Franco D'Alessandro's
SOLO ANNA
She was a woman of many names:
La Belva...Nannarella...La Lupa
Mamma Roma...La Magnani
But tonight, she is just...Anna
Adapted
from the internationally acclaimed play ROMAN NIGHTS comes this new 70 minute one-woman play that reveals many hidden
sides to the great actress, Anna Magnani. Inspired by her extraordinary life and career, which was at times as tumultuous
off screen as it was on screen, playwright Franco D'Alessandro has crafted a new work that explores the many dramatic, funny
and touching aspects of Magnani's illustrious career and fascinating life.
From her early, failed marriage to a director
to her fiery affair with actor Massimo Serato (who sired her only child, Luca) to her passionate four year relationship with
famed director Roberto Rossellini through her final parade of younger lovers, Anna Magnani battled to be equal in all aspects
of her life -in the bedroom, on the stage and at the box-office. Arguably, one of her greatest battles was raising her
son (who suffered from polio as a child) as a single mother in Catholic Italy, and fighting the courts to give him the last
name "Magnani." Whether demanding equal pay as her male lead in Rossellini's "Open City" or
battling for top billing over Marlon Brando in Europe everything in this Oscar® winner's life was a battle. Most
of all, she fought to stay true to herself and her art, which were inextricable because Magnani the actress was Anna the woman.
D'Alessandro's
ROMAN NIGHTS (which examines the relationship between Tennessee Williams and Anna Magnani) has been translated into
six languages and produced or performed in seven countries. After running New York City and London, the play is currently
in its 6th sold-out year in Eastern Europe based in Prague, Czech Republic and it just recently opened in Buenos
Aires, Argentina where it will run and eventually tour Chile for the next two years.
Acclaimed New York and Los
Angeles stage director EVA MINEMAR directs award-winning actress LIDIA VITALE ("The Best of Youth" and "L'Amore
Proibito" ) in her American theatrical debut.
SOLO ANNA was work-shopped in November 2011 in Los Angeles
and premiered for sold-out one night show at the Italian Cultural Institute of Los Angeles!
In May 2012 it had a
command performance in Rome, Italy... SOLO ANNA will soon have a full production and tour in 2012-2013!
