![Mile Square Theatre presents "The Playbill Gallery (a love story)" As Part of Stages Festival](https://www.newjerseystage.com/events2021/MST-Feb17.jpg "Mile Square Theatre presents "The Playbill Gallery (a love story)" As Part of Stages Festival")
(HOBOKEN, NJ) -- Mile Square Theatre presents The Playbill Gallery (a love story), written and performed by MST playwright-in-residence Joseph Gallo. The audio play will debut as a podcast on Friday, March 5 for an open-ended run.
In February of 2020, Gallo’s compilation of more than 250 Playbills, made-up entirely of shows he had seen on Broadway and Off-Broadway, opened as part of an art exhibit held at the Benjamin J. Dineen, II and Dennis C. Hull Gallery in Jersey City. An accompanying solo play used the Playbills to collectively tell the story of a life in the theatre, and to highlight the unique journey that each live theatre experience brings. The Playbills, and additional performances by Gallo, were slated to be on display at MST in 2021. But because of these trying times, The Playbill Gallery (a love story) has been re-worked as a Podcast, featuring a sound score by MST’s resident designer Michael Blaskewicz, with the help of 16 additional voices.
This event is part of the New Jersey Theatre Alliance’s Stages Festival, the state’s largest annual theatre festival, which provides free and discounted theatre events for all ages throughout the months of March, April, and May. To receive a free link to this podcast please visit MST’s website starting on March 5.
As a solo writer/performer, Gallo appeared in the original production of My Italy Story at Penguin Rep, which later had its debut Off-Broadway at the 47th Street Theatre in New York. Other plays as writer/performer include Long Gone Daddy at Mile Square Theatre, Whizzy and The Jealousy Piece in the American Living Room Festival at HERE, and the National Tour of the Complete History of the Seabees (Abridged). A frequent participant at The Moth in New York City, he is a two-time StorySLAM champion.
“Joseph Gallo’s piece The Playbill Gallery (a love story) couldn’t come at a more critical time,” says Chris O’Connor, MST’s Artistic Director. “This bittersweet homage to a lifetime of theatre-going taps into the current longing that every theatre-goer and every theatre-maker is experiencing, as our theatrical spaces are shuttered. It is filled with passion and love and I think will help us all bridge this pandemic-induced theatre drought. Realizing it as an audio play will allow this tale to live solidly in our imaginations. The Playbill Gallery (a love story) will truly be a gift to our audience.”
The New Jersey Theatre Alliance 2021 Stages Festival is made possible by support from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts; Bank of America; The Horizon Foundation for New Jersey; OceanFirst Foundation; the George A. Ohl, Jr. Trust; New Jersey Historical Commission; and Fund for the New Jersey Blind.
A full calendar of events is available at www.njtheatrealliance.org/stages.
PHOTO: Joseph Gallo in The Playbill Gallery (a love story)
