CLEMENZA AND TESSIO ARE DEAD Opens at Shell Theatre, 12/2

Fresh from its sold-out run at the 2009 New York International Fringe Festival, Gregg Greenberg's comedy-drama CLEMENZA & TESSIO ARE DEAD returns with a look at mob life from the bottom up. Starring Frank Senger*, Anthony Gallo and Troy Dane*, this tale of two men's attempts to climb the criminal corporate ladder begins performances December 2nd at the Shell Theater, at 300 West 43rd Street. The show is directed by Frank Senger and produced by Gregg Greenberg. The production is an Equity Showcase.
 
Peter Clemenza and Salvatore Tessio are two longtime foot soldiers of the Corleone crime family, but after more than 40 years of service, upper management changes in the organization and a perceived lack of respect from the incoming generation leads them to wonder if they're being put out to pasture (or under it). But with the handwriting already on the wall, is it possible to change what fate has already decreed? Well, yes; but only if someone is cunning enough to radically change the script.
 
An unauthorized parody of The Godfather (1972), screenplay by Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola, based on the novel by Mario Puzo, CLEMENZA & TESSIO ARE DEAD takes a look at two little-noticed cogs in the Mafia machine and shows how those wise guys who are often overlooked can actually have the most fascinating stories of all.

*Frank Senger is reprising his role as Clemenza from the show's Fringe Festival run. His theatre credits include The Professional, Maximum Risk and Mickey Blue Eyes. Most recently, he appeared in Epitaph for George Dillon. He has worked with Steppenwolf Theater Workshop, Mabou Mines' Re-Cher-Chez Studio, En Garde Arts and has performed at the Joseph Papp Public Theater where he conceived and developed The Jägermeister and the Fledermaus. His television credits include OZ, Law and Order, and NYPD Blue.

Anthony Gallo recently completed his first stage production, Manhattan Transfer. He has appeared in the feature films A Mens Affair, The Intruder and The Abductor. TV credits include Law & Order SVU, White Collar, 30 Rock, As The World Turns, Lipstick Jungle, Watching The Detectives, and HBO's Bored to Death. www.anthonyjgallo.com

*Troy Dane's theatre credits include A Tomato Can't Grow In The Bronx, Iraq (Blindness), Fun and Games, and previous performances of Clemenza and Tessio are Dead. His films include Nipple Nazi, Calamity 666, Foreclosed and Authentic Military Vintage. Troy is a member of Actors' Equity Association and the Guild of Italian American Actors.

Playwright/director Gregg Greenberg is a New York-based financial journalist for TheStreet.com. Prior to that, he was a writer and segment producer for CNBC's Closing Bell. Gregg's screenplay Friends And Romans was the winner of the 2010 Screenplay Shootout as well as the Mexico International Film Festival.
 
Running through December 19th, CLEMENZA & TESSIO ARE DEAD will be performed at the Shell Theater, located in Suite 403 of the Times Square Arts Center, 300 West 43rd Street (between 8th & 9th Avenues).

Show times are Thursday-Saturday at 8pm, Sunday at 3pm.
Tickets are $18.00. Reservations: 212-868-4444 or www.smarttix.com.
Information: http://www.clemenzatessio.com/show.html.

 

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