Mary Jo Mecca Joins THE HOUSE OF NUNZIO Staged Reading Cast

Veteran actress Mary Jo Mecca (LITTLE HOUSE... at The Guthrie; Jerry Herman's SHOWTUNE at the Pasadena Playhouse) joins the cast of the staged reading of Patrick Riviere's play, THE HOUSE OF NUNZIO, which will be presented on April 27th at 7pm and April 28th at 2pm at The Davenport Mainstage Theatre in New York City directed by award winning director Stephen Nachamie.

Ms. Mecca will be playing Mrs. Monacelli. As previously announced, Marc Tumminelli (GYPSY with Patti LuPone) as Anthony, Richie Portela as Tommy and Lawrence Cioppa as Nunzio. Casting is by Jamibeth Margolis, CSA. Stage Manager, Bernita Robinson. All of the actors and Ms. Robinson are members of Actors' Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers.

The play was named a semi-finalist for both the Twenty-Sixth Annual Mildred and Albert Panowski Playwriting Award and the 2003 Mill Mountain Theatre New Play Competition. Oscar nominated and Emmy winning writer Joseph Bologna (LOVERS AND OTHER STRANGERS) recently mentored Riviere on a series of rewrites.

THE HOUSE OF NUNZIO is a humorous drama about an extended Italian family struggling to deal with generational differences and secrets. The play confronts the issue of homosexuality and prejudice from the family perspective.