Tonight's Menu: Great Reviews!THEATERWORKS HARTFORD (world premiere)
Starring Antoinette LaVecchia; Directed by Rob Ruggiero See production photos here! THE NEW YORK TIMES: "Mr. Lamarre, well known to Connecticut theater journalists as a publicist, has mined the book for its comedy. With indispensable help from the star, Antoinette LaVecchia, and the director, Rob Ruggiero, he has succeeded in turning Ms. Melucci’s good-humored litany of woe into a delightfully comic evening." Read the full review here. THE HARTFORD COURANT: "It’s clear the gal can cook. LaVecchia prepares from scratch a three-course meal on stage and serves it to 10 audience members seated at five tables. She can also cook up well-seasoned stories about her disastrous relationships with men that can be very frank and funny. After all, there’s something about hanging out in the kitchen that makes people feel comfortable about letting it all hang out and that’s true, too, here." EXAMINER.COM: FIVE STARS! "It’s not often that you belly laugh out loud all the way though a comedy without feeling that maybe you’ve gone stark raving mad, but when everyone else in a sold-out theater is doing the same, you’re not crazy, you’re seeing theatrical history. I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti is the perfect recipe to fill theaters around the world forever for the humor is based in truth, the source of all great comedy. From start to finish this show is one of the most hilarious comedies we’ve seen in decades." HARTFORD EXAMINER: FOUR STARS! "It's not quite 'Fifty Shades of Gourmet' nor could you call it food porn, but Hartford Theaterworks' current production of I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti is an entertaining tale of romantic misfires and Italian cooking told by an appealing, intelligent central character who's better at picking out the ingredients for a tasty antipasto than identifying boyfriend material." MIDDLETOWN PRESS: "Jacques Lamarre has cleverly adapted the memoirs of Giulia Melucci and fashioned her story into a fast paced race through all the men who were fortunate enough to mangia at her Italian-American table. Antoinette LaVecchia’s Giulia is adorable and gifted as the woman who wants to be loved, loved for her spaghetti and culinary skills, but even more so for herself and her personal qualities." TALKINBROADWAY.COM: "The TheaterWorks production invites people to watch, laugh, and have fun." MANCHESTER JOURNAL INQUIRER/BROADWAYWORLD.COM/CT ARTS CONNECTION: "Antoinette LaVecchia sparkles like a fine Chianti in Connecticut playwright Jacques Lamarre's stage adaptation of Giulia Melucci's bestselling memoir I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti getting a delectable world premiere at TheatreWorks in Hartford." CINCINNATI PLAYHOUSE IN THE PARK
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GEORGE STREET PLAYHOUSE Starring Antoinette LaVecchia; Directed by Rob Ruggiero THE NEW YORK TIMES: "In between the recollections and opinions, as well as occasional phone interruptions from her meddling mother, Ms. LaVecchia’s Giulia chops, dices, boils and ladles real ingredients from a working kitchen. She then serves the meal and wine to a handful of theatergoers who sit onstage. It’s gimmicky, of course, yet the preparation is also surprisingly pleasing to watch. Ms. LaVecchia is a genial actress, rarely without a welcoming grin. She maneuvers through the kitchen with ease, a chatty and funny friend who is eager to engage her guests. As directed by Rob Ruggiero, she tells her tales with a just-us tone." TALKINBROADWAY.COM: "Antoinette LaVecchia is something else. She is to the pensione born. She imbues the words of Giulia Melucci's memoir and Jacques Lamarre's adaptation with an energy, warmth, passion and desire to please, which is irresistible." CURTAINUP.COM: "the laughter has already been virtually non-stop since Giulia began in earnest the preparation and cooking of a three course Italian dinner consisting of antipasto, green salad, and spaghetti Bolognese including wine that she will personally serve to the lucky (pay a little extra and you get to eat) couples seated at small tables to the left and right of her in a fully equipped, on-stage kitchen." EXAMINER.COM: "Equal parts warmth and wit subtly flavor the evening and manage to elevate this culinary confessional from light repast to theatrical feast. Buon appetito! " CENTRALJERSEY.COM: "Besides being a very funny play, this is a mini-cooking lesson for those who care to pay attention. I’m always critical of how actors hold knives while chopping, as if they’ve never done it at home. Ms. LaVecchia obviously has. She delivers the repast and the heart and soul of Ms. Melucci’s memoir with great flair and sumptuous flavor. Directed con brio by another Italian-American, Rob Ruggiero, this comic dish will send you off into the night fully satisfied." NEW JERSEY MONTHLY: "A piping hot plate of laughs! There are two surefire ways to mend a broken heart - stuffing your facing or laughing it off. The new production at George Street Playhouse balances these strategies with hilarious results." ASOLO REPERTORY THEATRE Starring Antoinette LaVecchia; Directed by Rob Ruggiero YOUR OBSERVER: "Ruggiero directs this lighter-than-air material with the rapid-fire timing of screwball comedy. John Coyne’s set (a geometric backdrop behind a working kitchen) focuses all the energy forward — on the actress and her connection with the audience. LaVecchia shines in Alejo Vietti’s designs (a practical dress in Act One, a hot red number in Act Two.). The attention stays on the actress, as it should be. It’s a one-woman play, naturally. It’s all on her. LaVecchia carries it effortlessly. It’s a warm, engaging, authentic performance that boils down to good storytelling." SARASOTA HERALD-TRIBUNE/TICKET SARASOTA: "LaVecchia delivers an impressive performance, filled with the kind of flavor, care and love that Giulia puts into her food." SARASOTAFOODIES.COM: "This is absolutely a one-of-a-kind night out! