The last time we wrote about Rocco Deserto, his wedding party had just been photobombed by a giant plume of smoke.   Most of the time, Deserto’s life is not that eventful. The Xaverian High School alum and proud six-time college dropout spends his the bulk of days at a boring office job in Manhattan, and evenings with...

Vic DiBitetto, a Brooklyn-born, Italian-American force of nature, brings his frenetic standup comedy to The Palladium Theater, 253 Fifth Ave. N., at 8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 11, part of the "Mahaffey On the Move" series. Known for his 30-second viral video Bread and Milk, which is nearing 14 million views on YouTube, DiBitetto is currently on movi...

by Stacey Rosenfeld   The first annual Cliffside Park Cultural Arts Festival, in conjunction with the Italian American Repertory Company, will be held Jan. 18, 2014, at the theater company's home base, the Trinity Episcopal Church.   The inaugural event will feature a broad array of art forms, including singers, actors, dancers, music...

November 6, 2015. Friday 8:00 PM - 10:00 PM (on various days). St. Stephen's Lutheran Church - 1301 North Broom Street - Wilmington, Delaware 19806 On a summer vacation, Margaret Johnson and her daughter, Clara, enjoy touring the Tuscan countryside. One day while sightseeing, Clara's hat mystically lands at the feet of Fabrizio...

It's not exactly an everyday occurrence when two powerhouse directors combine to stage a big new Broadway musical, but the chemistry seems natural for the upcoming tuner based on Chazz Palminteri's A BRONX TALE.   After all, it was Jerry Zaks who directed the piece when it was an autobiographical solo play about an old Italian neighborhood,...

Described as "one part lasagna, one part kreplach (small dumplings) and two parts Prozac," the international hit comedy "My Mother's Italian, My Father's Jewish & I'm in Therapy" comes to Walnut Creek in March.     According to its star, actor/comedian Ron Tobin, you don't have to be Jewish or Italian to love this show: "All yo...

Let's hear it for the boys of the American musical. No, not the gentlemen of the chorus. This time I mean those tough, growly guys who wouldn't know a chassé step unless it kicked 'em right in the kisser. Guys like that cigar-chomping Republican district leader from the smoky, rotten past of New York City politics: Ben Marino, his name is.Playing t...

The festival dedicated to Giuseppe Verdi, one of the most famous Italian composers and the most celebrated opera composer of all time, returns from October 10th to November 4th.   The new edition of the Verdi Festival this year takes place in Parma and Busseto, Verdi's countries par excellence, with a series of musical, opera and dance event...

di Laura Caparrotti   Quando arrivai a New York, vent'anni fa circa, il teatro italiano non era molto presente. Aveva avuto un grande boom begli anni Sessanta con produzioni che dall'Italia arrivavano fino a Broadway, volute e prodotte da produttori americani, evidentemente affascinati dal nostro cinema e dalle nostre arti.   Fu all...

di Rosy Canale In Scena è il primo festival di teatro italiano a New York. Un progetto ambizioso, impegnativo, che crea finalmente una corrispondenza tra i due paesi. Nasce dall'idea e dalla passione viscerale per il teatro di due donne, molto diverse ma assolutamente complementari: Laura Caparrotti e Donatella Codonesu. Laura dai mille volti: at...