October 17, 2024 • 25 mins
"My Italy Story," written by Joseph Gallo, directed by Charlotte Cohn, and starring Michael Notardonato, is a nostalgic exploration of family, heritage and the ties that bind us. Spurred by pleas to help reunite his fractured family, a young man quits his job as a New York account executive and travels to Vallata — the tiny Italian town of his ancestors. Not until he returns home, however, does he discover a secret that unlocks his past.
Loosely inspired by his own experiences, Gallo wrote and originated the one-man show as an homage to family. He is now passing the reigns to Michael Notardonato who most recently appeared in the off-Broadway musical hit, Romeo and Bernadette. And you may remember distinguished director, Charlotte Cohn, from one of our previous podcasts covering the play, "Canned Goods."
Jersey Arts speaks to the trio about family, the immigrant experience, and the importance of storytelling. Don’t worry, you don’t need to be Italian to appreciate this play or this podcast.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (00:03):
This is Gina Marie Rodriguez and you're
listening to the Jersey ArtsPodcast.
I don't know about you, butI've just learned that October
is Italian Heritage Month.
I had no idea, and it comes onthe heels of Hispanic Heritage
Month, which strangely endsmid-October.
But all that really means is,personally, I'm having a great
month and will be acceptinggifts for the duration.
(00:24):
I jest, unless, of course,you'd actually like to buy me
gifts.
But if you'd rather celebratein a different way, I might
recommend American TheatreGroup's production of my Italy
Story.
My Italy Story, written byJoseph Gallo, directed by
Charlotte Cohn and starringMichael Notardonato, is a
nostalgic exploration of familyheritage and the ties that bind
(00:46):
us.
Spurred by pleas to helpreunite his fractured family, a
young man quits his job as a NewYork account executive and
travels to Vallata, the tinyItalian town of his ancestors.
Not until he returns home,however, does he discover a
secret that unlocks his past.
Loosely inspired by his ownexperiences, Gallo wrote and
(01:07):
originated the one-man show asan homage to family.
He's now passing the reins toMichael Notardinato, who most
recently appeared in theoff-Broadway musical hit Romeo
and Bernadette, and you mayremember, distinguished director
Charlotte Cohn, from one of ourprevious podcasts covering the
play Canned Goods.
Today, the four of us chatabout family, the immigrant
(01:31):
experience and the importance ofstorytelling.
And don't worry, you don't needto be Italian to appreciate
this play or this podcast.
Joseph Gallo (01:39):
Hi, I'm Joseph Gallo.
I am the playwright of my ItalyStory.
Michael Notardonato (01:43):
Hi, I'm Michael Notardonato.
I'm Thomas DaGato and allcharacters.
Charlotte Cohn (01:47):
Hi, I'm Charlotte Cohn.
I'm the director.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (01:50):
Yay, I'm so excited to meet everybody
today.
I'm really excited about thisstory.
As a half Italian myself, I'dlove to talk about Italy.
I got the fist pump, which isso very Jersey.
Although, are you from Jersey,Michael?
Michael Notardonato (02:04):
No, I'm not .
I'm not.
I'm from the Chicago suburbs,but I'm first generation.
My dad is born and raised inItaly.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (02:10):
Oh, wonderful, that works out really
well for you.
That wasn't one of my questions, but I'm going to ask you now.
Great.
How does that relationship,being first generation, help you
create these characters?
I don't know, this is kind ofsemi-autobiographical for Joseph
, right?
So I don't know if you'recreating a new or if you're
pulling from Joseph's life orhow you're going about this.
Michael Notardonato (02:32):
You tell me your your style here yeah, no,
joseph has so beautifullycreated these characters, but
it's my job to interpret them aswe start the process with
Charlotte, our director.
Director and, but yeah,definitely having an Italian
cultural background.
The first time I read thescript I was a little spooky,
because some moments like wait,is this my family too?
(02:52):
I think there are so manythemes that if you're Italian,
you'll understand and I don'twant to give too much away, but
you know, just just, you know,italians can hold a grudge.
There's a lot of, there's a lotof themes that really resonated
with me, that I have suchpersonal experience with them.
And even just the visuals hecreates in the script, sitting
(03:13):
at two picnic tables, end to endof 20, 25 people in the kitchen
and, you know, drama's dressedlike a grandma's, dressed like a
gypsy cooking, like all thesevisuals are.
So you know they reallyresonate with me.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (03:29):
I love hearing that I'm going to go to
Joseph now because I want toknow where this story came from.
What inspired you to put it allon the page?
Joseph Gallo (03:34):
Well, I think for me to I have to, I guess,
introduce how I came to soloperformance, because I think
that's really, you know, I think, essential to telling how, as a
writer, I landed here.
When I first moved to New Yorkto be in the arts, I was a
bartender down on the at thePrince Street Bar on Wooster
(03:54):
Street, which was down the blockfrom the performing garage
where the Wooster Group was inresidence and Spalding Gray was
one of their actors and, youknow, you could arguably say
that in the history of soloperformance he's kind of like
the godfather and he used tocome into our bar all the time
and and I would talk to him andhe invited me down to see one of
his performances and one of thethings that he used to do in
(04:17):
between his solo performances.
He would do these things wherehe would interview members of
the audience, anonymous, youknow, you just randomly pick
somebody, they get on stage, andthen he would just, you know,
he just asked him questions veryrevealing, very theatrical
actually, and so I went and Iwas one of the people selected,
he interviewed me and I became afan from that point on and I
(04:37):
really, you know, embraced, youknow what he was doing.
And it was a few years laterthen that I saw Chazz Palminteri
do "A Bronx Tale, and that wasthe moment when I was sitting in
the audience.
At that point in time I, youknow, I was starting to evolve
as a writer, as a playwright,and I was sitting there and I
watched that amazing solo showand I went I can do that.
(05:01):
And so right after that I wrotea couple of short solo plays
that I performed down at herespace in lower Manhattan, and
then and then I took a trip toItaly and my world just sort of
opened up.
