The Playwrights Database
ANGELO PARRA
Nationality: USA
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Literary Agent: n/a
Angelo Parra is an award-winning playwright with productions of his plays: Off-Broadway; in LA, Chicago, and Washington; at Hartford Stage, Florida Stage, Cape (Cod) Playhouse, George Street Playhouse, Theatre Memphis, Trenton's Passage Theatre, Florida Rep, St. Luke's Theatre (NYC), and Penguin Rep Theatre, among others; and at the Edinburgh International Theatre Festival. Angelo wrote the Devil's Music: the Life and Blues of Bessie Smith, the critically acclaimed play with music named among the "Top-Ten Off-Broadway Experiences of 2001" by the NY Daily News. He is also the author of Playwriting for Dummies, part of the internationally popular "For Dummies" series of how-to books. Another of his plays, Journey of the Heart (which Dramatizes the seesaw struggle of a hospital committee to decide who gets a heart for transplant), won the Jewel Box Theatre, Mixed Blood Versus America, and David James Ellis Memorial national play awards. Two other plays, Casino and the Slope, were the recipients of a Fund for U.S. Artists at International Festivals and Exhibitions grant (a partnership of the National Endowment for the Arts, the U.S. Information Agency, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the Pew Charitable Trusts), sponsoring the plays at the 1993 Edinburgh Festival. Angelo's honors include two NY Foundation for the Arts Fellowships in Scriptwriting, and the 1998 Chicano/Latino Literary Award (University of California) for his play, Song of the Coqui. In 2000, he was named a Tennessee Williams Scholar at the prestigious Sewanee Writers Conference. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild and a member emeritus of the BMI/Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop. He was awarded a National Endowment for the Humanities Landmarks of American History and Culture grant in 2008. Angelo honed his craft at: Roundabout Theatre Conservatory's Professional Playwright's Unit; New Dramatists Playwrights Forum; Playwrights Horizons; and, T. Schreiber Studio. He holds a B.A. in Journalism and an M.F.A. in Playwriting. He is the founder and director of the Hudson Valley Professional Playwrights Lab, and teaches playwriting and performing Arts at SUNY Rockland Community College.
Research: Member of the Dramatists Guild of America (as at 2015)
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below is a list of Angelo Parra's plays - click on a Play Title for more information
Canvases Casino Devil's Music, The: the Life and Blues of Bessie Smith Journey of the Heart (early title: A Heart of Flesh) Mnemonist, The Percy T Penguin Comes to America Price of Honor, The Prickasaurus Slope, The Song of the Coqui Waltz Without Turns, A WarmfleschCanvases
Synopsis:
Canvases is the story of a restless college professor, ANDY, an offbeat portrait painter and lesbian, CAROL, and their spirited friendship that crosses understood boundaries with devastating consequences. On the night before the opening of CAROL's one woman gallery show, ANDY invites CAROL to his apartment for a game of Scrabble (and secretly to celebrate her 30th birthday). CAROL speaks wistfully of having children. ANDY makes clumsy advances, which CAROL, while flattered, resists. After a month's absence, CAROL, exhausted after a night out and a fight with her lover, Vivian, barges in on ANDY at 3 a.m. CAROL describes the fight, and confesses she's slept with a man. Frustrated and angry, ANDY seduces her. Act II opens with ANDY posing for an oil painting in CAROL's studio. CAROL, who's having trouble concentrating on her work, finally blurts out that she's pregnant. ANDY urges CAROL to consider having the baby, but CAROL and Vivian already have made an appointment at an abortion clinic. ANDY, enraged, smashes a portrait of Vivian, and CAROL throws him out. After a traumatic abortion, ANDY and CAROL attempt to salvage what's left of their friendship.
Notes:
An economical two-hander, one set play, Canvases has been described As A "Frankie And Johnny in the Clair de Lune with teeth." Contact: playwright (playrite@optonline.net).
