LIONS
A World Premiere Play By Vince Melocchi
Opening Oct 24th in PRT’s 705-1/2 space:
Directed by Guillermo Cienfuegos
Produced By Lisa Nichols and Tania Getty
Oct 24 through Dec 7, 2008
Fri, Sat at 8 pm and Sun at 3 pm.
Cast
Haskell Vaughn Anderson III, Alan Keith Caldwell, Gloria Charles, Dan Cole, Scott Conte, Ron Dickinson, Valerie Dillman, Kim Estes, Dan Kozlowski, Matt McKenzie, Seth Margolies, Nick Rogers, Keith Stevenson, and Sarah Zinsser
Review
LIONS — A “GO!” in LA WEEKLY
“…an all-around touching portrait of Middle America, a reminder that ‘real Americans’ need not be so reductively characterized as Joe the Plumber.” Luis Reyes – L.A. Weekly
“…the ensemble does a masterful job of depicting a posse of bar archetypes. Anderson’s embittered barfly and Zinsser’s tough-talking and resigned spinster are particularly wonderfully vivid and recognizable figures, and McKenzie’s turn as the increasingly desperate Spook, all nicotine-stained voice and machismo as he inescapably devolves into drunken bumhood, is genuinely engrossing.” Paul Birchall – Back Stage
“Playwright Vince Melocchi’s somber ensemble drama about a group of underachieving pals hanging out at a Detroit neighborhood bar, watching their lives drift down the toilet as the economy tanks around them, possesses a worldly prescience, neatly anticipating the country’s current fiscal woes.” – Backstage West
“In Vince Melocchi’s play, Lions, we are privy to the hardships of a group of downtrodden men and women who are faced with the economic sufferings of today’s world. Playing at the Pacific Resident Theatre in Venice, Lions is a compelling play, performed with realism by a gifted cast under the direction of Guellermo Cienfuegos.” – Stagehappenings
“Playwright Melocchi frames his tales of lives in crisis within the hashmarks of the Detroit Lions’ crushingly disappointing 2007-2008 football season. The play opens with the club members—plus a ballsy walk-in Bears fan—gathered for that strange ritual of commerce and sport known as “The NFL [National Football League] Draft.” The team’s hopes, and the dreams of its fans, are buoyed by Detroit’s pick of a star wide receiver. “- World Socialist Website
LIONS (developed at PRT and soon to be published by Samuel French) is a funny, touching, and timely portrait of blue-collar families in today’s Middle America
It’s the 2007 NFL season and the Detroit Lions are on a winning streak – unfortunately John Waite is not. With his lifelong friends at The Tenth Ward Club, he places his hopes on his team, and attempts to escape the creeping demise of his city, and of his way of life.
LIONS Publishing and Signing Party held in May
Actors Reporter review: “Lions” is an example of the best in intimate theatre entertainment.”
2008/09 Ovation Award Nominations PRT Member VINCE MELOCCHI’s play LIONS has received a nomination for Play writing for an Original Play, produced by Pacific Resident Theatre