Mary Miller Plays For Our Times
The Sisters, The Grove, The Flock
The D'Alessandro Trilogy
WHIRLIGIG STAGE in collaboration with THE DEPOT THEATRE will present a reading of the D'Assandro Family Trilogy co-written by Mary Miller and Michael LaPolla on Sunday, October 27, 2024, in the Beckett Theatre at Theatre 68 Arts Complex, 5112 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood, CA, 91601
The Trilogy, inspired by the works of Anton Chekhov, follows three generations of the D’Alessandro Family, an Italian-Jewish family forced to flee Italy prior to World War II and the rise of Mussolini. While the plays are set in the past, they address the contemporary threat of violence and oppression from the rise of nationalist populism in the United States and throughout Europe today.
Written to stand alone as well as performed in repertory, each play will be read in chronological order beginning with The Sisters at 1:00 p.m., The Grove at 4:00 p.m., and The Flock at 7:00 p.m.
Seventeen actors will bring the stories to life including: Iaeli Anselmo (Home Sweet Home, Raine), Sorel Carradine (The Happy Sad, The Good Doctor), Sally Conway, Joanna Going (House of Cards, Kingdom), Meeghan Holaway (Holidate, Criminal Minds), Judith Scarpone (B'way: Twilight of the Golds, Law and Order). John Garofolo and Mary O'Leary (Emmy-winning producer) will be our moderators and lead the post discussion.
The readings are free, of course, but donations are greatly appreciated as we look forward to moving these plays towards full productions.
Donations can be made before, during, and after the reading through Indiegogo link: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/four-new-plays-from-whirligig-and-the-depot#/
Reservation can be made at: michaellapollacasting@gmail.com
Thank you!
Mary Miller Productions, LLC - Plays For Our Times
WITNESS AEA 29-Hour Reading New York City, NY
WITNESS - An All Star Equity 29-Hour Reading Featuring: Lillias White* & Mary Testa*
On Thursday, February 22, 2024, in New York City, NY, SOUNDS OF THE CITY MUSIC & Mario Sprouse in conjunction with Sharon Fallon Productions presented the reading of Mary Miller's play WITNESS.
TWO FAMILIES TWO CITIES ONE STORY
WITNESS set in 1991 tells the story of two different families, living in two different cities in a one play that happens simultaneously on stage, fracturing how we look at race, class, and social justice today.
The all star cast included: Lillias White* (Hadestown) Mary Testa* (Oklahoma) Jane Bruce* (Harry Potter...) Chalia La Tour* (Slave Play) Blake Morris* ( Ain't No Mo) Adam Couperthwaite (No Snake in This Grass)
Directed by: Pat Golden (ONAJE)
Casting Director: Katja Zarolinski CSA
Production Stage Manager: Kai Stanton*
General Management: Sharon Fallon Productions
Producer: Sounds of the City Music & Mario Sprouse
*all Actors and Stage Managers appear courtesy of Actors' Equity Association
SPECIAL DEDICATION TO GORDON PARKS ... "Without his encouragement I never would have started this journey." Mary Miller
WITNESS NY Foundation for the Arts City Corp Grant
- NEW YORK FOUNDATION FOR THE ARTS CITY CORP GRANT Recipient 2021
- ARTS MINISTRY MARBLE COLLEGIATE CHURCH PRESENTATION New York City, NY. Directed Pat Golden
PEOPLE ARE TALKING ...
"Congratulations on a brilliant play!"
ARTS MINISTRY MARBLE COLLEGIATE CHURCH, NEW YORK CITY, NY
"On Thursday, October 28, 2021 at the Historic Marble Collegiate Church in New York City there was a staged reading of this powerful and timely play WITNESS written by Mary Miller. It was directed by Pat Golden and sponsored by The Theatre Upstairs - Downstairs at Marble. WITNESS is an important and necessary play in this era of divisiveness. Mary Miller's narrative technique is genius and something I will never forget."
Arts Ministry at Marble Collegiate Church
Picture Credit: Douglas Powers
WITNESS Eugene O'Neill National Playwrights Conference
EUGENE O'NEILL PLAYWRIGHTS CONFERENCE 2020 Semifinalist
PEOPLE ARE TALKING ...
In April 2020 Mary Miller's play WITNESS was honored as a semifinalist in the Eugene O'Neill National Playwrights Conference, where her voice as a writer was given a "full-throated endorsement" by the O'Neill committee and her ideas recognized as "vital to the continual evolution of American Theater."
Wendy C. Goldberg - Artistic Director
Lexy Leuszler - Literary Manager
United Solo Fall 2023 Festival & Theatre Row NYC Presents
"Things I Learned in Isolation" Winner Best Storytelling Show
"There is an excitement in seeing a one-person show. There's a tension that you have as an audience member, how are they going to keep my attention for all that time? And when they do, I think it's very exciting. You come away from it with the feeling that they've really accomplished something!" Adam Feldman: Theater Critic - Time Out New York - CUNY TV
Direct from NYC Theatre Row Off-Broadway and winner of the BEST STORYTELLING SHOW in the United Solo Theatre Fall 2023 Festival, THINGS I LEARNED IN ISOLATION is an insightful comedy on life in isolation during the coronavirus pandemic from March 18 - June 11, 2020.
This one person show is a hilarious, heartfelt, and true account of Mary's experiences when she (along with the rest of the world) were put into isolation due to the coronavirus pandemic. During that time, no one knew how long it would last. How many people would get sick. Or how our lives would be affected. So, Mary decided to document what happened to her as a way to make sense of her feelings and connect with others by sharing it all on Facebook. Including discovering that she does use more toilet paper than she thought, wrestling with the complications of putting her mother in a nursing home, searching for a lizard that escaped in her living room, and learning that the place where she lives is not a safe place for everyone who lives there in the wake of the death of Ahmaud Arbery.
