boy presents the struggle of a straight dancer cautiously trying to break the news of his availability to the woman he loves. In The (Play)w/right Stuff, out-of-town playwright Karen arrives unexpectedly at auditions for her play and is aghast at what the director is doing with—and to—her play. Obsolete finds a young playwright challenged by his ideals when a producer offers him a large commission to write a play with no actors, not even his beloved girlfriend. The Dog Lovers do use an actor, but only one, and it’s a dog. Finally, in Co-Dependents, Marie and Charlie are back. They meet with their agent, who tries to re-unite them by sending them off—separately—to a Country & Western bar where they encounter undreamed-of, definitely unwanted adventures.
Morello and Gilhooley have won dozens of playwriting honors and had numerous productions. In August, Gypsy Rep produced one play by each of them for the Tampa Bay Theatre Festival (Gilhooley’s Ms.Guidance, Morello’s Gene & Aggie). Morello’s other recent productions include the E.G.O.: The Passions of Eugene Gladstone O’Neill, produced in 2013 in Lexington, KY, as winner of the Kentucky Women Writers Conference, and Talkback, produced in October-November 2014 for the Future Ten 10x10x10 Festival in Pittsburgh. Gilhooley’s play The Triple-X Rated Scholar was produced at Variations Theatre, Long Island, NY, in 2014. His new play The Derry Slope Off is scheduled for production by Elite Theatre Company in Oxnard, CA, in September 2015.
Among other honors, Gilhooley has won four awards from Florida’s Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs, an NEA Individual Playwriting grant, an NEA International grant as resident at Centaur Theatre in Montreal, Eugene O’Neill National Playwrights’ Conference, Fulbright Guest Artist fellowships to Spain and Ireland and two Puffin Foundation Fellowships. He’s an alumnus of Tony-award winning, New York-based New Dramatists. Morello’s play have been winners or finalists of some 50 competitions including six awards from Florida’s Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs; the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center Young People’s Drama Project; Reston Community Players/twice; Choate Rosemary Hall/twice; and Beverly Hills Theatre Guild Children’s Theatre). A director of the Eugene O’Neill International Society and editor of its newsletter, she has seen her play about O’Neill presented at Tao House (O’Neill’s California home), the Neighborhood Playhouse and Provincetown Theater, among other venues.
Gypsy Stage Repertory Theater is a traveling theater company based in the Tampa Bay area and operating under the auspices of its parent organization, the Showcase Arts Foundation (ShowcaseArtsFoundation.org). SAFI is a seven-year-old, not-for-profit, 501(c)3 theater arts group. For information, contact Gypsy Stage Artistic Director, Lil Barcaski, at 813.922.8778 or email [email protected]
Show Dates, Times and Venues:
Thurs, Fri, Saturday Jan 8,9,10
The Studio at 620 – 620 1 Ave. South, St Petersburg, 33701
Showtime – 7pm
Sunday, Jan 11 – The Studio at 620
Showtime – 3pm
(Please note: Thurs, Jan 8 is an industry/media night. Admission is pay what you can)
Tickets: $20 ($15 seniors and students) – all shows other than the Thursday show
Purchase tickets online at www.thestudioat620.org
Friday, Jan 16
The SAFI Space 1714 CR 1, Suite 2, Dunedin, FL 34698
Showtime – 8pm
Cost $15 – Call 813. 922. 8778
Sunday, Jan 18
The Blu Room Theater at the Flamingo Hotel St Pete
4601 34th Street South, St. Petersburg, FL 33711
3pm – Cost $20 – Call 727. 321. 5000
Friday, Jan 23
The Centre of Palm Harbor
1500 16th Street, Palm Harbor, FL 34683
Dinner and show – Dinner will be served at 6pm
Show time 6:45
Cost (including dinner $15) – Call 727. 771. 6000
Saturday, Jan 24
The Metro Wellness and Community Center
3251 3rd Avenue North #125, St. Petersburg, FL 33713
Showtime – 7:30 pm
Cost – $15 – Call 727. 321. 3854
Friday, Jan 30
Art Center Sarasota
707 North Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, FL 34236
Showtime: 8pm
Cost $15 – Call 941. 365. 2032
Weds. Feb 4
The Hale Activity Center
330 Douglas Avenue, Dunedin, FL 34698
Showtime – 7pm
Cost $8 in advance ($10 at the door) – Call 727. 298 3299
Lil Barcaski
Artistic Director
Gypsy Stage Rep
www.gypsystage.com
813.922.8778
