Our first production of New Year’s eve at Grandma’s House April 13 was a smashing success. Our two shows played to sold-out houses. We even had to bring in extra chairs for the 8 p.m. show to accommodate all the people waiting to get in. So what’s next? We had two great audience talk-backs that gave us […]
Read MoreEveryone has family stories to tell, so why did I take mine and craft a play out of them? Part of it was a challenge from our wonderful teacher and director Ryan Kitley. After finishing a class with him last year, he mentioned he wanted to teach a performance class – one class devoted to […]
Read MoreThe response to our one-act play has been truly amazing; we have sold out tickets for both performances as of Wednesday of this week. While we had hoped to sell out, we thought it would happen from last-minute people walking up to buy tickets the night of the show, not in advance like this. We […]
Read MoreSonny is the younger of the two Smaldone brothers. Yo won’t meet his older brother Johnny at the party but you will hear about him. As the youngest, Sonny is momma’s baby and the boy she watches over most closely. He returns the affection by visiting every day even though he only lives across the street. A “big lug” in […]
Read MoreRoughly 16 million Americans served in the U.S. armed forces during World War II, which last for the United States from December 1941 until August 1945. But our story takes placed on Dec. 31, 1960, so why is World War II a part of it? The reason the war is spoken about in our story […]
Read MoreRavioli is a traditional southern Italian favorite. In 1960, Italian families like the Smaldones would make their own from scratch rather than buy them pre-made or frozen as people do these days. Within the family, there was always a debate about which tasted better, round ravioli or square ones. Del, who you will meet in […]
Read MoreThe cast and crew of New Year’s Eve at Grandma’s House is going to great lengths to recreate the look and feel on New Year’s Eve 1960. Some of the furniture on stage during our April 13 performance, for example, actually comes from the Smaldone House which forms the inspiration for the play. Costumes are […]
Read MoreFor almost half a century, beginning in 1929 and going through the early 1970s, Guy Lombardo was Mr New Year’s Eve for millions of Americans. Before Dick Clark and now Ryan Seacreast, it was Lombardo Americans listened to as they prepared to bring in the New Year. He and his band first played from Chicago […]
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