It was the first time I hadgone there and I came back and I
(05:23):
started telling sort of thestory of my trip, which evolved
into something much bigger andmuch deeper, and at that point
in time I was always a writerand, you know, somewhere along
the line I was like somebodysaid to me oh, this is your next
play, and I, of course, wroteit all down.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (05:42):
Was there something that prompted that
initial trip to Italy?
Joseph Gallo (05:47):
Yeah, you know it's, it's interesting because
interesting.
You asked that because it'sstill.
I know I know the play, youknow I won't even.
You know it's, it's, it's autofiction, right, which is semi
autobiographical, which is, youknow, it claims the authority of
fact but it also embraces thefreedom of fiction at the same
time.
And if you know, it claims theauthority of fact but it also
embraces the freedom of fictionat the same time.
And if you know if, if you'rewriting auto fiction correctly,
(06:10):
it should always be emotionallytrue.
So you know, there is a pointwhere you know, where I have to
stop explaining to people, likewhat really happened, what, what
didn't happen.
So, while I did, in my real life, get some ghostly visits from
my grandmother, the idea fromthe play actually was sparked
when I had come back.
(06:30):
No, I hadn't even gone to Italyyet.
I was in Little Italy and I wasin a place on Mulberry Street
having dinner.
I could look right into thekitchen and there was this
little Nona in widow black, overthe over the you know the stove
, stirring the sauce and thegravy, as we would call it.
(06:50):
And and I just had thisinspiration that I wanted to
write about my grandmother andmy family and that, literally,
like that night, I came home andjust started, you know, filling
up a notebook with everythingthat I could remember about my
family.
So really it started there.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (07:06):
I love that and I'm just gonna say I
love watching Italians speakbecause, while it's a stereotype
that we speak with our hands,it's really engaging for me to
to watch you guys tell stories.
I really.
I get frustrated that this is apodcast because nobody else can
see it, but you're just veryit's fun to watch.
So thank you for talking withyour hands.
(07:26):
I do it too, but you can't seemine right now.
Anyway, Charlotte, hello, mydarling Hello.
Can you tell me what excitedyou most when you first got this
script?
Charlotte Cohn (07:37):
Yes, and I will also note that Jews also speak
with their hands and ergo theconnection to "My Italy story.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (07:46):
There you go, which I appreciate.
Please continue to do so.
Charlotte Cohn (07:49):
That's it.
That was what sparked no, whatreally spoke to me.
What I found really interestingare the themes of family and
belonging and coming back home.
All of those things areprevalent in all of us.
This is unifying for everyperson on earth.
So, you know, I am a personwho's far away from her family,
(08:13):
so I think about this daily andthe longing for that and the
longing for my community, I meanthat sparked my interest, also,
coming from Canned Goods, whichwas, you know, also based on a
true event, historical event,but it was very, you know, it
was very heavily dramatic.
I was still longing to dosomething warm and fuzzy and
(08:36):
uplifting and and my Italy storyreally hit that on all fronts,
so I was very excited to read itreally hit that on all fronts,
so I was very excited to read it.
And it just goes on a reallovely journey with conflicts
and it just leaves you smiling.
That's what I was looking for.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (08:55):
That's really good to hear.
I did see Canned Goods, whichwas wonderful, but I did leave
sobbing, so I guess it's nice tohear that we've branched out to
comedy not branched out movedon to comedy or at least more
uplifting source material hereit will be tears of joy, I hope.
Joseph Gallo (09:14):
I'm going to say, Gina, that if there isn't a dry
eye in the house, we haven'tdone our job as artists.
Let's just say that.
Charlotte Cohn (09:22):
We'll do our best.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (09:22):
We'll do our best.
I'm looking forward to it.
So, speaking of previous shows,right, ken Goods was wonderful,
but I also happened to seeMichael in Romeo and Bernadette.
Joseph Gallo (09:33):
Oh, you did.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (09:34):
I did.
That was gosh.
How long ago was that now?
Michael Notardonato (09:38):
Was that pre-pandemic?
Oh, it was pre-pandemic andpost-pandemic.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (09:42):
Okay, because I think I might have
seen it pre-pandemic, which isreally, it was probably shot in
our first space, alphabrauda,yeah.
Yeah, but it was wonderful.
I just wanted to say that.
Michael Notardonato (09:50):
Oh, thank you.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (09:51):
Of course, but I also selfishly wanted to
ask if there's any opportunityfor you to sing in this show.
Michael Notardonato (09:58):
No, this is not, and I'm actually there's
not.
I'm also very excited to tacklea play.
Um, I mean, I was actually justchatting about this with
charlotte the other day.
As singers and or doing amusical like you, have to worry
about warming up your voice andpeople think, oh, you might not
have to do that for a play aswell, but it might be even more
important, because you're usingyour voice not even just for an
hour, over an hour straight, butin just different ways that you
(10:21):
would approach a musical andyou can get exhausted in
different ways just fromspeaking.
So, yeah, definitely have totake a lot of care of it, the
instrument, during this processas well.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (10:31):
Absolutely .
I can only imagine I was goingto ask you about that.
What does it feel like when youare?
I mean, you're the one holdingdown the fort, you know, it's
all you.
So what is it like to take on aoneman show?
Michael Notardonato (10:44):
I won't lie , it's scary but it's so
exciting.
I mean, I don't do things thatdon't frighten me, because
that's what I love about theater.
I like to take on a challengeand I like to see if, well, can
I actually do that?
But yeah, it's.
I carried many shows, butyou're always supported by an
ensemble and it's going to beinteresting when the ensemble is
(11:05):
also myself.
But it's a challenge I'm readyto take on and I'm yeah, I'm
just really excited for it.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (11:12):
Well, having seen your work, I have
every confidence that you'll doa wonderful job.
Thank you, but Joseph, you, ifI'm not mistaken, you also
originated this role when youwrote the play, so can I ask for
your input on that as well?
Joseph Gallo (11:28):
Is it scary which part of it there's a reason.
I, you know.
You know I will say something.
