Art House Productions & Exit 13 Productions present
My Italy Story
Written by Joseph Gallo
Starring: Michael Notardonato
Directed by: Charlotte Cohn
"Michael Notardonato has energy and personality to spare...becoming countless different characters in Joseph Gallo's powerful and vividly written one man play." - Jay Lustig, NJArts
"...a compelling page turner." - New York Times
SYNOPSIS:
Spurred by visits from his grandmother’s ghost, and by pleas from his cousin Louie to help get the family back together, Thomas DaGato quits his job as a New York account executive and travels to the tiny Italian town of his ancestors - Vallata. But it’s not until he comes home, however, that he discovers a secret that unlocks his past.
TICKETS:
General Admission: $30.00
SUPPORTER General Admission: $45.00
(includes a photo op with the cast, a coupon for a half-off concession item, and a BIG thank you from Art House Productions!)
HISTORY:
My Italy Story received its debut Off-Broadway at the 47th Street Theatre in New York in 1997, featuring Danny Mastrogiorgio. The play later received a critically acclaimed revival in 2009 at Hoboken’s Mile Square Theatre starring Emmy Award winner Tom Pelphrey, who was named Best Actor by The NJ Star-Ledger. In the Fall of 2024, My Italy Story received its second major revival at American Theatre Group, starring Michael Notardonato. Reviews for the play have been raves! In Broadway World, Chloe Yang wrote, “Michael Notardonato shape-shifts through a dozen characters in Joseph Gallo’s tour do force solo play My Italy Story.” The New York Times stated, “Anyone who has ever been part of a large family is bound to respond!” And the Gannet Newspapers proclaimed, “Author Joseph Gallo delivers the kind of emotional knockout we seldom get from more famous playwrights in bigger plays.
CAST:
Michael Notardonato – (Actor/Thomas DaGato) Recently seen on Broadway in A Wonderful World. He originated the role of Dino Del Canto in the Off-Broadway premiere of Romeo & Bernadette, and recently completed filming a recurring role in a new Netflix series that will premiere in 2025. He has starred as Tony Manero in several productions of Saturday Night Fever across the US and internationally, including at The Engeman Theater and Ivoryton Playhouse (Best Actor nomination - Connecticut Critics Circle). Other select credits include Bob Gaudio in Jersey Boys, Danny Zuko in Grease, and Link Larkin in Hairspray. He also appeared as Dr. Flores opposite two-time Emmy Award winner Dorothy Lyman in the two-person play, Organic, at the Ivoryton Women Playwright’s Festival. He holds a BFA in Musical Theatre from The Boston Conservatory.
CREATIVE TEAM:
Joseph Gallo – (Playwright) A noted playwright, actor, educator, and storyteller, his full-length plays include: My Italy Story (Off-Broadway, 47th Street Theatre); Two-Man Kidnapping Rule (New Ohio Theatre); Warning: Adult Content (Theatre 54); Staten Island (Circle Rep Lab); and New York City 523, which is published by Next Stage Press. He is the former playwright-in- residence at Mile Square Theatre where his credits included writing and performing in Yuppies Invade My House at Dinnertime, The Playbill Gallery (a love story), AJ's Book, and Long Gone Daddy. He also wrote and directed the dance/theatre piece The Magic Hour, and directed the performance film, which was named Best Feature at the NYC Indie Theatre Film Festival. He co-created and wrote the text for the dance/theatre piece 80% of Love for company Rindfleisch, which debuted in New York at the Obie award-winning Ice Factory Festival at the Ohio Theatre, and subsequently transferred to the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival. A frequent participant at The Moth in New York City, he has toured with The Moth Mainstage Ensemble, has been featured on The Moth Radio Hour and Podcast, and is a four-time StorySLAM winner. A current member of the Actors Studio Playwrights and Directors Workshop, he is a New Jersey Council of the Arts Playwriting Fellow, and a recipient of the NJ Council of the Humanities Incubation Grant for New Work. He is the founder and Head of the Theatre Arts Program at Hudson County Community College, and is a recipient of the Kennedy Center Prize for Innovative Teaching in Theatre. He holds an MFA in playwriting from Ohio Univeristy.
”Charlotte Cohn - (Director) Most recently directed the critically acclaimed UK premiere of Canned Goods by Erik Kahn following the world premiere production at the American Theatre Group last Spring. Other directing highlights include Church & State (Berkshite Theatre Group), The Whole Shebang and Baltimore in Black and White (The Cell Theatre, NYC), My Italy Story (ATG) and Best Friends (Jazz at Lincoln Center). She has appeared on Broadway in La Boheme, directed by Baz Luhrmann and Coram Boy, directed by Melly Still. Her producing credits include Here Lies Love (Broadway), Without You (starring Anthony Rapp) and Handle with Care and Church & State by Jason Odell Williams (Off-Broadway). Ms. Cohn is an Ovation Award Winner and a Bay Area Critics' Circle Award nominee.
November 6 - 9, 2025
Thursdays - Saturdays at 7:30 PM
Sundays at 2:00 PM
Art House Productions
345 Marin Boulevard, Jersey City, NJ 07302
Directions:
https://www.arthouseproductions.org/pages/directions
Parking Options:
Street parking where available.
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Public Transportation:
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