The Playbill Gallery
(a love story)

Mile Square Theatre premieres our first Podcast play, written and performed by MST playwright-in-residence Joseph Gallo.

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 our resident designer Michael Blaskewicz, with the help of 16 additional voices.

With our theatrical spaces shuttered, this bittersweet homage to a lifetime of theatre-going taps into the current longing that every theatre-goer and every theatre-maker is experiencing.

The Playbill Gallery (a love story) could not arrive at a more critical time!

Credits

Writer and Performer: Joseph Gallo
Sound and Visual Design: Michael Blaskewicz
Producers: Chris O’Connor and Andrew Baldwin
Consulting Producer: Kimberly D. Sumpter
Guitar and Score: Taylor Van Cleave
Drums: Eddie Del Gaudio

Additional Voices: Todd Abramson, Andrew Baldwin, Stu Chirichella, John Faucher, Jill and Ken Friedland, Olivia Gallo, Gabriel Hernandez, Kate Jacobs, Joe Jones, Annie McAdams, Chris O’Connor, Willa O’Connor, Maja Wampuszyc, David Wandelt, and Maurizio Zoino.

This event is part of the New Jersey Theatre Alliance 2021 Stages Festival, 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; and The Horizon Foundation for New Jersey. Additional sponsors include Ocean First Foundation; the George A. Ohl, Jr. Trust; New Jersey Historical Commission, and Fund for the New Jersey Blind. njtheatrealliance.org/stages