It is a quick story becausewhen I first did it, like I was
running a lot, like just offwhat Michael was talking about,
like I had never worked with avocal coach before I got a vocal
coach because I was reallyconcerned about my breathing and
my voice.
(11:48):
And then I was doing a lot ofcardio and I remember there was
one I had done two performanceson Saturday and it was a Sunday
matinee and I got up early onSunday and I ran five miles and
I came.
It was like whatever, I don'tknow, it was a two, three
o'clock curtain and I rememberafter the first scene I was
(12:09):
exhausted and I was like oh myGod, why did I run five miles?
That was ridiculous.
And like I'm having aconversation in my head as this,
I'm like I don't know if I'mgonna make it to the end of the
show Of course I did, but, um,so, uh, you know, I'll just, you
know, reiterate what michaelsaid.
Yes, it is a um, you reallyhave to take care of yourself,
(12:29):
both vocally and physically, todo it, and um, you know it's uh,
uh, I don't know I mean when Idid it back.
When I did it, it was, uh, itwas a story that I had to tell.
And then, in the evolution ofit as I was writing it, there
was a point where the story waswe had originally done it at
Penguin Rep up in Stony Pointand Joe Brancato directed it up
(12:53):
there.
He's a great director and youknow it got good reviews and we
were like, ok, it's going tomove off Broadway.
And of course, nothing happenedand maybe six months had gone
by and I was like, all right,that's it.
And so a buddy of mine and I wesaid we're going to go to
Europe, we're going to backpackthrough Europe, we're going to
come back home whenever.
So that was back when youbought your Euro rail pass in
(13:14):
advance and we got all of ourEuros and we bought a new
backpack.
And then, of course, like twoweeks before we're about to
leave, we got a call from NewHaven and they said, hey, we
heard you have a great show.
It's a solo piece, we'd like tobring it into our theater.
And so we're like, oh, what arewe going to do?
And we decided at that time toget another actor.
(13:35):
get.
decided, why why don't we getanother actor to play me?
And so we did.
We found another actor who came, Danny Mastrogiorgio.
He had just graduated fromJuilliard.
He went up there and heperformed and I was there for,
like, I came back for the lastcouple of performances and
watching the play as a member ofthe audience.
You really, you know it's hardto be a writer and a performer.
(13:59):
You know it's at the same timeit's hard to write something
that you're in because they'rereally it's very hard to have
any kind of perspective, it'svery hard to be as open as you
need to be in terms of thecreative process, getting notes.
So you know, I can remember,actually, when we were first
doing it, Joe Brincato would goI'm talking to Joe the actor now
(14:22):
, and then he would go I'mtalking to Joe the actor now,
and then he would go I'm talkingJoe the writer man, and so that
was very hard.
So I mean, you know we're uhCharlotte and I are both members
of the uh actor studio,playwright and director's
workshop and you know thewriters are not allowed to be in
their pieces and you know, andand it's for a good reason,
because you should be able tosit back in the audience and
listen so that you can hear howthe work is affecting the
(14:42):
audience, and that's really animportant detail.
So when I sat there and Iwatched Danny perform it, I
realized that the story didn'twork.
You know, I thought it workedand it didn't work.
And that was because theoriginal draft of the play, the
original first draft, was allJoseph Gallo, was all me, was my
story.
But our lives don't play out inthree perfect acts.
(15:04):
And so I realized that to makethis, you know, a
well-structured, linear,three-act play, I needed to
invent scenes.
That didn't happen.
I needed to combine characters.
In fact, not only that, I alsorealized that if my actual
relatives had seen the play inthat early draft, some of them
might have been very mad, theywould have been very angry with
(15:26):
me.
So so there was a realevolution, you know.
I guess that's the evolution asa writer as far as the
evolution as an actor.
I know Michael right now willwill be happy to, you know,
build on this.
It's a lot to hold in your headand you really have to, like,
you know, you're constantlythinking about it and the writer
in me was already like movingon to work on the next piece.
(15:48):
So so I I gave it over to otheractors and I was OK with that.
I mean, I still perform solowork new work, but then I tend
to move on to the next thing.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (15:59):
Well, I think it's very important that
you're able to sit back and seethat that changes need to happen
, and you mentioned that.
You know family members mighthave been angry had they seen
that initial version.
But that leads me to ask whatare they saying?
What have they said since?
I'm hoping your family has seenit since?
Joseph Gallo (16:18):
Of course they have.
Yeah, they were all.
Yeah, I would say to a person,they were all deeply moved.
You know it's unfortunate, butyou know there was a debate.
You know we still are debatingthis, maybe Charlotte and I
whether this is an older actor,older person looking back or not
and I chose that the route isreally.
(16:40):
You know, the play was in 1997when my hair was as brown as
Michael's and you know so it wasa different me who was up there
and you know, since that timemost of the principal people in
the play are no longer alive.
So you know, when you ask howthe family members now it's
(17:04):
their children who have seen theplay, you know, and in fact you
know I hope there's even yetanother generation of younger,
you know cousins that might seeit for the first time.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (17:11):
Well, I hope so too.
Charlotte, I want to ask youwhen you're coming into this
knowing again, it's anautofiction how are you, what
are you crafting as a director?
How are you approaching thework?
That's a very general question.
It is.
Charlotte Cohn (17:29):
Let me try and sound really intelligent
answering it.
Let me try this.
Well, first of all, I love tohave especially since I have the
writer of the piece with me andit is his story I'm trying to
get as much from him as possible, and then I also try to
(17:49):
convince him that it's no longerhis and now it's moving to its
next phase, which is acompletely new interpretation by
another actor, and that'salways hard for playwrights
because they wanna hold onto it.
But I think, now that the showhas been done several times
right, joseph, it's had a lifethat now he's probably more open
(18:13):
to it, and I think that'ssomething that Michael and I
will discover.
We are going to create thistogether.
The minute the rehearsals start,we start crafting it around
Michael and his tools and whathe brings to the table, staying,
you know, faithful to thematerial and telling the story
of the material with the actorthat we have, because all we
(18:38):
have as actors is ourselves,right, and that's the
conversation Michael and I met acouple of days ago, where we
talked about getting readyvocally and physically and also
talked about bringing himself tothe material.
