World Premiere Of CLEMENZA AND TESSIO ARE DEAD 11/14

Gregg Greenberg presents the World Premiere of CLEMENZA AND TESSIO ARE DEAD November 14th – 22nd, 2008 at the Broadway Comedy Club, 318 W. 53rd Street, NYC.  Tickets are $15 and are available at www.smarttix.com or by phone at 212-868-4444.

Set in New York from 1945 – 1955, CLEMENZA AND TESSIO ARE DEAD follows Corleone family veterans Peter Clemenza and Salvatore Tessio as they struggle to control their destinies.  A retiring Don Corleone hands control of the organization to his incompetent children and, feeling squeezed out of a business that they helped to create, Clemenza and Tessio attempt to change their fates in a script that has already been written.  What was it like to be a member of the Corleone family without the benefit of possessing the last name of Corleone?  A humorous and poignant look at another side of The Godfather saga, CLEMENZA AND TESSIO ARE DEAD is an unauthorized parody of The Godfather (1972), screenplay by Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola, based on the novel by Mario Puzo.  CLEMENZA AND TESSIO ARE DEAD is written by Gregg Greenberg and directed by Simcha Borenstein.   Nick Raio plays Clemenza, Dennis Wit is Tessio, and Troy Wyrick plays various roles.  Lighting design and stage management by Marissa Bea.

Playwright Gregg Greenberg is a New York-based financial journalist for TheStreet.com.  Prior to TheStreet.com, he was a writer and segment producer for CNBC's Closing Bell.  He previously worked on Wall Street at FleetBoston and Lehman Brothers in their Private Client Services divisions.  He attended New York University's School of Business and Economic Reporting and received an M.B.A. from Cornell University's Johnson School of Business and a B.A. in history from Amherst College.

Simcha Borenstein (Director) Directing credits include:  Bed & Breakfast, The Oboe Player, Delores, Lynette at 3 a.m.,  Last Exit Before Toll, Sunday with Albert and Mandy,  David Mamet's The Old Neighborhood and David Rabe's Those the River Keeps.  Credits as writer and director include:  Bogosity, A Day at the Office, Eagle's Path, Another Saturday Story, Nothing Interesting Ever Happens Around Here and Tammy.  Credits as actor, writer and director include:  A Reappearing Act, Eccstaticies And The Bicoastal Disorder, Giraffe, The Date and Young, Gifted And Turquoise.  Acting credits include: One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, Into The Woods, Pump Boys And Dinettes and the films Acid Rain, How I Became That Jewish Guy and Guardian Angel.

Nick Raio (Clemenza), known as Nick of Nick's Commercials and Guile in Street Fighter: The Later Years on the College Humor website, is a Bronx born New York based actor/writer.  He is a member of SAG, AEA, AFTRA and the Dramatists Guild. Nick appear on the season premiere of "Rescue Me" as the AA group leader. Other TV credits include "The Sopranos," "Law & Order: C.I.," "America's Most Wanted," as well as numerous soap operas and commercials.  Films presently available on DVD include One-Third, Invitation to a Suicide, Mob Queen and Unsavory Characters.  Leading stage roles include Cal in Through November Moonlight and Phillip Bradley in Hong Kong, for Blueberry Pond, Ossining, NY's last two seasons.  Nick's own play received a public reading at Blueberry Pond and is slated for a full production in the Fall 2009 season.

Dennis Wit (Tessio) played the role of Hogarth in the long running critically-acclaimed Off Broadway hit Room Service.  He played the part of Zev in A Kabbalistic Love Story by the composers of the classic "Sesame Street" songs and he played the role of Edgar in the award winning independent feature Sarbanes Oxley.  He has appeared on "Sex and the City" and "Saturday Night Live."  He also played Diner Bacon guy opposite Lindsay Lohan in Just My Luck.  Dennis has a B.A. from Hofstra and a Master's Degree from York University. He has been a member of AEA since 1987.

CLEMENZA AND TESSIO ARE DEAD will be performed from November 14 – 22 at the Broadway Comedy Club, 318 W. 53rd Street (between 8th and 9th Avenues), NYC.  Performances November 14, 15, 21 and 22 at 6:30pm.  Tickets are $15 and are available at www.smarttix.com or by phone at 212-868-4444.
For more information, visit www.clemenzatessio.com.

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