Written and performed by Mary Miller, it’s a 45-minute one-woman show, staged as a lecture, where the audience serve as guests to a very enthusiastic narrator!!
PEOPLE ARE TALKING...
"We all loved your show! It was refreshing and funny and thoroughly enjoyable. We hope to see you again on our stage soon! Congratulations on your wonderful work!" Wendy-Lane Bailey Assistant Artistic Director United Solo The World's Largest Solo Theatre Festival, NYC, NY
"We loved having you and your show was fantastic! Very deserving of the award BEST STORYTELLING SHOW." Shane Mathews Technical Director United Solo The World's Largest Solo Theatre Festival, NYC, NY
"On Thursday, October 19th, I saw my dear friend Mary Miller, a dear friend and comrade from my “All My Children” days, perform her excellent and insightful one-woman play “Things I Learned in Isolation” for the United Solo Fall 2023 Festival at Theatre Row in Manhattan. Mary is truly a very gifted playwright and a fantastic actress. Her play was so funny and at the same time, touching, and her performance was so real and honest that I am sure that Mary will be back in the Big Apple very soon with another play written and acted by her. She was simply incredible. Brava Mary!" Richard Holbrook: Twenty Plus Three in 2023 - 54 Below, NYC, NY
"Mary, love your solo play and you did such a great job of telling your story with humor, wit, and grace." Pat Golden: Producer, Director, Writer and Award-Winning Casting Director NYC, NY
“You and your dramatic voice and finely-tuned, funny profundity are revelatory and a gift to NYC.” Dale McCausland – Co-Founder: Theatre Upstairs – downstairs @ marble church NYC, NY
“If you're as successful as you were with the Literary Guild, you'll be a smash hit!” Cary Knapp: Authors Talk Director, Literary Guild, St. Simons Island, GA
"I am writing to thank Mary Miller for her play, Things I Learned in Isolation. We certainly could relate to all the COVID references. However, for out-of-towners like myself, the ending was forever memorable." - Hubbard, TX Brunswick Actors Theatre, Brunswick, GA
"Things I Learned in Isolation" by Mary Miller - Official Trailer
"Things I Learned in Isolation" by Mary Miller - Clip: GROCERY SHOPPING
WELCOME TO MY HOME: #1 United Solo: Introduction (:30)
SIX WORDS OR LESS: #2 United Solo: Describe My Play (:29)
MAKING A DIFFERENCE: #3 United Solo: Why I Love Solo Theatre (:30)
COMPLETE VIDEO AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST
"Things I Learned in Isolation" Hollins 2024 Reunion
Straight from NYC the Award Winning Off Broadway Show "Things I Learned in Isolation"
Mary Miller's one-person show Things I Learned in Isolation, performed at Hollins University, documenting her experiences on life in isolation during the coronavirus pandemic, continues to delight and amaze audiences everywhere!
"The truly amazing thing about "Isolation" is that the coronavirus pandemic was something we all went through together in real time. Having the opportunity to relive this universally shared experience, through both laughter and tears, brings the audience to their feet in ways I never expected before." Mary Miller
Winner of the United Solo Theatre Fall 2023 Festival in New York City for BEST STORYTELLING SHOW. This insightful comedy written and performed by Mary Miller, is a 45-minute one-woman show, staged as a lecture, where the audience serve as guests to a very enthusiastic narrator!!
PEOPLE ARE TALKING...on Facebook!
- "It was wonderful!" - "Fabulous show! " - "You are a rock star!" - "We loved it!!" - "AMAZING! " - "Extraordinary!!!" - "BRAVO!!!" - "Congratulations!!"
- "You were great! Loved the play and how wonderfully you delivered it! I certainly recognized all of those 10 things, including the lizard. Bravo! I'm envious of your talent!"
-"Mary, your one woman show was so poignant and funny and relatable to all of us. I loved you washing your hands, going to get toilet paper, and befriending the little lizard. And the story of your mother, I had tears in my eyes. I loved all of it."
-"Just wanted you to know that I hear you singing Happy Birthday every time I wash my hands now!!"
Easy to produce, "Things I Learned in Isolation" is the perfect show at 45 minutes for fundraising, social events, classrooms, schools, libraries, museums and theatres! The list goes on and on and on!!
In the Kitchen: Thoughts on Love, Sex & Aging
WINNER: NEW ENGLAND THEATRE CONFERENCE (NETC) JOHN GASSNER AWARD - BEST PLAY OF THE YEAR
At a time when modern medicine and improved lifestyles have raised our life expectancy, the question of what to do with an aging population is one of the fastest most pervasive problems we face if we are lucky enough to get old.
IN THE KITCHEN: Thoughts on Love, Sex, and Aging by Mary Miller is an insightful comedy that revolves around the lives of a mother and her three daughters, who are suddenly forced to navigate the pitfalls of old age when they discover their mother has left the gas stove burning all night.
Struggling with the challenges of day-to-day life complicated by childhood memories and an ever-growing fear of the future puts the women at odds with one another, sending them on a collision course that is as funny as it is touching.
Why the kitchen because life unfolds in the kitchen.
2023 FINALIST - SHAWNEE PLAYHOUSE ORIGINAL PLAY FESTIVAL
PEOPLE ARE TALKING ...
- "I really love this one! It kind of gave me a Little Women vibes, which is a book very close to my heart."
-"The writing was done so well and the content touched on a very real emotional topic with appropriate humor."
- "I loved the multi-media idea."
-"Real. Believable. Funny."
-"I loved the dynamics of the family here, very relatable."
Audience Feedback
Midge McClosky: Executive Director Shawnee Playhouse
SEE FEATURED PLAYS PAGE