So it's no one else but him,and so that is really what I'm
looking for, and I'm reallyexcited about what Michael can
(18:58):
bring to this, like his accents,his behavior drawing from his
actual relatives and people thathe knows in his life, and his
behavior drawing from his actualrelatives and people that he
knows in his life and hisItalian heritage and all that
comes with it.
It's super exciting, because wenever want to imitate,
replicate or do what someoneelse did before us and watch a
video and go.
I'm going to do exactly that.
(19:18):
That's a different style, and Iwill say, what I'm happy about
is that is that this is aninterpretation or what did you
call it?
An auto fiction of, of ofjoseph's life, where you know,
if you're just going to repeatwhat you've done in life, then
(19:41):
that's a documentary.
I mean, that's not interesting.
We always interpret to create aplay, to create drama, to
create intrigue, and so all ofthose things is what I'm hoping
to work out with Michael in theroom.
I mean it's going to be a wholenew baby, different color eyes,
still a baby, though.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (19:58):
You have successfully sounded.
Very intelligentCongratulations.
Did I?
I'm not sure about that, youdefinitely did.
I appreciate that my mind keepsgoing back to my Big Fat Greek
Wedding.
I don't know if you're familiaror not, but I believe that that
also started as a one womanshow.
That, did you know, became.
Well, what a trilogy.
(20:24):
Now I think there's three ofthem, but that was, you know, a
Greek heritage story, but Irelated to it as an Italian, and
I'm sure that people from everyother culture related to it,
and that's something aboutwriting small.
You know, writing close to homeis actually more universal than
anything else.
So I'm excited, and even yourtagline reminded me of that.
Sometimes you have to travelfar to keep family near, which,
by the way, is an amazingtagline.
(20:46):
I love that so much.
But I want to know I meanbriefly, like if each of you
could tell me how you would sellthis to an audience member who
knows nothing about the show.
How would you do that in likeone minute?
How would you sell it tosomebody?
Michael Notardonato (21:00):
I mean, I think audiences are not going to
be Italian and we keep talkingabout that.
It is an integral part of thestory, but this will resonate
with everyone.
I'm an immigrant from bothparents, but my mom is from
Romania.
She moved here in her 20s andit's so interesting when I read
the show how many of the thingsI am relating back to her and
her family and especially, likeCharlotte said, she's very far
from her family all my mom'sfamily, except for my
(21:22):
grandmother who lived with me mywhole life.
She passed last summer, but therest of my mom's family is in
Romania and so the characterThomas does travel to Italy my
Italy story in the play and soI'm relating all those things.
So people who have family farthat they don't see all the time
and they still feel likethey're such a part of their
identity and who they are.
That's such an interestingthing to explore.
(21:45):
A lot of people don't careabout culture, but some people
do and I just think audiencesare going to see themselves, no
matter what their heritage ortheir cultural background is, in
this play, and there's sometwists and turns as well that
are really interesting.
So I'll leave it at that.
I'm very sorry for your loss,but I hope that maybe this is a
(22:05):
little bit cathartic for you aswell to go through this process
when I first read the script andyou know the first page
literally talks about hisgrandmother, who's been dead
it's much longer than mine,because my grandmother passed
last summer.
But I was like, wow, somethingabout this show, like I got to
do it right now, because her andI were like this you can't see,
but I'm crossing my fingers.
She was like a second mother tome and my sister, so now I'm
(22:29):
really happy to do this for heras well.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (22:31):
I'm very glad that you can honor her in
that way and and thanks toJoseph for writing the piece and
and having that connection toit.
Charlotte Cohn (22:38):
I'm just gonna add to it that, um, just a
second, what what Michael saidis.
This idea of belonging andwhere you belong is such a big
theme in the play and everyonecan relate to it in every aspect
, not just your family, but yourcommunity, your country.
(22:58):
Who's with you?
You know, and to me that meansa lot as a person who's pretty
much alone in this country.
I am far away from my entirefamily except for my husband and
daughter and dog, away from myentire family except for my
husband and daughter and dog.
But you know, it's finding whoare my people, who aligns with
me, who supports me.
Um, those are the themes of theplay.
(23:19):
That's what michael said.
Everyone can relate to it and Ido think we can all use a
feel-good experience in thetheater.
I do believe that, especiallyduring the dates that this play
is running, I think it's reallywell placed for the audiences to
have an opportunity to go intoa dark theater and have a really
(23:40):
wonderful experience.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (23:42):
Again, very well said, I agree.
I mean, there are a lot ofthings and it's not just theater
, it's film, it's all kinds ofart where people tend to broach
very heavy subject matter andthen we're inundated with the
heaviness in our real lives andthen also being reflected in art
, which is wonderful and itshould be there.
But sometimes you just needsomething that's going to, like
(24:03):
you said, bring tears of joy.
Sometimes you just needsomething that's going to bring
a little bit of levity.
Joseph Gallo (24:09):
Well, I think, and I hope that the story is
timeless and that I think thatyou know I'm excited for a new
audience to see the play.
The play was last done in 2009or 2010.
So I'm very excited that awhole new generation can hear
this tale.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (24:29):
My Italy Story will be introducing new
audiences to its tale, beginningOctober 24th through the 27th
at Hamilton Stage in Rahway,followed by performances at the
Semanski Theatre in BaskingRidge from November 1st through
the 3rd.
As an added treat, allperformances in Rahway will
feature music by members of theNew Jersey Opera Theatre singing
(24:49):
Italian favorites for 30minutes prior to curtain.
For tickets and moreinformation, be sure to visit
AmericanTheaterGroup.
org.
If you liked this episode, besure to review, subscribe and
tell your friends.
A transcript of this podcast,links relevant to the story and
more about the arts in NewJersey can be found at
JerseyArts.
com.
The Jersey Arts Podcast ispresented by Art Pride New
(25:10):
Jersey, advancing a state ofcreativity since 1986.
