Uptown Boys (Staged Reading) at Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance

Andy Price (Bernie), Vincent Saia (Anthony), Jonathan Ellers (Ralph), and Tuto Taveras (Chico) star in Adrian Miranda’s Uptown Boys, a raw, fiercely funny, and deeply moving drama directed by Adrian Miranda. Set around a four-top table in Washington Heights, this bilingual one-act play captures the sharp wit, buried trauma, and unbreakable bonds of lifelong brotherhood.

Set during a routine neighborhood card game cluttered with dominos, chips, and beer, Uptown Boys centers on four aging friends whose lives are upended when Bernie (Price) drops a bombshell announcement: he is leaving the Heights for a new life in a different city. The revelation ignites forty years of unhealed turf wars and personal grief, hitting Ralph (Ellers) hardest as he drowns in the unaddressed loss of his family. But when a sudden, chaotic dual medical emergency strikes the table, the masks of machismo must come down, forcing these men to work as a team to save each other's lives. Uptown Boys is a powerful exploration of aging, survival, and the ultimate strength it takes to finally ask for help.

Show Information

• Run Time: 25–30 minutes
• Tone: Dramatic Comedy
• Language: English with bilingual elements

Meet the Characters

• Bernie (Andy Price): The Proud Activist. A sharp-dressed community leader with a heart condition who is choosing forward momentum.
• Anthony (Vincent Saia): The Grounded Host. A level-headed Italian-Jewish-American worker balancing a new art curation gig with lingering grief.
• Ralph (Jonathan Ellers): The Defensive Provocateur. A retired FDNY firefighter and MTA worker masking intense trauma behind sarcastic jokes.
• Chico (Tuto Taveras): The Poetic Mediator. A retired NYC bus driver who pushes his friends toward emotional honesty.