BLOOD TYPE: RAGU Officially Opens 3/5 At Actors' Playhouse

Flying Machine Productions presents the Off-Broadway premiere of BLOOD TYPE: RAGU, a new play written and performed by Frank Ingrasciotta. Preview perfomances began February 20th with the official Opening Night on Thursday, March 5th at 7:30 p.m. at the newly restored Actors' Playhouse (100 Seventh Avenue South).

Directed by Ted Sod, Blood Type: RAGU is a hilarious and poignant exploration of the Sicilian immigrant experience based on The Life of writer/performer Frank Ingrasciotta. This one-man-show features more than 20 characters, who live, love and laugh as they struggle to thrive in a new culture, while nurturing the traditions of the old. It's not drama . . . it's just family! And we all have one.

You don't have to be Italian to enjoy Blood Type: RAGU. Its universal themes have delighted audiences around the country. The play's twice-extended four-month run at the Belmont Playhouse broke records, becoming one of the longest running shows in the theatre's ten-year history. The show has also been performed at Dixon Place, HERE, Manhattan Theatre Source, Ensemble Studio Theatre (as part of its Octoberfest), Manhattan Repertory, Authors Playhouse, George Street Playhouse, Westchester Music Conservatory, Riverspace Arts (Nyack), Metropolis Port Theater Company (Atlanta, GA) as well as Westchester Community College, CUNY Lehman College, SUNY Stony Brook. Blood Type: RAGU was recently featured in Prof. Fred Gardaphe's book From Wiseguys to Wise Men.

Frank Ingrasciotta began his career in his teens serving as stage manager for the original Off-Broadway production of Godspell. His New York stage credits include Valley of the Dolls, Three Postcards, Dinner at 8, Edgar Degas in The Girl in the Blue Armchair, and Pharaoh in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. TV credits include recurring roles on "Guiding Light," "One Life to Live" and "The Equalizer." He has directed cabarets, corporate shows and productions regionally and in NYC including Neil Berg's musical The Life & Times of Fiona Gander, A Day in Hollywood, The Prince and the Pauper, Grease, Chicago, Sondheim Tonight, Once on This Island, and Fascinating Gershwin. For the NYC Fire Department, he directed and choreographed firefighters in a benefit production of Guys and Dolls, raising over $20,000 for the New York Burn Center.

The playing schedule for Blood Type: RAGU is Wednesday at 2 PM & 7:30 PM, Thursday at 7:30PM, Friday at 8 PM, Saturday at 2 PM & 8 PM, and Sunday at 2 PM & 6 PM. Tickets are $47.50 on Wednesday & Thursday and $52.50 on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and are available at Smarttix.com or by phone at 212-868-4444. The historic Actors' Playhouse is located at 100 Seventh Avenue South at Sheridan Square, in the heart of Greenwich Village. For more information visit www.BloodTypeRagu.com.