Love or Death? at Don't Tell Mama

"Love Or Death?"

Bruno Giraldi

with JOHN BOWEN on the piano

Acting Coach, CHRISTOPHER TRAMANTANA

“Love or Death?” is a Socratic experience in which love and death will either be foes or allies through the thoughts of Karl Marx, Jacques Derrida, Friedrich Nietzsche, André Comte-Sponville, Martin Heidegger, Plato, Miguel de Unamuno, Emile Cioran, Jorge Luis Borges Sigmund Freud. This show is an invitation to put ourselves in doubt to verify if it is true that all we know is that we know nothing or if we actually know too much. This piece is musicalized with songs such as "The Rose", "Bring on the Men", "Tears in Heaven", "Somebody to Love", "Cabaret", "I Have Nothing" and "My Heart Will Go-On", among many others.

Reel: https://youtu.be/UYfkpjmnmXU

Bruno Giraldi was born on October 28th of 1987 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

In Argentina, Bruno's mentor has been Norman Briski, but he has also been trained by Betiana Blum and by working with Nacha Guevara, while in the U.S. he has been mainly trained at HB Studio by Mercedes Ruehl, David Deblinger, Michael Beckett, Christopher Tramontana, Theresa McElwee, John Bowen, among many others. He has also trained the T. Schreiber Studio with Peter Jensen, Page Clements and Tommy Buck, and with Deborah Hedwall. His coaches have been Suzanne Sheperd, Rob McCaskill and Jane Ives.

Some major roles Giraldi has interpreted on the stage were Richard III in "RIIICHARD" in 2020, Vladimir in "Waiting for Godot" in 2012, The Son in "Six Characters in Search of an author" in 2016, Filipo in "Filipo" in 2017, among many others, like his own cabaret shows such as "This is Bruno", "#getmeouttahere", "Encadenado" and more. Earlier this year he could be seen in “Telenovela Nights”. Bruno has been doing his cabaret show “Love or Death?” since 2025.

In film and tv, Giraldi has played Jual Palmisano in "Presumed Innocent", David in "Singleville", Andy in "Devil on the Web" and Raoul Santiago in "A Good Cop". Bruno can now be seen in the series “A Dangerous Desire for Mr. Shelby ” and Mitski’s music video “Where’s my Phone?”

John Bowen is a musical director/keyboard player nationally and in the NYC area. Productions include: CURTAINS (Theatre Under the Stars, Houston); Broadway: IN MY LIFE (Music Box Theatre); FOSSE; THE SOUND OF MUSIC, CURTAINS, HAIRSPRAY, PETER PAN, ON THE TOWN, 1776, OKLAHOMA, FUNNY GIRL, GREASE and PIRATES (Papermill Playhouse); SMOKEY JOE’S CAFE, NUNSENSATIONS, 8-TRACK SOUNDS OF THE 70’s (Downtown Cabaret Theatre); NUNSENSE A-MEN (47th Street Theatre); and WHITE CHRISTMAS, KISS ME KATE, FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, HAIRSPRAY, MY FAIR LADY, SINGING IN THE RAIN, NINE, A CHRISTMAS CAROL, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS, GYPSY, AIDA, ANYTHING GOES (Westchester Broadway Theatre). Off Broadway/Regional: OLIVER, CRAZY FOR YOU, SWEET CHARITY, EVITA, SOUND OF MUSIC, and many others. Recent National and New York City Productions: WEST SIDE STORY, SOUTH PACIFIC, SHOWBOAT. National/tours: ANNIE (Fox Theatre-Atlanta), CHICAGO, THE WHO’S TOMMY, and GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES, THE 25th ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE, SEUSSICAL, YOU’RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN, FIDDLER ON THE ROOF. Recent Classical Recitals at WEILL RECITAL/CARNEGIE HALL, SYMPHONY SPACE, MINSKY RECITAL HALL, MAPLE GROVE CONCERT SERIES and SCORCA HALL AT OPERA AMERICA.

