Joe Gulla Brings DADDY to Joe's Pub This Month

Playwright/actor Joe Gulla's "DADDY" will play Joe's Pub at The Public Theater on Monday, October 29th.

Written and performed by Gulla, "DADDY" is the winner of Theatre Row's United Solo Award for Best Comedy and Most Popular Show. "DADDY" is the final chapter of Gulla's multi-award-winning, "Bronx Queen Trilogy".

The playwright emphasizes, "You need not have seen the first two chapters of the "Bronx Queen Trilogy" to enjoy "DADDY". Not at all! All of my monologues are self-contained and can be experienced on their own. Sure, if you've seen the others, you'd be more familiar with "the world" of my work. And by "the world", I mean the maniac Italian neighborhood I grew up in... surrounded by my maniac family, friends and neighbors! Ha!"

What can we expect from "DADDY"?

"Well, DADDY" follows the same format of my other monologues. It's a 'purist' approach. The set-up is an homage to the legendary monologuist, Spalding Gray. I sit at a desk with black binder and water bottle at the ready. I am a pretty animated person in real life. It has been a cool exercise for me... getting to the root of simple storytelling. No bells. No whistles.

I see it this way: 'The Bronx Queen' was my 'coming of age' monologue. 'FAGGY at 50' was my 'getting to a certain age' monologue. 'DADDY'... well, 'DADDY' is my 'coming to terms' monologue. Believe me, I really go there!"

Gulla's "Daddy" chronicles the playwright/actor's life from his early twenties living in Manhattan to his years living in Ibiza, Spain and Rome, Italy. As always, Joe weaves in stories from his days growing up as a gay Bronx Italian.

"Most family's lives are punctuated by special events, birthdays and anniversaries. As an Italian-American growing up in the Bronx, our lives were built around Ronzoni Pasta numerics. Wednesday was Ronzoni Vermicelli, Number 10. Sundays were Ronzoni Rigatoni, Number 27. The numbers mattered! God forbid, I brought home the wrong number when I was sent to our local Italian grocer! It would create family hysteria!

Final comment about the show?

"Definitely! Put it this way... I can pretty much guarantee that if you see 'DADDY', you'll never think of Tropicana Frozen Juice Concentrate the same way again! Ha! I'm not joking here!"

What's next for Joe Gulla? "Some great stuff! A film of my play, "Sleeping With The Fish" is in the works and New York's Village Playwrights will be hosting a reading of the full-length version of my short play, "Reel Wood", this November!"

"DADDY" will be performed at Joe's Pub on Monday, October 29th at 9:30. Tickets are $20.00 and available at The Public's Box Office (425 Lafayette, NYC). For more information, visit www.JoeGulla.comor https://bit.ly/2R73Kj4.

Photo Credit: Stephen Mihalchik