The show was co-founded by andcurrently supported by, funds
from the New Jersey StateCouncil on the Arts, with
additional support from theNational Endowment for the Arts.
This episode was hosted, editedand produced by me, Gina Marie
Rodriguez.
Executive producers are JimAtkinson and Isaac Serna-Diez,
(25:30):
and my thanks to Joseph, michaeland Charlotte for speaking with
me today.
I'm Gina Marie Rodriguez forthe Jersey Arts Podcast.
Thanks for listening.
This is Gina Marie Rodriguez and you're
listening to the Jersey ArtsPodcast.
I don't know about you, butI've just learned that October
is Italian Heritage Month.
I had no idea, and it comes onthe heels of Hispanic Heritage
Month, which strangely endsmid-October.
But all that really means is,personally, I'm having a great
month and will be acceptinggifts for the duration.
(00:24):
I jest, unless, of course,you'd actually like to buy me
gifts.
But if you'd rather celebratein a different way, I might
recommend American TheatreGroup's production of my Italy
Story.
My Italy Story, written byJoseph Gallo, directed by
Charlotte Cohn and starringMichael Notardonato, is a
nostalgic exploration of familyheritage and the ties that bind
(00:46):
us.
Spurred by pleas to helpreunite his fractured family, a
young man quits his job as a NewYork account executive and
travels to Vallata, the tinyItalian town of his ancestors.
Not until he returns home,however, does he discover a
secret that unlocks his past.
Loosely inspired by his ownexperiences, Gallo wrote and
(01:07):
originated the one-man show asan homage to family.
He's now passing the reins toMichael Notardinato, who most
recently appeared in theoff-Broadway musical hit Romeo
and Bernadette, and you mayremember, distinguished director
Charlotte Cohn, from one of ourprevious podcasts covering the
play Canned Goods.
Today, the four of us chatabout family, the immigrant
(01:31):
experience and the importance ofstorytelling.
And don't worry, you don't needto be Italian to appreciate
this play or this podcast.
Joseph Gallo (01:39):
Hi, I'm Joseph Gallo.
I am the playwright of my ItalyStory.
Michael Notardonato (01:43):
Hi, I'm Michael Notardonato.
I'm Thomas DaGato and allcharacters.
Charlotte Cohn (01:47):
Hi, I'm Charlotte Cohn.
I'm the director.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (01:50):
Yay, I'm so excited to meet everybody
today.
I'm really excited about thisstory.
As a half Italian myself, I'dlove to talk about Italy.
I got the fist pump, which isso very Jersey.
Although, are you from Jersey,Michael?
Michael Notardonato (02:04):
No, I'm not .
I'm not.
I'm from the Chicago suburbs,but I'm first generation.
My dad is born and raised inItaly.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (02:10):
Oh, wonderful, that works out really
well for you.
That wasn't one of my questions, but I'm going to ask you now.
Great.
How does that relationship,being first generation, help you
create these characters?
I don't know, this is kind ofsemi-autobiographical for Joseph
, right?
So I don't know if you'recreating a new or if you're
pulling from Joseph's life orhow you're going about this.
Michael Notardonato (02:32):
You tell me your your style here yeah, no,
joseph has so beautifullycreated these characters, but
it's my job to interpret them aswe start the process with
Charlotte, our director.
Director and, but yeah,definitely having an Italian
cultural background.
The first time I read thescript I was a little spooky,
because some moments like wait,is this my family too?
(02:52):
I think there are so manythemes that if you're Italian,
you'll understand and I don'twant to give too much away, but
you know, just just, you know,italians can hold a grudge.
There's a lot of, there's a lotof themes that really resonated
with me, that I have suchpersonal experience with them.
And even just the visuals hecreates in the script, sitting
(03:13):
at two picnic tables, end to endof 20, 25 people in the kitchen
and, you know, drama's dressedlike a grandma's, dressed like a
gypsy cooking, like all thesevisuals are.
So you know they reallyresonate with me.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (03:29):
I love hearing that I'm going to go to
Joseph now because I want toknow where this story came from.
What inspired you to put it allon the page?
Joseph Gallo (03:34):
Well, I think for me to I have to, I guess,
introduce how I came to soloperformance, because I think
that's really, you know, I think, essential to telling how, as a
writer, I landed here.
When I first moved to New Yorkto be in the arts, I was a
bartender down on the at thePrince Street Bar on Wooster
(03:54):
Street, which was down the blockfrom the performing garage
where the Wooster Group was inresidence and Spalding Gray was
one of their actors and, youknow, you could arguably say
that in the history of soloperformance he's kind of like
the godfather and he used tocome into our bar all the time
and and I would talk to him andhe invited me down to see one of
his performances and one of thethings that he used to do in
(04:17):
between his solo performances.
He would do these things wherehe would interview members of
the audience, anonymous, youknow, you just randomly pick
somebody, they get on stage, andthen he would just, you know,
he just asked him questions veryrevealing, very theatrical
actually, and so I went and Iwas one of the people selected,
he interviewed me and I became afan from that point on and I
(04:37):
really, you know, embraced, youknow what he was doing.
And it was a few years laterthen that I saw Chazz Palminteri
do "A Bronx Tale, and that wasthe moment when I was sitting in
the audience.
At that point in time I, youknow, I was starting to evolve
as a writer, as a playwright,and I was sitting there and I
watched that amazing solo showand I went I can do that.
(05:01):
And so right after that I wrotea couple of short solo plays
that I performed down at herespace in lower Manhattan, and
then and then I took a trip toItaly and my world just sort of
opened up.
It was the first time I hadgone there and I came back and I
(05:23):
started telling sort of thestory of my trip, which evolved
into something much bigger andmuch deeper, and at that point
in time I was always a writerand, you know, somewhere along
the line I was like somebodysaid to me oh, this is your next
play, and I, of course, wroteit all down.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (05:42):
Was there something that prompted that
initial trip to Italy?
Joseph Gallo (05:47):
Yeah, you know it's, it's interesting because
interesting.
You asked that because it'sstill.
I know I know the play, youknow I won't even.
