SWEET AIR To Be Presented At Broadwater Black Box In June
Starring Jenni Chiaramonte and Newton Mayenge at Broadwater Black Box.
By: A.A. Cristi May. 01, 2025
Sweet Air, a new comedy and Hollywood Fringe Festival selection written by Matt Morillo. Directed by Katie Oliver, will be presented by KADM Productions. Starring Jenni Chiaramonte and Newton Mayenge at Broadwater Black Box, 6322 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood, CA 90038.
Previews on Thursday, June 5, 2025 at 6:30 p.m. and Sunday, June 8 at 9:30 p.m. Regular performances on Saturday, June 14 at 9:30 p.m., Sunday, June 15 at 2:00 p.m., Wednesday, June 18 at 11:00 p.m., Sunday, June 22 at 11:00 p.m., and Friday, June 27 at 7:00 p.m.
Robbie and Galen, two complete strangers on completely different paths in life, have both had a miserable Valentine's Day. They're both broke, lonely and stranded in a deserted subway station on a freezing cold New York City night, waiting for a train that never seems to be coming.
With seemingly nothing to lose, they strike up a conversation, commiserate, bond, unravel the mysteries of the universe and romantic comedies and find a connection in this cruel and heartless world in this post-pandemic, platonic Valentine's Day comedy.
Matt Morillo is the playwright. His previous plays include the Hollywood Fringe Festival award winning Katy and Jennifer and If We Run, as well as international award winning hits, All Aboard the Marriage Hearse, Angry Young Women in Low-Rise Jeans with High Class Issues, and The Inventor and the Escort. He co-produced The Girl Who Jumped Off the Hollywood Sign in the 2017 Hollywood Fringe. He has also written, produced and directed a number of independent films, including his award-winning Maid of Honor and the web series Mister Harmac. Also a comedian, he has appeared frequently at the Comedy Store.
Katie Oliver directs. She helmed the festival favorite award-winning short film Feminist theory and How it Relates to the Patriarchal Dividend. Also an actor, she appeared in previous Hollywood Fringes in If We Run and Meeting Across the River.
Jenni Chiaramonte (Robbie) returns to the Hollywood Fringe Festival in this new Matt Morillo production. If you are a frequent Fringe goer, you may have seen her in other plays such as: The Inventor and The Escort, and All-American Sex Addict. She also co-wrote, produced and starred in An Excuse to Behave Badly ,earning her an Encore Award. Chiaramonte made her professional stage debut in Angry Young Women in Low-Rise Jeans with High Class Issues at Theatre for the New City in the East Village. Jenni has appeared in numerous web series, independent films, and television projects.
Newton Mayenge (Galen) is familiar to national audiences for his role as a series regular on the HBO series Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty, for which he garnered several awards (He is a former professional basketball player). He starred in the Amazon Prime horror film Spaghetti. Mayenge trained at Juilliard and the University of North Carolina.
Given that Sweet Air takes place in a subway station, the play's title might be considered ironic. Sweet air is also the street name for nitrous oxide (laughing gas), sometimes used recreationally. But sweet air may ultimately be what two strangers who encounter each other at 3 a.m. on a freezing morning after Valentine's Day will find as dawn finally approaches and a new day will begin. Join Robbie and Galen as together they discover what is possible.
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