Name: Adriana DeGirolamiHometown: Chicago
Education: NYU Tisch School of the Arts (Atlantic Theater School, Stonestreet Studios)
Select Credits: May 21st - Judgment Day (The Kraine); Ephemerama (Gene Frankel Theatre - Planet Connections Theatre Festivity); The Murder Party (Manhattan Repertory Theatre)
Why theater?: Solidarity. Despite our growing compulsion to assert our differences, ultimately we are all human beings with a vast understanding and ability to appreciate one another's experiences, even if they are not our own. In the theater you can find some of the greatest artistic expressions of this truth. To empathize with the characters on stage is thrilling for me, both as an actor and audience member.
Tell us about The More Loving One: On the surface, it appears to be a story about "relationships"; one straight, one gay and the challenges therein. But as you dig deeper you realize it's actually a story about the experience of being in a relationship. By which I mean it's about the most vulnerable, unspoken truth about the interaction between two people who are intimately intertwined with one another. All set against the backdrop of society's preconceived judgments and interpretations of love, lust and marriage. I can best describe the writing by saying it's as if Edward Albee and Woody Allen had a baby and named it Aaron Sorkin. Yes, it's that good. And Cory Conely proves to be that promising. Overall, I think the most unique thing about this comic drama is its ability to keep you on the verge of laughter and even tears at any given moment, both for the performers as well as the audience. I think that's a testament to how accurately it depicts the experience of being in a relationship with someone you love as deeply as these characters love each other.
What is it like to be a part of The More Loving One?: Nothing short of a blessing. I knew from the very first rehearsal that we had an exceptionally ambitious and passionate group of people who were all equally excited to bring this particular story to life. And I think the audience can feel that throughout each performance. We have employed a tremendous amount of care into the development of our characters and the bonds between them. Our director, Craig Baldwin, has been instrumental in helping us meticulously shape their specific relationships. The authenticity and candor is found in the specificity of their interactions, without which you are in danger of an overly cliched depiction of this play that the audience wouldn't have been able to relate to.
What kind of theater speaks to you? What or who inspires you as artists?: When you are watching theater you are experiencing someone, right in front of you, go through something that you may or may not personally identify with. What speaks to me the loudest, I suppose, is theater that I can very much identify with personally, that makes me feel - for a moment or for a couple of hours - that I am connected to a person or the people on stage and I understand them. I see myself in them and them in me. Because they are right there. What is happening is real, I can see it. And feel it. And I love that. Everyone enjoys being entertained. What speaks to me most is that which also moves me to think about my own life, my own thoughts and feelings and experiences. It reminds me that we're all a lot more alike than we are different. And I can't think of anything more inspiring than that delicate thread that ties us all on a fundamentally human level.
Any roles you’re dying to play?: I would happily play Tracy Lord (or C.K Dexter Haven) in The Philadelphia Story. Carol in Oleanna. Anyone in anything Neil LaBute. In about a solid decade I'll play Belle in Rocket to the Moon and May in Fool for Love. And one day either Guillermo Del Toro or Christopher Nolan is going to make a gritty version of Aladdin and I am going to play Jasmine. And it's going to be amazing.
If you could work with anyone you’ve yet to work with, who would it be?: I think this is a question better posed to people like, say, Meryl Streep or Kevin Bacon who may or may not have someone they still have "yet to work with." Needless to say, the list is extensive and I look forward to watching it shrink.
Who would play you in a movie about yourself and what would it be called?: Depends on the genre..
Comedy: Mila Kunis in "How do you pronounce your name?"
Rom-Com: Minka Kelly in "Don't be that girl".
Drama: Emmanuelle Chriqui in "I have lived for a while" (starring Alfred Molina as my father).
Action: Jordana Brewster in "Chi-Town, NY".
Foreign: Paz Vega in "Los plebes" (starring Ana Claudia Talancon as my sister).
Sci-Fi: Sigourney Weaver in "Aliens". Wait…
What show have you recommended to your friends?: One of the best shows I've seen in a long time closed right before previews were over. It was called Jump. It was a martial arts-meets-clowning Korean extravaganza. It was incredible. And it was gone in the blink of an eye. Alas…
What’s up next?: Working with The Shelby Company in their monthly sketch theater series, Ephemerama.
For more information on Adriana, The More Loving One, and the Shelby Company, please visit, http://www.adrianadegirolami.com/, http://www.themorelovingone.com/, and http://www.shelbycompany.org/