You know it's, it's, it's autofiction, right, which is semi
autobiographical, which is, youknow, it claims the authority of
fact but it also embraces thefreedom of fiction at the same
time.
And if you know, it claims theauthority of fact but it also
embraces the freedom of fictionat the same time.
And if you know if, if you'rewriting auto fiction correctly,
(06:10):
it should always be emotionallytrue.
So you know, there is a pointwhere you know, where I have to
stop explaining to people, likewhat really happened, what, what
didn't happen.
So, while I did, in my real life, get some ghostly visits from
my grandmother, the idea fromthe play actually was sparked
when I had come back.
(06:30):
No, I hadn't even gone to Italyyet.
I was in Little Italy and I wasin a place on Mulberry Street
having dinner.
I could look right into thekitchen and there was this
little Nona in widow black, overthe over the you know the stove
, stirring the sauce and thegravy, as we would call it.
(06:50):
And and I just had thisinspiration that I wanted to
write about my grandmother andmy family and that, literally,
like that night, I came home andjust started, you know, filling
up a notebook with everythingthat I could remember about my
family.
So really it started there.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (07:06):
I love that and I'm just gonna say I
love watching Italians speakbecause, while it's a stereotype
that we speak with our hands,it's really engaging for me to
to watch you guys tell stories.
I really.
I get frustrated that this is apodcast because nobody else can
see it, but you're just veryit's fun to watch.
So thank you for talking withyour hands.
(07:26):
I do it too, but you can't seemine right now.
Anyway, Charlotte, hello, mydarling Hello.
Can you tell me what excitedyou most when you first got this
script?
Charlotte Cohn (07:37):
Yes, and I will also note that Jews also speak
with their hands and ergo theconnection to "My Italy story.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (07:46):
There you go, which I appreciate.
Please continue to do so.
Charlotte Cohn (07:49):
That's it.
That was what sparked no, whatreally spoke to me.
What I found really interestingare the themes of family and
belonging and coming back home.
All of those things areprevalent in all of us.
This is unifying for everyperson on earth.
So, you know, I am a personwho's far away from her family,
(08:13):
so I think about this daily andthe longing for that and the
longing for my community, I meanthat sparked my interest, also,
coming from Canned Goods, whichwas, you know, also based on a
true event, historical event,but it was very, you know, it
was very heavily dramatic.
I was still longing to dosomething warm and fuzzy and
(08:36):
uplifting and and my Italy storyreally hit that on all fronts,
so I was very excited to read itreally hit that on all fronts,
so I was very excited to read it.
And it just goes on a reallovely journey with conflicts
and it just leaves you smiling.
That's what I was looking for.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (08:55):
That's really good to hear.
I did see Canned Goods, whichwas wonderful, but I did leave
sobbing, so I guess it's nice tohear that we've branched out to
comedy not branched out movedon to comedy or at least more
uplifting source material hereit will be tears of joy, I hope.
Joseph Gallo (09:14):
I'm going to say, Gina, that if there isn't a dry
eye in the house, we haven'tdone our job as artists.
Let's just say that.
Charlotte Cohn (09:22):
We'll do our best.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (09:22):
We'll do our best.
I'm looking forward to it.
So, speaking of previous shows,right, ken Goods was wonderful,
but I also happened to seeMichael in Romeo and Bernadette.
Joseph Gallo (09:33):
Oh, you did.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (09:34):
I did.
That was gosh.
How long ago was that now?
Michael Notardonato (09:38):
Was that pre-pandemic?
Oh, it was pre-pandemic andpost-pandemic.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (09:42):
Okay, because I think I might have
seen it pre-pandemic, which isreally, it was probably shot in
our first space, alphabrauda,yeah.
Yeah, but it was wonderful.
I just wanted to say that.
Michael Notardonato (09:50):
Oh, thank you.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (09:51):
Of course, but I also selfishly wanted to
ask if there's any opportunityfor you to sing in this show.
Michael Notardonato (09:58):
No, this is not, and I'm actually there's
not.
I'm also very excited to tacklea play.
Um, I mean, I was actually justchatting about this with
charlotte the other day.
As singers and or doing amusical like you, have to worry
about warming up your voice andpeople think, oh, you might not
have to do that for a play aswell, but it might be even more
important, because you're usingyour voice not even just for an
hour, over an hour straight, butin just different ways that you
(10:21):
would approach a musical andyou can get exhausted in
different ways just fromspeaking.
So, yeah, definitely have totake a lot of care of it, the
instrument, during this processas well.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (10:31):
Absolutely .
I can only imagine I was goingto ask you about that.
What does it feel like when youare?
I mean, you're the one holdingdown the fort, you know, it's
all you.
So what is it like to take on aoneman show?
Michael Notardonato (10:44):
I won't lie , it's scary but it's so
exciting.
I mean, I don't do things thatdon't frighten me, because
that's what I love about theater.
I like to take on a challengeand I like to see if, well, can
I actually do that?
But yeah, it's.
I carried many shows, butyou're always supported by an
ensemble and it's going to beinteresting when the ensemble is
(11:05):
also myself.
But it's a challenge I'm readyto take on and I'm yeah, I'm
just really excited for it.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (11:12):
Well, having seen your work, I have
every confidence that you'll doa wonderful job.
Thank you, but Joseph, you, ifI'm not mistaken, you also
originated this role when youwrote the play, so can I ask for
your input on that as well?
Joseph Gallo (11:28):
Is it scary which part of it there's a reason.
I, you know.
You know I will say something.
It is a quick story becausewhen I first did it, like I was
running a lot, like just offwhat Michael was talking about,
like I had never worked with avocal coach before I got a vocal
coach because I was reallyconcerned about my breathing and
my voice.
(11:48):
And then I was doing a lot ofcardio and I remember there was
one I had done two performanceson Saturday and it was a Sunday
matinee and I got up early onSunday and I ran five miles and
I came.
It was like whatever, I don'tknow, it was a two, three
o'clock curtain and I rememberafter the first scene I was
(12:09):
exhausted and I was like oh myGod, why did I run five miles?