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Genre:
Drama with humor
Parts:
Male: 1 Female: 1 Other: -
Further Reference:
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Top of PageCasino
Synopsis:
Set in the backroom office of an Atlantic City casino, Casino, and award-winning play, Dramatizes the plight of an assimilated Hispanic, JOE ALVAREZ, an English teacher, who is accused of a theft in a major Atlantic City casino while vacationing with his wife at the Jersey shore. Roughly hustled into the back room of the casino, Joe, hurt and confused, is watched with skepticism by an aged security GUARD as Joe tries to talk his way out of the dilEmma. Under increasingly brutal questioning - first by casino security manager, McCARVER, and then by local police doing a good-guy-bad guy routine, Joe is forced to confront his ethnic identity and how others see him. the play builds to the verge of violence as RALPH WYNN, the out-of-control victim of the crime, is brought into the room with Joe by the police in the climactic confrontation.
Notes:
Casino is winner of A New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship And the co-winner with the Slope (below) of A Fund for U.S. Artists At International Festivals And Exhibitions grant (a partnership of the National Endowment for the Arts, the U.S. Information Agency, the Rockefeller Foundation, And the Pew Charitable Trusts). Playing time: Approx. 45 min. Often staged As An evening with the Slope (below), thematically Dramatizing the effects of racism And homophobia. Contact: playwright (playrite@optonline.net).
1st Produced:
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1989
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Genre:
Drama, one-act
Parts:
Male: 6 Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
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Top of PageDevil's Music, The: the Life and Blues of Bessie Smith
Synopsis:
A preacher's daughter, Bessie Smith overcame Southern poverty to become the most influential Blues singer of the 1920s, earning the honorific "Empress of the Blues." An upbeat, lively, funny, and ultimately moving musical theatrical experience, the Devil's Music: the Life and Blues of Bessie Smith Dramatizes the tempestuous life of the legendary Bessie, whose life was as large and as outrageous as her talent. the great diva and legendary bawdy mama died after an automobile crash in 1937. the script re-imagines Bessie's final turbulent evening after she and her band are turned away by a whites-only theatre. the show takes place in a Memphis "buffet flat," where the partying, laughter, and bawdy behavior all come together to deliver an unforgettable and surprisingly touching evening. the Devil's Music offers some of best of the Blues that Bessie Smith made famous, including "I Ain't Got Nobody," "St. Louis Blues," "Baby Doll," "Gimme a Pigfoot," and "Tain't Nobody's Bizness If I Do." Bessie made over 160 recordings, selling more than anyone other than Caruso and Al Jolson. Critically acclaimed, the Devil's Music: the Life and Blues of Bessie Smith was named among the "Top-Ten Off-Broadway Experiences of 2001" by the NY Daily News.
Notes:
the show, featuring An African-American cas, has been performed with Bessie And three musicians (piano, bass, And saxophone). But it can be done with two performers - Bessie And A piano player (the character Pickle). the musical scores Are provided. the Devil's Music: the Life And Blues of Bessie Smith can be booked rehearsed And ready to perform, or the show can be licensed for local production. Contact: Andrew Horn At Andrewmaxwellhorn@gmail.com.
1st Produced:
Penguin Rep theatre
PO Box 91, Stoney Point, NY 10980-0091 2000
PO Box 91, Stoney Point, NY 10980-0091 2000
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Music:
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Genre:
play with music
Parts:
Male: 1 Female: 1 Other: two male musicians (optional)
Further Reference:
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Top of PageJourney of the Heart (early title: A Heart of Flesh)
Synopsis:
In "Journey of the Heart," a brash newspaperman, Tom Beaumont, and a young, African-American mother, Liz Powell, find themselves drawn to each other while a hospital committee, composed of people from all walks of life, is engaged in a see-saw struggle to decide who gets a heart for transplant - Liz's 12-year-old daughter, Melanie, or an aging, internationally known entertainment celebrity. A majority of the committee instinctively indicates that an available heart, which needs to be transplanted within hours, should be given to the girl, Melanie. However, Dr. Hunter, the hospital's head of transplant surgery, argues that giving the life-saving heart to another patient, the famous actor/singer, Tony Madrid, will draw attention to transplantation, making more organs available for everyone, including Melanie. Dr. Hunter tenaciously works to persuade the members of the committee, one by one, to choose Madrid. Tom is appalled, and, unwittingly, finds himself losing his journalistic objectivity and doggedly championing Melanie's - and Liz's - cause. In a breach of committee's closed proceedings, Liz is invited into the meeting to plead her daughter's case. And, in an ironic twist of events, Tom, the newcomer to the committee, is called upon to cast the final - and deciding - vote.
