World Premiere SECONDO Announced At TheaterWorks Hartford This Summer

TheaterWorks Hartford presents the World Premiere of SECONDO the sequel to our beloved hit show, I LOVED, I LOST, I MADE SPAGHETTI by Jacques Lamarre based on stories by Giulia Melucci. Directed by Rob Ruggiero, the production runs July 29 - August 28 and marks the 10th anniversary since I LOVED, I LOST, I MADE SPAGHETTI first enamored Hartford audiences.

TheaterWorks welcomes back Antoinette Lavecchia in the role she premiered 10 years ago and subsequently reprised to huge acclaim at George St. Playhouse, Cincinnati Playhouse and Asolo Rep. Audiences are familiar with Antoinette's 30 year career on Broadway, Off Broadway and in film and TV including a recurring role on the 2020 reboot of the popular TV series Mad About You and for Hartford audiences, most recently in Eugene O'Neill's Ah, Wilderness! at Hartford Stage.

"Ten years after saying "I do," Giulia is back in the kitchen looking to spice up her marriage."

A decade ago, Giulia invited us into her kitchen for a homemade Italian dinner and to share the hilarious highs and lows of her dating life. On the evening of her 10th wedding anniversary, we're back together to discover how married life has provided unexpected delights and challenges. While Giulia rushes to prepare her anniversary dinner, we learn that a boyfriend from the past has resurfaced to complicate her recipe for a happy marriage. SECONDO serves up new stories, delicious food and a bellyful of laughs. You don't need to have seen I LOVED, I LOST, I MADE SPAGHETTI to enjoy this tasty world premiere!

Director Rob Ruggiero commented, "I LOVED, I LOST, I MADE SPAGHETTI was so popular with audiences in 2012. Since then, Jacques and I have talked many times about revisiting Giulia's story. This moment felt like the right time but we knew we couldn't do it without Antoinette. Audiences fell head over heels in love with her 10 years ago. She is the magic in the telling of this story and we know audiences will be charmed again when we check in with Giulia on her 10th wedding anniversary."

Performances of SECONDO will take place July 29 - August 28, 2022, at TheaterWorks Hartford located at 233 Pearl Street in downtown Hartford. Critics are welcome starting Thursday, August 4 for an opening on Friday, August 5.

The performance schedule is Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7:30pm, Fridays at 8pm, Saturdays at 2:30pm and 8pm, and Sundays at 2:30pm.

In-person tickets are priced at $25-$65. Priority Booking for subscribers begins 5.25 at 10am. Tickets go on sale to the public 5.28. All tickets can be purchased online at twhartford.org or by calling 860.527.7838.

Please visit twhartford.org for more information.

Antoinette Lavecchia (Giulia) Most recently played Dorothea "Polly Noonan" in The True at Capital Rep. Broadway: Torch Song, A View From The Bridge, Enchanted April (Dialect coach), The Man Who Came To Dinner (Asst. to Director). Off-Broadway: The Portuguese Kid (MTC), Two Point OH (59E59), Mamma Roma (Cherry Lane), How to be a Good Italian Daughter...(Cherry Lane), String of Pearls (Primary Stages), Kimberly Akimbo (MTC), Magic Hands Freddy (Soho Playhouse). Regional: Ah Wilderness (Hartford Stage), Project Dawn (People's Light), The Blameless (The Old Globe), A Comedy of Tenors (McCarter Theatre & Cleveland Play House) I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti (TheaterWorks, George St. Playhouse, Cincinnati Playhouse, Asolo Rep), Electric Baby (Two River), The Laramie Project (TheaterWorks), Tough Titty (Williamstown) TV: Mad About You (reboot), Bull, The Deuce, FBI, Blindspot, L&O: SVU, Blue Bloods, The Sopranos Film: Team Marco, Deliver Us From Evil, Delirious Education: MFA Tisch/NYU, Moscow Art Theatre, Philippe Gaulier. Member: Dramatist Guild, Drama League Fellow, LPTW Awards: Fox Fellowship, The Anna Sosenko Grant, BroadwayWorld.com CT Best Actress Award, CT Critics Circle Award

JACQUES LAMARRE (Playwright) premiered I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti and Raging Skillet at TheaterWorks Hartford. He is delighted to be one of the playwrights featured in TheaterWorks' holiday tradition Christmas on the Rocks. Spaghetti has been produced at George Street Playhouse, Asolo Rep, Florida Repertory Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse on the Park, Greater Boston Theatre Company, Half Moon Theatre, among others. His comedy Born Fat was workshopped at the Philly Fringe, premiered at Seven Angels, and was remounted for the Midtown International Theatre Festival in NYC (Outstanding Solo Show). Other MITF productions include Save the Robots - The Musical and Gray Matters. His comedy Love & Spumoni premiered at Seven Angels Theatre, where his new comedy Italian Mom Loves You! starring Daniel Franzese opens this August. Jacques has two shows running this summer in Provincetown, MA: Varla Jean Merman's Ready to Blow and his new comedy Alice in Dragland. jacqueslamarreplaywright.com

GIULIA MELUCCI's (Novelist) first book, I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti, was released in 2008 by Grand Central Publishing. The memoir was translated into six languages and published in eight countries; but not in Italy, for some reason. It did, however, become a successful play written by Jacques Lamarre which premiered at TheaterWorks Hartford in 2012. She is thrilled that Lamarre is birthing a sequel for her, since she is kind of sick of herself. When she's not outsourcing her creativity, she's a Vice President at Harper's Magazine.

Rob Ruggiero (Producing Artistic Director/Director) has been part of TheaterWorks Hartford artistic leadership for 29 seasons. He has directed over 65 shows, including TWH productions of The Sound Inside, American Son, The Legend of Georgia McBride, Constellations, Next to Normal, Relativity (starring Richard Dreyfuss) and Christmas on the Rocks, which he also conceived. His Broadway credits include Looped (starring Valerie Harper in a Tony-nominated performance) and High (starring Kathleen Turner) which had its world premiere at TWH. He also conceived and directed the musical revue Make Me a Song: The Music of William Finn which moved off-Broadway and was nominated for Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards. Rob conceived and directed Ella, a musical about Ella Fitzgerald, which saw sold-out runs in 24 regional theaters and was produced as a National Tour. His work on plays and musicals has received multiple awards in Connecticut and around the United States. Rob recently directed A Grand Night for Singing at Goodspeed Musicals where over his 14-year relationship he has directed many award-winning musical productions. Internationally he directed Fiddler on the Roof in Athens, Greece.

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