Celebrating the wonderful life and career of Ron Palillo today, Playscripts, Inc. has released Ron's brilliant play "The Lost Boy". The beloved Welcome Back Kotter star died one year ago, on August 14th, 2012, in West Palm Beach, Fla.
"The Lost Boy" tells the story of writer James M. Barrie. Despite finding success and fame as a writer, James M. Barrie is dissatisfied with his work and his life. He returns to his hometown in Scotland to visit his mother, who still blames him for the long-ago death of his older brother in a skating pond. Haunted by the tragic accident and his mother's harsh words, James slowly begins to confront his family's tragic past with the help of an unexpected friendship and his own gift for storytelling. This fictionalized account of the birth of Peter Pan warms the hearts of audiences everywhere who remember the magic and mystery of The Boy Wouldn't Grow Up.
A tribute to honor the life and career of Ron Palillo, was held on October 3, 2012 at The Triad Theatre. Broadway's Tyne Daly, a longtime friend, hosted the event.
Performers and speakers included Broadway's performers Anita Gillette, Robert Bartley and Lawrence Leritz, literary agent Elaine Devlin and Joseph Gramm, Palillo's life partner. "Welcome Back, Kotter" stars John Travolta, Gabe Kaplan, Marcia Strassman along with Donna Pescow, wrote statements read at the event and Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs taped a personal tribute. Lawrence Leritz directed the event, and produced with Bob Dio.
After "Welcome Back, Kotter," Palillo appeared in various television series and films, including the sitcom "Ellen." After returning to New York in 1991, and played such roles as Mozart in "Amadeus" and regionally as George in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?", Arthur in Camelot and Nathan Detroit in "Guys and Dolls." Ron appeared on Broadway in 2008 in "Broadway Backwards 4," a charity event benefiting Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center. Among his other New York City credits were a one-person show in 2000 where he portrayed Nazi criminal Adolf Eichmann in The Diary of Adolf Eichmann Off-Broadway.
More on "The Lost Boy" can be found at Playscripts, Inc. The link is
www.playscripts.com/play/2571. Also available at The Drama Book Shop.
