Micci, Ronald, Ronald (American playwright, advertising proofreader,
editor, 1948-____), “Parasites of Ol’ Broadway,”
a 15-minute comedy/melodrama in English, set in an
alleyway on Lower Broadway, October, 1997,
2m1f
;
© 1997; • script/rights available
from Ronald Micci, scripts and rights available from Ronald
Micci, 75 Vreeland Avenue, Rutherford, New Jersey 07070, U.S.A., phone
(home) 201-438-3267, (work) 212-297-7290, e-mail RVMicci@comcast.net.
• Cited by Ronald Micci via ftp, October 22, 1997, and December
12, 1997; Micci says,
§ Dramatis Personae Billie
(m), vender; Hal (m), visitor; Felicia (f), lady.
§ Synopsis “Hal enters dressed
in tux and topcoat, lights a cigarette, stakes out his position against
lamppost. Billie enters hawking cigarettes out of concession tray, relates
to visitor Hal the story of his downfall from Broadway stardom as a result
of contracting multiple drug-resistant TB. Hal reveals he’s expecting someone,
a girl, and further says he wants to act as Billie’s agent and resurrect
his career. Hal wants to team him with a girl and plans to take their show
on the road. Billie’s skeptical, of course, but Hal insists there are big
audiences for ‘life’s losers.’ Hal summons the beautiful (though vacant)
Felicia onstage, and urges Billie to introduce himself to her. Felicia,
with whom Billie is immediately taken, turns out to be deaf and dumb. Billie’s
asking—why would people want to see her with me? But Hal reassures him,
and encourages them to enact a love scene together. They stage a love scene
as practice for the show, whereupon Felicia surprises Billie by being able
to talk. She passionately responds to his overtures, demanding he sweep
her off her feet and carry her away. Billie carries her off in grand fashion,
as Hal says—‘Curtain.’”
§ Comment [November 17, 1998]
“This was done as part of Playwrights Express this April [1998] at First
Stage and enthusiastically received. I've subsequently expanded it
slightly from its original length.”
Addendum 020312: “Parasites of Ol’ Broadway
(2m1f) (15 min.)
In an alleyway on lower Broadway, a would-be impresario
seeks out a
washed-up, tubercular Broadway star and tries to resurrect
his career
by matching him with a pretty, deaf mute ingenue.”
§ Themes acting, agent, Broadway, career, cigarettes, concession, deaf mute, downfall, first encounter, matchmaking, sales, stardom, team, touring, tuberculosis.
See also Ron Micci’s:
-
“Addie and Me,”
a melodrama, set in the bedroom of Melanie, a teenage girl, night, 2000,
1f
-
“Attack of the
Radar People,” a 15-minute radio farce, set in an old-time radio broadcast
studio, 1950s, 2m1f (or 3m1f)
-
“Biff Bang, American
Hero,” a 10-minute comedy spoof of radio cliffhangers in English, set
in the cockpit of Biff’s fighter bomber, 1998, 2m1f
-
“Dark Snow,” a
10-minute melodramatic monologue in English set in the parlor of Aunt Lida’s
home in the New York woods, 1997, 1f [see items below for 2f versions]
-
“Dark Snow,” a
5-minute melodrama in English set in the parlor of Aunt Lida’s home in
the New York woods, 1997, 2f [see above for 1f version]
-
“Dark Snow, Evening,”
a 10-minute melodrama in English set in the parlor of Aunt Lida’s home
in the New York woods, 1997, 2f [see above for 1f version]
-
“Dark Snow, Morning,”
a 10-minute melodrama in English set in the parlor of Aunt Lida’s home
in the New York woods, 1997, 2f [see above for 1f version]
-
“Dark Snow,” definitive
version, a 20-minute melodrama in English set in the parlor of Aunt Lida’s
home in the New York woods, 1997, 2f [see above for 1f version]
-
“Dink Fast, Harry!” a 10-minute detective
comedy-melodrama in English, set in Harry Dinker’s dumpy office, daytime,
1998, 2m1f
-
“Director's Cut,”
a 7-minute film noir, set on a Hollywood set, 1940s, 2m
-
“Flying Medusas,” a 10-minute contemporary
farce in English, set in the theater of the absurd, at no specified time,
1m1f
-
“The Grackle,” a 10-minute radio melodrama-farce
in English, set in a radio broadcast studio, 1930s, 2m1f (but could be
played with any combo of m/f)
-
“Happy Endings,”
a 15-minute comedy-fantasy in English, set in
the living-room of Cornweevil homestead in Midwest, 1996, 2m1f
-
“Harry Dinker,
Private Eye,”a 10-minute detective parody in English, set in Harry
Dinker’s office in the “downtown section of a grimy city nobody has any
use for,” afternoon, 1998,1m1f or 2m
-
“Heat Lightning,” a 15-minute comedy-melodrama
in English, set in the downstairs parlor of a broken-down Southern
mansion, on a stormy night, May, 2001, 1m1f
-
“Herman,” a 10
minute comedy in English, 1m3f
-
“High Concept Harry,”
a 20-minute dark comedy in English, set in Harry Fleck’s literary/talent
office in Hollywood, afternoon, 2000, 2m
-
“I, Dadius,” a
15-minute comedy-drama in English, set in the living room of a cozy suburban
home, winter, 2000, 1m
-
“I Sing to You
of Robin Hood,” a 15-minute comedy in English, set in a tavern in Nottingham,
12th century, 3m1f
-
“Kid Valium,”
a 15-minute comedy in English, set in a big city gymnasium, the day of
the big title fight, 2000, 3m1f
-
“Love’s Cousin
in the Carolinas,” a 13-minute romantic comedy in English, set at a
park bench in the suburbanNortheast, U.S.A., a Saturday afternoon in late
summer, 1998, 1m1f
-
“Moonlight’s Little Madness,” a 40-minute
drawing room farce in English set in the parlor of the Prescott country
estate, England, a spring evening during the Victorian Era, 2m
-
“Mr. Gilkey’s Flagpole,”
a 15-minute comedy in English, set on the lawn of Mr. Gilkey's home in
England, afternoon, 1998, 1m2f
-
“November,” a
15-minute tragedy in English in two scenes, set (1) in the downstairs of
a house on a lake in the Northeastern United States and (2) on the lake,
a November afternoon, 2000, 1m1f
-
“A Public Service
Announcement,” a bare-stage 5-minute contemporary surrealist farce
in English, set in an abstract area, daytime,
2001, 1m1f
-
“Rough Cut,”a 10-minute
comedy/melodrama in English, set in a men's haircutting salon (barber shop)
in Beverly Hills, October, 1997, 3m
-
“Tea Cozy,”a 12-minute
melodrama, in English, set in The living room of a suburban home, midday,
1998, 2f
-
“Thank You, Charlie
Chan,” a 10-minute crime melodrama. set in a hotel room in midtown
Manhattan, night, 1930s, 3m
-
“Thebes Like Us,”
a 10-minute spy parody in English set in a cafe on the Nile, 1996, 2m1f
-
“Thin Laughter in Heaven,” a 10-minute bare-stage
melodrama in English, set on a cliff overlooking a lake, May, 2001, 1m
-
“Tragic &
Trapped in Teaneck,” a 13-minute comic melodrama in English, set in
the parlor of a home in Teaneck,New Jersey, U.S.A., afternoon, turn of
the last century, 2m1f
-
“Wild About Harry!” a 15-minute detective
farce in English, set in a sleazy gin joint; later, Harry’s apartment,
night, 2001, 2m1f
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