Thursday, May 10, 2007

"Over the River and Through the Woods" Italian American Comedy/Drama by Joe DiPietro

The ANNOTICO Report

 

This sounds like an IDEAL play for the Italian American Community. I'm surprised I wasn't aware of it previously.

 

 

"Over the River and Through the Woods" Italian American Comedy/Drama

 

Georgetown Times - Georgetown,SC,USA

By Clayton Stairs

May 09, 2007

 

Nick Cristano is a third-generation Italian-American living in Hoboken, N.J., who visits both sets of his grandparents for Sunday dinner each week. Since his parents moved to Florida after retiring and his sister moved away, his grandparents - Frank, Aida, Nunzio and Emma - are happy to have him around.


When he makes the announcement that he has been offered his dream job in Seattle, Wash., they do not take the news well. Thus begins a series of schemes to keep Nick in Hoboken, including inviting to dinner a lovely single woman named Caitlin O'Hare.


Beginning this Thursday, the Swamp Fox Players (SFP) will present "Over the River and Through the Woods" a comedy/drama by Joe DiPietro, at The Strand Theatre.

 

Charles Wells, a veteran with the SFP, is directing. He says that this play, which ran on Broadway, is one of the "most presented" plays in community theaters across America.


"It is an extremely interesting and very entertaining story about the importance of family," Wells said. "I think people will really enjoy it because it is just the best play to come down the pike in a long time."


He says that the title, "Over the River and Through the Woods" is facetious because "the joys of a little girl going to her grandmother's house are opposite from feelings of the main character."...


He says that this play is about differences in generations.


"It is about the generation of family that would stay close by," Ford said. "Now, as we move into this new generation, the world seems to be getting smaller, and we are moving farther away from family."


He adds that the show's premise deals with the question of how much we should give back to our family which gives us so much.
"What do we owe those people who give us everything? Values, the opportunity for education and the opportunity to be successful," Ford said. "We owe it to them to do everything possible to be successful, to fulfill our dreams."


Renault, who plays one of the grandfathers, ...says there have been some hurdles to overcome for this show.
"The biggest challenge for me is to have an authentic-sounding Italian accent," Renault said. "Luckily, I grew up in New York, in Manhattan, so I was exposed to a lot of ethnic types as a kid, including Italian-Americans, and I can draw on that.?


 

"This is a show that could be successful in any part of the country. It happens to be about Italian-Americans, but it could just as well be about any Ethnic-Americans" Renault said. "It is something anyone can enjoy, even younger kids because there is a message there."

Phillips, who plays one of the grandmothers, says that she has been able to relate to many of the Italian-American idiosyncrasies because her first husband was of Italian descent."I am very familiar with Italian families and lifestyles," Phillips said. "Being Croatian myself, there are a lot of European ethnicities that are very much the same. The cultures are very similar."


A lot of the audience are going to identify with this play because this is the way they were raised," Phillips said. "They will laugh, but they?d better bring some tissues because they are going to cry too."


http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=

18316673&BRD=2081&PAG=461&dept_id=385210&rfi=6

 

 

 

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