Notes:
Journey of the Heart is the winner of the Jewel Box theatre Award, Mixed Blood Versus America Award, And David James Ellis Memorial Award. An ensemble play, it features A multi-ethnic/racial cast. (the gender And ethnic/racial breakdown is not Arbitrary; it's relevant to the story.) "In the style of 12 Angry Men" . . . emotions bounce Across the rosewood veneer" - LA Weekly; "A beat-the-clock Drama." - LA Times; "This taut medical Drama packs A considerable wallop" - Pasadena Star-News; "As much Action As Anyone could possibly want." - Sierra Madre News. Representative: Earl Graham (212) 489-7730.
1st Produced:
Alliance Theatre Company, Burbank, California
1999
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To Buy This Play:
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Genre:
Drama
Parts:
Male: 4 Female: - Other: 4
Further Reference:
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Top of PageMnemonist, The
Synopsis:
the Mnemonist Dramatizes the story of a man who's driven to desperate measures because of his inability to forget anything he experiences. STAN, a former stage magician and now a recluse, remembers all of his life's events as vividly as if they occurred yesterday, and feels intensely the pain that accompanies many of these memories. To put an end to the torment, he's scheduled dangerous and illegal brain-altering surgery, and the only thing that stands between him and the potentially disastrous results is the tenacity of the quirky and irreverent woman, MADDIE, he's hiring to care for him after the risky procedure is completed. Characters: STAN - early-40s, handsome, didactic, and somewhat straight-laced; MADDIE - mid-30s, attractive in an eccentric way, talkative, unconstrained.
Notes:
An economical two-hander, one set play. Contact: playwright (playrite@optonline.net).
1st Produced:
Reading At Actors Studio
01 Dec 2013
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Music:
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To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies
Booksellers:
Genre:
Drama with humor
Parts:
Male: 1 Female: 1 Other: -
Further Reference:
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Top of PagePercy T Penguin Comes to America
Synopsis:
Percy T. Penguin Comes to America features music by Neil Berg and lyrics by Jane Landers. With humor, music, song, and dance, the lively show tells the charming story of Percy, the young shy penguin Prince of Penguinery, who must decide whether or not to brave a long trip to America with his new human friend, Sienna, to try to speak to the President about stopping the pollution and global warming that is causing his home in the South Pole to melt away.
Notes:
Percy T. Penguin Comes to America is A fun family show with An environmental protection message. It can be performed with eight Actors, or, with doubling of roles, the show can be performed with A cast As small As five. Musical scores of original music provided. Contact: Playwright At playrite@optonline.net.
1st Produced:
Penguin Rep theatre
PO Box 91, Stoney Point, NY 10980-0091 2004
PO Box 91, Stoney Point, NY 10980-0091 2004
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To Buy This Play:
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Genre:
family musical with an ecological theme
Parts:
Male: 3 - 5 (doubling possible) Female: 2 - 3 (doubling possible) Other: -
Further Reference:
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Top of PagePrice of Honor, The
Synopsis:
Based on a true story, the Price of Honor depicts the Korean War/McCarthy-era trial of Major General Robert W. Grow, a decorated World War II hero whose personal diary, containing militarily aggressive, anti-Russian strategies and plans, was photographed by an East German spy and used as anti-American Communist propaganda, leading to embarrassing headlines around the world. the play takes place simultaneously in Washington, D.C., and in Frankfurt, Germany. General Grow, the Army's Attache to Moscow, became the first officer of his rank to be court-martialed since the Civil War, the victim of a Pentagon-engineered cover-up of the Army's lax security. An intemperate Army lawyer, Major Edgar Simmons, reluctantly agrees to defend Grow in the unusual trial, itself classified "Top Secret" and held behind closed doors. Like one of the tanks Grow commanded, Army "justice," aroused by negative publicity and motivated by Army self-preservation, rolls over General Grow. Simmons struggles to find out why, even as he hides his own embarrassing World War II secret. the play culminates in a heated courtroom battle, which ironically pits General Grow against Simmons, his own lawyer.