That was ridiculous.
And like I'm having aconversation in my head as this,
I'm like I don't know if I'mgonna make it to the end of the
show Of course I did, but, um,so, uh, you know, I'll just, you
know, reiterate what michaelsaid.
Yes, it is a um, you reallyhave to take care of yourself,
(12:29):
both vocally and physically, todo it, and um, you know it's uh,
uh, I don't know I mean when Idid it back.
When I did it, it was, uh, itwas a story that I had to tell.
And then, in the evolution ofit as I was writing it, there
was a point where the story waswe had originally done it at
Penguin Rep up in Stony Pointand Joe Brancato directed it up
(12:53):
there.
He's a great director and youknow it got good reviews and we
were like, ok, it's going tomove off Broadway.
And of course, nothing happenedand maybe six months had gone
by and I was like, all right,that's it.
And so a buddy of mine and I wesaid we're going to go to
Europe, we're going to backpackthrough Europe, we're going to
come back home whenever.
So that was back when youbought your Euro rail pass in
(13:14):
advance and we got all of ourEuros and we bought a new
backpack.
And then, of course, like twoweeks before we're about to
leave, we got a call from NewHaven and they said, hey, we
heard you have a great show.
It's a solo piece, we'd like tobring it into our theater.
And so we're like, oh, what arewe going to do?
And we decided at that time toget another actor.
(13:35):
get.
decided, why why don't we getanother actor to play me?
And so we did.
We found another actor who came, Danny Mastrogiorgio.
He had just graduated fromJuilliard.
He went up there and heperformed and I was there for,
like, I came back for the lastcouple of performances and
watching the play as a member ofthe audience.
You really, you know it's hardto be a writer and a performer.
(13:59):
You know it's at the same timeit's hard to write something
that you're in because they'rereally it's very hard to have
any kind of perspective, it'svery hard to be as open as you
need to be in terms of thecreative process, getting notes.
So you know, I can remember,actually, when we were first
doing it, Joe Brincato would goI'm talking to Joe the actor now
(14:22):
, and then he would go I'mtalking to Joe the actor now,
and then he would go I'm talkingJoe the writer man, and so that
was very hard.
So I mean, you know we're uhCharlotte and I are both members
of the uh actor studio,playwright and director's
workshop and you know thewriters are not allowed to be in
their pieces and you know, andand it's for a good reason,
because you should be able tosit back in the audience and
listen so that you can hear howthe work is affecting the
(14:42):
audience, and that's really animportant detail.
So when I sat there and Iwatched Danny perform it, I
realized that the story didn'twork.
You know, I thought it workedand it didn't work.
And that was because theoriginal draft of the play, the
original first draft, was allJoseph Gallo, was all me, was my
story.
But our lives don't play out inthree perfect acts.
(15:04):
And so I realized that to makethis, you know, a
well-structured, linear,three-act play, I needed to
invent scenes.
That didn't happen.
I needed to combine characters.
In fact, not only that, I alsorealized that if my actual
relatives had seen the play inthat early draft, some of them
might have been very mad, theywould have been very angry with
(15:26):
me.
So so there was a realevolution, you know.
I guess that's the evolution asa writer as far as the
evolution as an actor.
I know Michael right now willwill be happy to, you know,
build on this.
It's a lot to hold in your headand you really have to, like,
you know, you're constantlythinking about it and the writer
in me was already like movingon to work on the next piece.
(15:48):
So so I I gave it over to otheractors and I was OK with that.
I mean, I still perform solowork new work, but then I tend
to move on to the next thing.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (15:59):
Well, I think it's very important that
you're able to sit back and seethat that changes need to happen
, and you mentioned that.
You know family members mighthave been angry had they seen
that initial version.
But that leads me to ask whatare they saying?
What have they said since?
I'm hoping your family has seenit since?
Joseph Gallo (16:18):
Of course they have.
Yeah, they were all.
Yeah, I would say to a person,they were all deeply moved.
You know it's unfortunate, butyou know there was a debate.
You know we still are debatingthis, maybe Charlotte and I
whether this is an older actor,older person looking back or not
and I chose that the route isreally.
(16:40):
You know, the play was in 1997when my hair was as brown as
Michael's and you know so it wasa different me who was up there
and you know, since that timemost of the principal people in
the play are no longer alive.
So you know, when you ask howthe family members now it's
(17:04):
their children who have seen theplay, you know, and in fact you
know I hope there's even yetanother generation of younger,
you know cousins that might seeit for the first time.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (17:11):
Well, I hope so too.
Charlotte, I want to ask youwhen you're coming into this
knowing again, it's anautofiction how are you, what
are you crafting as a director?
How are you approaching thework?
That's a very general question.
It is.
Charlotte Cohn (17:29):
Let me try and sound really intelligent
answering it.
Let me try this.
Well, first of all, I love tohave especially since I have the
writer of the piece with me andit is his story I'm trying to
get as much from him as possible, and then I also try to
(17:49):
convince him that it's no longerhis and now it's moving to its
next phase, which is acompletely new interpretation by
another actor, and that'salways hard for playwrights
because they wanna hold onto it.
But I think, now that the showhas been done several times
right, joseph, it's had a lifethat now he's probably more open
(18:13):
to it, and I think that'ssomething that Michael and I
will discover.
We are going to create thistogether.
The minute the rehearsals start,we start crafting it around
Michael and his tools and whathe brings to the table, staying,
you know, faithful to thematerial and telling the story
of the material with the actorthat we have, because all we
(18:38):
have as actors is ourselves,right, and that's the
conversation Michael and I met acouple of days ago, where we
talked about getting readyvocally and physically and also
talked about bringing himself tothe material.
So it's no one else but him,and so that is really what I'm
looking for, and I'm reallyexcited about what Michael can
(18:58):
bring to this, like his accents,his behavior drawing from his
actual relatives and people thathe knows in his life, and his
behavior drawing from his actualrelatives and people that he
knows in his life and hisItalian heritage and all that
comes with it.