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! You couldn’t ask for (a)more." ANYTHINGARTS.COM: "It’s quite a tour-de-force to pull off a cooking demonstration while gathering the audience in to a world she creates on stage. She paints a vivid picture of dating life among the literary elite in the City. LaVecchia never misses a beat even as she prepares the food, pours wine and serves the audience members at a smattering of cabaret tables who paid extra to eat, and answers frequent calls from her helicopter Italian mother." 7 ANGELS THEATRE Starring Maria Baratta; Directed by Semina DeLaurentis WATERBURY REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN: FOUR STARS! "Actress Maria Baratta does it all." TORRINGTON REGISTER-CITIZEN: "The charming and versatile Giulia is being brought to delectable life in the hands and hospitality of Maria Baratta as she cooks up a fabulous feast right before your eyes in I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti, a memoir by Giulia that has been cleverly adapted by Jacques Lamarre." HALF MOON THEATRE Starring Denise Summerford; Directed by Michael Schiralli PAWLING PUBLIC RADIO: "She tells her story, while preparing a homemade pasta dinner from scratch and serving it to a few lucky audience members seated on the stage with her. It’s a neat trick, and half the fun of seeing this play is watching the very capable Denise Summerford pull off acting the role of Guilia, while making and serving a three-course Italian dinner. Her mastery as an actress is matched only by her mastery of the hand-cranked pasta maker." HUDSON VALLEY ALMANAC WEEKLY: "Summerford – descendent of a long line of Italian cooks herself – made the material decidedly her own, with grace, humor and spunk. The other challenging element that makes this gig truly a tour de force is the need to whip up a three-course meal from scratch and riff spiritedly about past loves lost, all at the same time – transgressing the old 'Show, don’t tell' theater rule by telling about one thing while showing another. That includes mixing and kneading handmade pasta dough and cranking it repeatedly through a pasta-making machine for Giulia’s spaghetti Bolognese: a task requiring considerable elbow grease, as anyone who has ever attempted it can attest. Summerford doesn’t even get winded, chattering on gamely throughout, shooting out eye contact to various parts of the audience even as she’s swiftly chopping onions like a pro." FLORIDA REPERTORY THEATRE Starring Michelle Damato; Directed by Michael Marotta NEWS-PRESS: "A TASTY DISH! A warning about Florida Rep’s newest comedy: Whatever you do, don’t come hungry. Those aren’t plastic vegetables and fake spaghetti noodles onstage. They’re the real thing. Actor Michelle Damato whips up an entire Italian meal from scratch, right before your eyes. And the wafting aromas of garlic, onion and Bolognese sauce are enough to make even full stomachs rumble. Eight lucky audience members sit at dinner tables surrounding the stage at Florida Rep’s ArtStage Studio Theatre, and they actually get to eat all that delicious-smelling food (those tickets cost an extra $35). The rest of us have to watch, our eyes big and our mouths watering. Don’t worry, though. The culinary torture is well worth it in this winning production of “I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti.” FLORIDA WEEKLY: "Ms. Damato draws us all in and makes us feel as if we’re seated in her personal kitchen. She can’t capture the hearts of the galoofs she dates, but she certainly captures the audience’s. It’s fascinating to watch Ms. Damato actually cook on stage, making pasta from flour and eggs, stretching out the dough with the help of a pasta machine and then shredding it into thin spaghetti strands. When the audience oohed, she looked up with a twinkle on her eye: 'I know, it’s like magic, right? she said, agreeing with them." HANGAR THEATRE Starring Larisa Oleynik; Directed by Michael Barakiva ITHACA TIMES "There’s nothing to fear here; I can think of lots of actors who could tell all the stories in the show, but could they be as good as Oleynik is at all the foodie stuff? The comingling spell of theatre and food makes you see things you might not notice in another show: in the black out at the end of Act One, you can see the coal-orange glow of the stove burner in the dark. After all, pasta water waits for no man, not even intermission...When the audience talks back, you’ve got their attention, and Oleynik kept it up for more than two hours (and a 15-minute intermission for the pasta water to come to a boil) and a well-deserved standing ovation. On the way out, I spoke to a few of the eight diner-viewers down front, and they confirmed that the food was, like the performance, delicious." SYRACUSE POST-STANDARD "For a one-person show to succeed, there has to be immediate engagement. If the lone performer onstage isn't likable or at least compelling, it's a long evening of theater. Oleynik's process of winning hearts begins the moment the house opens. As the audience files in, she's onstage, energetically assembling the meal in a fully functional kitchen...Oleynik is charming, funny, and open-hearted, earning moments of sympathy and a standing ovation at the end." PENOBSCOT THEATRE COMPANY Starring Michelle Damato; Directed by Michael Marotta MAINE EDGE "A bounteous feast of a love story! A sweet and engaging show, one rendered more conversational than most simply by virtue of the presence of audience members on the stage. There’s a wonderful joy to it, an unwavering positivity that is barely, rarely shaken." BANGOR DAILY NEWS "The actress’ ability to converse with the audience and cook at the same time is amazing. It is fascinating to watch her make pasta from scratch and run the dough through a device temporarily attached to the granite countertop. The smells and sounds of the bubbling sauce and the boiling water are delightfully tempting." STONEHAM THEATRE Starring Kerri Jill Garbis; Directed by Ilyse Robbins ON STAGE BLOG "Garbis was wonderful as Giulia. She was able to easily keep the audience engaged with her great story-telling all while creating a three-course Italian meal. She was believable, funny and a delight to watch. It truly felt like we were just old friends sitting in her kitchen, listening to her stories, and watching her cook. This light-hearted and fun play was thoroughly enjoyed by the audience who spent much of their time chuckling at Melucci and Lamarre’s clever writing." |