Notes:
Many of the witnesses can be played by three Actors tripling up, Allowing the play to be performed with As few As A cast of 10. Minimal sets: basic military courtroom in Washington, D.C., A suggested interview room At the Pentagon, And suggested interview room in Frankfurt, Germany. Contact: playwright (playrite@optonline.net).
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To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies
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Genre:
military courtroom Drama
Parts:
Male: 15 (can be performed by 9 males) Female: 1 Other: -
Further Reference:
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Top of PagePrickasaurus
Synopsis:
DIANA, a wild, uninhibited woman in her late 20s, has been leading GENE, late 30s, a quiet married man with children, on a tumultuous rollercoaster ride through the streets of New York City's Lower East Side on a bitterly cold night - bar hopping and buying drugs. With his family away for the weekend, GENE, a studio photographer and reserved by nature, is on a date with DIANA, whom he thinks will be able to give him the sexual experiences he feels he's missed in his straight-arrow, middle-class life. GENE and DIANA wind up in GENE's home, in his marital bed, in a seduction going wrong, with emotionally charged consequences - to GENE, his wife, AMY, and GENE's sense of self. GENE and DIANA find themselves struggling with a new dilEmma: is this affair nothing more than obsession and lust, or is it a Dramatically new chapter in the lives of Gene and his family?
Notes:
Prickasaurus is A Drama with humor with dialogue containing Adult language And sexual references. Contact: playwright (playrite@optonline.net).
1st Produced:
T. Schreiber Studio, NYC
1990
Organisations:
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1st Published:
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Music:
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To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies
Booksellers:
Genre:
Drama with humor
Parts:
Male: 1 Female: 2 Other: -
Further Reference:
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Top of PageSlope, The
Synopsis:
In the Slope, an award-winning play, a young, virile construction worker, MARK, is distraught over the beating and disfigurement the night before of his sister, Angelique, a top fashion model. After a visit to the hospital, MARK, preparing to make a call to deliver the bad news to his mother in Florida, paces like a caged animal in Angelique's apartment. Angelique's lover and gay activist, MILLIE, whom MARK conveniently blames for the attack outside Prospect Park, enters Angelique's Park Slope, Brooklyn, apartment. MILLIE points a finger at bigoted and homophobic "primitives" like MARK. Brimming with anger and pain, the two collide in a territorial confrontation that leads to a physical struggle that approaches the violence of the prior night. "A powerful idea, well executed!" - Back Stage; "A mind-blowing gem" - List magazine.
Notes:
the Slope is the winner the Sensitivity Awareness Symposium Task Force Competition prize (Montgomery County [Maryland] Human Relations Commission, And co-winner with Casino (above) of A Fund for U.S. Artists At International Festivals And Exhibitions grant (a partnership of the National Endowment for the Arts, the U.S. Information Agency, the Rockefeller Foundation, And the Pew Charitable Trusts). Playing time: Approx. 35 min. Often staged As An evening with Casino (above), thematically Dramatizing the effects of racism And homophobia. Contact: playwright (playrite@optonline.net).
