Mangia!
Well written, constructed, beautifully played. Ron Bloomberg Writer, All in the Family
Santa Fe, NM (PRWEB) May 08, 2017
"There is nothing to hide behind. ALL of it is me. On a platter." And that is just what you get. A full platter of Debrianna Mansini and her Italian immigrant family - their love and dysfunction wrapped in a superb recipe for meatballs.
May 2016 launched a lifetime project that is the overnight success of Mansini and her Meatball Chronicles. Mansini has worked twice with Oscar winner Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart and currently in the Oscar nominated Hell or High Water. She appears in several episodes of Better Call Saul, reprising her role as Fran, the waitress from Breaking Bad. She is the voice of Georgia O'Keeffe in the upcoming PBS special "Awakening in Taos," a documentary about the great Mabel Dodge Luhan, narrated by Ali MacGraw.
Accomplished as she is in her life as an actor on stage and film, she says nothing is quite the experience of a solo show. "Even though the story is personal, I think everyone can relate to some part of it- the familial relationships that struggle through immigration, mental illness and love. I personally see everything through the lens of food - as I say in the show, it's where we celebrated our joys and hide our sadness; all of it is told through my recipe for a meatball everyone wants to eat at the end."
Whether a film or theater aficionado, people seem to be affected by this extremely personal yet very relatable story. Peter Kershaw, award winning writer, director at Duchy Parade Films, was deeply moved. " It was so special. So powerful. So well written. So well acted. So tight. She just went all out and gave such a beautiful piece of art. It wasn't a matter of, if you'd have me crying but more a matter of, if I could stop when the lights went up. It is a rare thing and beautiful to witness."
Mansini has bookings from Maine to Alaska, working with restaurants in each city. She calls it a twist on dinner theater. "The chef's I've collaborated with are moved by their own memories and family, to what inspired them to be the food artist they are now- usually it began with a gramma or mom in the kitchen." Each one creates their own special bite. The idea is for the audience member to go and experience the fare anytime during the run of the show, allowing for a cross tasting of both artists.
Go and have your culinary adventure and see some fantastic theater. You will have the best of both worlds. One theater goer said it best. "Treat yourself to "The Meatball Chronicles!" You'll leave with an inspiration to rise above your troubled past or present, and an insatiable hunger for Italian food!"
All MBC performance dates can be found on Mansini's website. Next up- Las Cruces, NM at the No Strings Theater April 21- 23 http://www.no-strings.org/. The Chronicles will be in Portland at The St. Lawrence Arts Center, The Last Frontier Theater Conference, and in the FringeArts in Philadelphia, with more cites coming soon.