Tramantana is an actor, director, writer, and educator. A proud member of Actors’ Equity Association and SAG-AFTRA, he works professionally in theatre, film, and television. He was a founding member of The Commedia Company, a NYC based company devoted to reimagining and updating performances in the Commedia dell’arte tradition. He is also a founding member of the WüfPak, a NYC based comedy ensemble dedicated to creating funny shows with it roots in the Clown/Commedia tradition.

Tramantana currently teaches Clown at NYU Tisch School of the Arts. He has also taught Clown, Commedia dell’arte, Games, Play, and Acting at Rider University, The Graduate Acting Program at University of Tennessee in Knoxville, HB Studio, Chautauqua Theater Company, Tom Todoroff Studio, Completely Ridiculous Conservatory, and more. Some Clown masters he has studied with are Jane Nichols, Aitor Basauri, David Shiner, Emmanuelle Delpech, Norman Taylor, and Jim Calder; head of Movement for The NYU Tisch graduate acting program. He trained extensively in Clown and Commedia dell’arte with Christopher Bayes; master teacher of Clown and head of Physical Acting at The Geffen School of Drama at Yale (formerly Yale School of Drama), before being personally invited to study under him as his teaching apprentice. Tramantana assisted Bayes at the Yale School of Drama, The Juilliard School, and The Funny School of Good Acting(now called Pandemonium Studios), and is one of a small number of teachers Bayes has individually mentored.

Directing credits include A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Metamorphoses, Our Town, You Can’t Take It with You, Antigone, Sweeney Todd, and Into the Woods.

BA Fordham University, Lincoln Center. MFA University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

Reviews:

"Bruno Giraldi has one of the most fascinating minds I’ve ever seen splayed out on a stage." (Scott Barbarino, NiteLife Exchange)

Full review: Bruno Giraldi's "Love or Death" at Don't Tell Mama Was Mesmerizing -

Bruno Giraldi's "Love or Death" at Don't Tell Mama Was Mesmerizing -

Marilyn Lester

By Scott Barbarino***The human mind is a fascinating thing and Bruno Giraldi has one of the most fascinating min...

"Mr. Giraldi’s own personal creative touches make it all so unique." (Jed Ryan, Lavender After Dark)

Full review: Bruno Giraldi: LOVE OR DEATH? at Don’t Tell Mama: A Review – LAVENDER AFTER DARK (because life begins when the sun goes down…)

Bruno Giraldi: LOVE OR DEATH? at Don’t Tell Mama: A Review

“I think that love is death. Or at least, love and death are scrambled in my mind…” With the titillating ti...

"Giraldi is an exciting personality who definitely connected with his audience, and he has a strong way with a lyric." (Bart Greenberg, Cabaret Scenes)

Full review: Bruno Giraldi: Love or Death? - Cabaret Scenes

Bruno Giraldi: Love or Death? - Cabaret Scenes

Bart Greenberg

Giraldi is an exciting personality.

“I loved Bruno’s willingness and ability to be so blunt and vulnerable with the audience.” (Sebastian Cherry, Lord Cherry’s Review)

Full review: Love or Death? - Lord Cherry's Review

"Giraldi allowed philosophy to meet autobiography without forcing resolution. In a small room, the effect was direct and unmistakably alive.” (Jack Quinn, TheaterScene.net)

Full review: Bruno Giraldi: Love or Death? at Don’t Tell Mama - TheaterScene.net

"I am grateful to Bruno and Love or Death?...for providing a space to explore the complexities of both subjects." (Ella Hill, Outer-Space)

Full review: Ella Hill reviews “Bruno Giraldi: Love or Death” – OUTER-STAGE

Ella Hill reviews “Bruno Giraldi: Love or Death”

Admittedly, I wasn’t fully prepared for what I would see when I walked into Love or Death?. To call it a show or...

Interviews:

New York Weekly: Bruno Giraldi Turns Love and Death Into Cabaret

Broadway World: Interview: Argentinean Star Bruno Giraldi Brings LOVE OR DEATH to Don’t Tell Mama