1st Produced:
Edinburgh International Theatre Festival, Scotland
1993
Organisations:
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1st Published:
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Music:
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To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies
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Genre:
Drama, one-act
Parts:
Male: 1 Female: 1 Other: 2 radio announcer voiceovers
Further Reference:
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Top of PageSong of the Coqui
Synopsis:
A Drama with humor, music, and dance, Song of the Coqui tells story of a dreamer, EDNA, and a pragmatist, RAYMOND, and the price they pay to pursue the "American Dream." Set in New York City, the play alternates between the present, where we see the Guerreros succumbing to alcoholism in their middle-class Bronx home, and in the past - the period just after World War II, when handsome YOUNG RAYMOND returns from Japan to marry beautiful YOUNG EDNA in Spanish Harlem. YOUNG EDNA sees marriage to YOUNG RAYMOND as the beginning of her journey to a home of her own with an Americanized family, while YOUNG RAYMOND is content with his circle of street buddies, his love of dancing, and their uncomplicated life in a shabby furnished room. their young son, RAY, becomes the focus of EDNA's hopes and aspirations. In the present, son RAY, an assimilated and successful attorney, decides to abandon his career in favor of his own dream, shattering his parents' sense of achievement. the Americanism of the Guerreros is challenged by their new next-door neighbor, TERESA, a sexy, street-wise, divorced mother. EDNA's drinking precipitates a heart attack, which forces the family to reevaluate its choices.
Notes:
According to legend, if you take the coqui, A small tree frog native to Puerto Rico, off the island, it will survive, but it will never sing Again. Song of the Coqui is the winner of the Chicano/Latino Literary Prize (University of California, Irvine) And An American Dream Competition Prize (Repertorio Espanol, New York City). Contact: playwright (playrite@optonline.net).
1st Produced:
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Organisations:
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1st Published:
Excerpt published in "the Chicano/Latino Literary Prize: An Anthology of Prize-Winning Fiction, Poetry, and Drama," Stephanie Fetta, Editor (2008) 978-1558855113
Music:
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To Buy This Play:
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Genre:
family Drama with humor
Parts:
Male: 3 Hispanic Female: 3 Hispanic Other: -
Further Reference:
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Top of PageWaltz Without Turns, A
Synopsis:
Set in an Orlando, Florida, motel room, A Waltz Without Turns, a comedy with heart, opens as PEGGY, an attractive, moody, dreamy, vulnerable flower arranger in her early 30s, listlessly enters after a day at Disney World, followed by DANNY, an energetic, upbeat jazz musician in his late-30s. It's the last night of a spur-of-the-moment vacation taken by these two dissimilar people who've known each other only a matter of weeks. A phone message from one of DANNY's two daughters from previous marriages precipitates a bittersweet confrontation over the future of their new relationship, during which quirks and vulnerabilities are revealed, and their facades and illusions are stripped away.
Notes:
One set, two-hander. Playing time: Approx. 35 min. Contact: playwright (playrite@optonline.net).
1st Produced:
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Organisations:
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1st Published:
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Music:
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To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies
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Genre:
comedy, one-act
Parts:
Male: 1 Female: 1 Other: -
Further Reference:
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Top of PageWarmflesch
Synopsis:
Archibald Warmflesch, after the violent death of his wife, has isolated himself from the world in his brownstone apartment. He occupies himself with a strange hobby, burying words. His seclusion is invaded by an enigmatic, attractive psychotherapist, Sam (Samantha) Watson, sent by Warmflesch's daughters. Warmflesch, a middle-aged former cab driver, who at one time wrote poetry, gradually discovers that the successful young therapist seems to know a lot about his life 20 years earlier, and is, in fact, a figure from his past-the daughter of an old flame. In this battle of wits, we learn that Sam shares with Warmflesch a strong, if traumatic bond-her mother who committed suicide-for which Sam holds him responsible . . . and intends to exact her revenge."
Notes:
Two-hander, one set, running time Approx. 35 minutes. Contact: Playwright At playrite@optonline.net.
1st Produced:
Synchronicity Theatre Group, NYC
1995
Organisations:
Synchronicity Theatre Group
1st Published:
- -
Music:
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To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies
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Genre:
one-act Drama
Parts:
Male: 1 Female: 1 Other: -
Further Reference:
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