It's super exciting, because wenever want to imitate,
replicate or do what someoneelse did before us and watch a
video and go.
I'm going to do exactly that.
(19:18):
That's a different style, and Iwill say, what I'm happy about
is that is that this is aninterpretation or what did you
call it?
An auto fiction of, of ofjoseph's life, where you know,
if you're just going to repeatwhat you've done in life, then
(19:41):
that's a documentary.
I mean, that's not interesting.
We always interpret to create aplay, to create drama, to
create intrigue, and so all ofthose things is what I'm hoping
to work out with Michael in theroom.
I mean it's going to be a wholenew baby, different color eyes,
still a baby, though.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (19:58):
You have successfully sounded.
Very intelligentCongratulations.
Did I?
I'm not sure about that, youdefinitely did.
I appreciate that my mind keepsgoing back to my Big Fat Greek
Wedding.
I don't know if you're familiaror not, but I believe that that
also started as a one womanshow.
That, did you know, became.
Well, what a trilogy.
(20:24):
Now I think there's three ofthem, but that was, you know, a
Greek heritage story, but Irelated to it as an Italian, and
I'm sure that people from everyother culture related to it,
and that's something aboutwriting small.
You know, writing close to homeis actually more universal than
anything else.
So I'm excited, and even yourtagline reminded me of that.
Sometimes you have to travelfar to keep family near, which,
by the way, is an amazingtagline.
(20:46):
I love that so much.
But I want to know I meanbriefly, like if each of you
could tell me how you would sellthis to an audience member who
knows nothing about the show.
How would you do that in likeone minute?
How would you sell it tosomebody?
Michael Notardonato (21:00):
I mean, I think audiences are not going to
be Italian and we keep talkingabout that.
It is an integral part of thestory, but this will resonate
with everyone.
I'm an immigrant from bothparents, but my mom is from
Romania.
She moved here in her 20s andit's so interesting when I read
the show how many of the thingsI am relating back to her and
her family and especially, likeCharlotte said, she's very far
from her family all my mom'sfamily, except for my
(21:22):
grandmother who lived with me mywhole life.
She passed last summer, but therest of my mom's family is in
Romania and so the characterThomas does travel to Italy my
Italy story in the play and soI'm relating all those things.
So people who have family farthat they don't see all the time
and they still feel likethey're such a part of their
identity and who they are.
That's such an interestingthing to explore.
(21:45):
A lot of people don't careabout culture, but some people
do and I just think audiencesare going to see themselves, no
matter what their heritage ortheir cultural background is, in
this play, and there's sometwists and turns as well that
are really interesting.
So I'll leave it at that.
I'm very sorry for your loss,but I hope that maybe this is a
(22:05):
little bit cathartic for you aswell to go through this process
when I first read the script andyou know the first page
literally talks about hisgrandmother, who's been dead
it's much longer than mine,because my grandmother passed
last summer.
But I was like, wow, somethingabout this show, like I got to
do it right now, because her andI were like this you can't see,
but I'm crossing my fingers.
She was like a second mother tome and my sister, so now I'm
(22:29):
really happy to do this for heras well.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (22:31):
I'm very glad that you can honor her in
that way and and thanks toJoseph for writing the piece and
and having that connection toit.
Charlotte Cohn (22:38):
I'm just gonna add to it that, um, just a
second, what what Michael saidis.
This idea of belonging andwhere you belong is such a big
theme in the play and everyonecan relate to it in every aspect
, not just your family, but yourcommunity, your country.
(22:58):
Who's with you?
You know, and to me that meansa lot as a person who's pretty
much alone in this country.
I am far away from my entirefamily except for my husband and
daughter and dog, away from myentire family except for my
husband and daughter and dog.
But you know, it's finding whoare my people, who aligns with
me, who supports me.
Um, those are the themes of theplay.
(23:19):
That's what michael said.
Everyone can relate to it and Ido think we can all use a
feel-good experience in thetheater.
I do believe that, especiallyduring the dates that this play
is running, I think it's reallywell placed for the audiences to
have an opportunity to go intoa dark theater and have a really
(23:40):
wonderful experience.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (23:42):
Again, very well said, I agree.
I mean, there are a lot ofthings and it's not just theater
, it's film, it's all kinds ofart where people tend to broach
very heavy subject matter andthen we're inundated with the
heaviness in our real lives andthen also being reflected in art
, which is wonderful and itshould be there.
But sometimes you just needsomething that's going to, like
(24:03):
you said, bring tears of joy.
Sometimes you just needsomething that's going to bring
a little bit of levity.
Joseph Gallo (24:09):
Well, I think, and I hope that the story is
timeless and that I think thatyou know I'm excited for a new
audience to see the play.
The play was last done in 2009or 2010.
So I'm very excited that awhole new generation can hear
this tale.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (24:29):
My Italy Story will be introducing new
audiences to its tale, beginningOctober 24th through the 27th
at Hamilton Stage in Rahway,followed by performances at the
Semanski Theatre in BaskingRidge from November 1st through
the 3rd.
As an added treat, allperformances in Rahway will
feature music by members of theNew Jersey Opera Theatre singing
(24:49):
Italian favorites for 30minutes prior to curtain.
For tickets and moreinformation, be sure to visit
AmericanTheaterGroup.
org.
If you liked this episode, besure to review, subscribe and
tell your friends.
A transcript of this podcast,links relevant to the story and
more about the arts in NewJersey can be found at
JerseyArts.
com.
The Jersey Arts Podcast ispresented by Art Pride New
(25:10):
Jersey, advancing a state ofcreativity since 1986.
The show was co-founded by andcurrently supported by, funds
from the New Jersey StateCouncil on the Arts, with
additional support from theNational Endowment for the Arts.
This episode was hosted, editedand produced by me, Gina Marie
Rodriguez.
Executive producers are JimAtkinson and Isaac Serna-Diez,
(25:30):
and my thanks to Joseph, michaeland Charlotte for speaking with
me today.
I'm Gina Marie Rodriguez forthe Jersey Arts Podcast.
Thanks for listening.
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