Remembering Doug Rossi

New York City has lost one of the best friends to new play development the theatre had. After a difficult battle with cancer, actor Doug Rossi has passed away in his childhood home in Cleveland, Ohio.

I got to know Doug working on new plays at the Abingdon Theatre Company, but he actually trained as a classical actor, getting his MFA in acting working with the Alabama Shakespeare Festival. Over the years, he played the title role in Hamlet, Caliban in The Tempest, Orlando in As You Like It, Friar Lawrence in Romeo and Juliet, Orsino in Twelfth Night, Antonio in Much Ado About Nothing, and a host of other Shakespearean roles.

As an actor, Doug was always game for anything, which is what made him such an important figure in the development of new work. The number of new plays he worked on, in readings, workshops, and world premiere productions, helping authors to hone characters and originating new roles, is too numerous to name. Just a few of the plays Doug helped bring to light include Aliens with Extraordinary Skills by Saviana Stanescu, Carlett's Just Carlett by Kat Mustatea, Nell Dash by Doug DeVita, A Brandy Before Dying by Jim Farmer, and Evensong by Christina Quintana.

I had the pleasure of working with Doug in numerous incarnations of I Hate You! A Love Story, in which he acted in a two-hander opposite Sandra Maren Schneider. He also played numerous characters in the early readings of my adaptation of Moby-Dick. He played Tom in THE STATE OF COLORADO v. TENNESSEE WILLIAMS, my send up of The Glass Menagerie, which was fitting, since he had also played that role back in Ohio, winning a Best Actor Chanticleer Award for his performance. More recently, he appeared in a reading of Burns Night at Urban Stages, hilariously appearing on stage in a kilt.

For years, Doug came to monthly meetings of playwrights, first at the Abingdon, and then later with the 36th Street Writers Block. He volunteered his time doing cold reads of new work, and always gave valuable feedback. He took part in the very first table read that Joshua H. Cohen and I did of our musical Burned, and he was a familiar face to anyone who regularly attended readings of new plays. He also gave generously of his time to writers trying to produce their work at small festivals, including the Midtown International Theatre Festival, the Samuel French One-Act Festival, and the NYC Fringe. In 2011, he was named Best Featured Actor for his role in Duncan Pflaster's Sweeter Dreams at Planet Connections.

Doug also appeared on screen, most memorably with Maggie Gyllenhaal in The Deuce on HBO. It is for his stage work that I remember him, though, and as the loving husband of fellow actor Dianne Diep. It seems almost unbelievable that he isn't with us anymore. New York theatre has lost one of its most giving, hardest working, most insightful, brightest stars.

I Hate You Tomorrow!

Tomorrow, January 15th, is the staged reading of my new play I Hate You: A Love Story at 7:00 at IATI Theater, 64 E. 4th Street. Hope you can come!

The play follows the tumultuous relationship of two people who quickly discover they either are soul mates, or want to kill each other. Or quite possibly both. The opening scene of the piece was originally produced under the title The Rainbow and was first directed by Dev Bondarin.

Dev is directing this reading as well, and I am thrilled to be working with her once again. She is also the Artistic Director of Astoria Performing Arts Center where her credits include The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Astoria Stories, and Merrily We Roll Along.

The cast includes Doug Rossi and Sandra Maren Schneider. We're also lucky to have Vanna Richardson stage managing.

This reading is free and open to the public, so if you're available at 7:00 on Sunday, please join us!

I Hate You: A Love Story

Today's announcement has been in the works for a long time, but I am pleased to say that my play I Hate You: A Love Story will have its first staged reading at 7:00 on Sunday, January 15th.

The reading will be free and open to the public. It will be held at IATI Theater 64 E. 4th Street. Dev Bondarin will be directing, and the cast will include Doug Rossi and Sandra Maren Schneider.

Though the reading is not affiliated with IATI, I am happy to be using their space. I was previously a part of the theater's play development group Cimientos, and they produced the first reading of my adaptation of Moby-Dick.

Dev, as it so happens, directed that reading, which featured Doug. Sandra and I have worked together before as well, including on THE STATE OF COLORADO v. TENNESSEE WILLIAMS. That play went on to be published in Canyon Voices.

I Hate You: A Love Story follows the tumultuous relationship of two people who meet in New York and quickly discover that they either are soul mates, or want to kill each other. Or quite possibly both. The opening scene of the play was originally produced under the title The Rainbow and is published in The Best American Short Plays 2012-2013.

Please come if you can!

The Rainbow

I just received news that my short play The Rainbow will be included in The Best American Short Plays: 2012-2013, published by Applause. The Rainbow is actually the first scene of a full-length play, I Hate You: A Love Story, which has yet to be produced, but I have been developing it for a while.

Last year, Dev Bondarin directed a wonderful production of The Rainbow as part of the Turnip Theatre Company & American Globe Theatre's 18th Annual Fifteen Minute Play Festival in New York City. We had a wonderful cast, with Christopher Kloko as Jack and Kathryn Holtkamp as Meg.

Other scenes from the full-length play have been presented elsewhere. The second scene of the piece, Reflection, was produced by Lightyear last fall as part of their evening Smitten & Bitten directed by Syeus Mottel at the Gene Frankel Theatre. That had Emily Duncan as Meg and Kyle Despiegler as Jack. The third scene was done in a slightly different version called Nothing as a part of a Benefit Challenge Series done by the Abingdon Theatre Company. This was a staged reading directed by Amanda Kate Joshi with Ryan Barker as Jack and Debby Brand as Meg.

Another scene, Home, had a staged reading in Philadelphia by Philly's Primary Stages last year right before Thanksgiving. Bernard Glincosky directed, with Megan Eckley as Meg and Jack Buckley as Jack. This year, Golden Fleece did a reading of the beginning of the second act with Doug Rossi as Jack and Sandra Maren Schneider as Meg.

Sensing a trend here? This is a show that's had a lot of development and is ready to be fully staged. Dev and I have been working on this piece since that production at the American Globe Theatre, and we hope to get the full-length play produced sometime next year. Stay tuned!

More Breaking News!

My new play I Hate You! A Love Story will have its first reading this Saturday, February 23rd, at 2:00. The reading will be presented by the Abingdon Theatre Company in their June Havoc Theatre, 312 W. 36th Street in Manhattan.

Dev Bondarin is directing the reading, which features two magnificent actors, Douglas Rossi and Sandra Maren Schneider. The reading is free, so come by and check it out!

When Meg and Jack meet for the first time, the signs look bad. Then something truly terrible happens: They fall in love. I Hate You! A Love Story follows the tumultuous relationship of two people who either are soul mates, or want to kill each other. Or quite possibly both.