The Soundtrack to Loving You is available check it out!

To buy the novel visit our online store at www.therianttheatre.com

The Riant Book Club at the Stage Door Restaurant

The next Riant Book Club event:

Date: Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Time: 6:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Restaurant: Stage Door Restaurant
461 Eighth Avenue, NYC. (At the northwest corner of 33rd St. & 8th Avenue)
RSVP: Send an email to therianttheatre@aol.com and put in the subject line: Riant Book Club or call us at 646-623-3488.

The 2 plays selected for this event are:
Pension Check by Jonathon Ward. In an ex-steel town, an out of work steelworker tries to support his family in the wake of his father's illness.

Kate's Ballard by Rory O'Connor. "All the world's a stage and all the men and women merely players." As in relationships, it's sometimes hard to get to the truth of a situation.

Both plays are in The Best Plays From The Strawberry One-Act Festival: Volume 2. Buy now. You can also order it online at www.barnesandnoble.com.

The Riant Book Club at the Stage Door Restaurant

Date: April 25, 2007
Time: 6:00 - 8:30 p.m.
Place: The Stage Door Restaurant, on the northwest corner of 33rd Street and 8th Avenue.
R.S.V.P.: 646-623-3488 or by emailing us at therianttheatre@aol.com

The two plays that we are going to discuss are both in The Best Plays From The Strawberry One-Act Festival: Volume Two:

Et Tu, Kelly by Debra C. Victoroff. Lonely days and sleepless nights. Secrets and passions fill the air. Some girls spying on their local lover's lane witness an act that will change their lives forever.

Difficult Subjects by Deborah S. Greenhut. A haunting story about a 12 year old girl who's been sexually assaulted and the effect it has on the people in her life.

The playwrights will be on hand to discuss their plays and to sign books. To purchase a copy of The Best Plays From The Strawberry One-Act Festival: Volume Two ($16.95), you can order it online at www.amazon.com or from our online store on our website at www.therianttheatre.com. Or by calling 646-623-3488.

The Riant Book Club at Tello Restaurant December 20th

The Riant Book Club Events for December & January:

Date: December 20, 2006 at 6pm - 8:30 p.m.
Place: Tello Restaurant, 263 West 19th Street, between 7th & 8th Avenue, http://www.chelseadining.com/
RSVP: 646-623-3488
The two plays that we will be dicussing are in The Best Plays from The Strawberry One-Act Festival: Volume Three.

When The Cherry Blossoms Bloom by Steven A. Shapiro. Two joggers who meet in a park breathe life into each others lives.

Love - This Game Is Real by Tremane Hickman. A poetic story about a girl and a guy anxiously waiting to play the game of love without getting played.

Date: January 24, 2007 at 6pm - 8:30 p.m.
Place: Good Restaurant, 89 Greenwich Avenue, between Bank Street and West 12th Street. One block west of 7th Avenue. Take the 1, 2, 3, A, C, E train to 14th Street. http://www.goodrestaurantnyc.com/
RSVP: 646-623-3488

The two plays that we will be dicussing are in The Best Plays from The Strawberry One-Act Festival: Volume Three.

It's About Forgiveness by Albi Gorn. A delightful comedy about a man who seeks out his wife in heaven to ask for forgiveness.

Three Women by Michael D. Jackson. Three world famous female writers, Dorothy Parker, Lorraine Hansberry and Maxine Hong Kingston meet in limbo for a tea party.

We all had a great time at La Belle Vie, 184 Eight Avenue as we discussed Cut Short by Jonathan Zungre and Grave Concerns by Sue E. Sneeringer. Jonathan shared with us his inspiration for his play, which deals with teenage suicide. It's a powerful play about a teenage girl who's life is cut short because she doesn't see another other way to deal with her depression over the breakup from her boy friend. The play serves as a wake up call and enforces the need for all of us to be aware of the early signs of depression and how to seek help for people who suffer from this sometimes debilitating affliction.

Although, Sue was unable to join us because of a death of a colleague, we discussed her play at length. Grave Concerns was an appropriate play to compliment Cut Short. It deals with the spirit world and a woman, Eve, a professional photographer who is on assignment at the Pavialion at Charles Evans Cemetery, in Reading Pennsylvania, taking pictures of gravesites for a new book. Ironically, Eve is busy capturing the resting place of other people, while avoiding the one person closest to her who is very ill and facing death, her mother. The spirits of several people who are at the Gravesite and haven't crossed over help Eve to face her own fears and to go home to her mother and be there for her. Eve learns an important lesson about respecting the dead, but an even bigger one about appreciating the living and cherishing every living moment and not taking it for granted.

We all enjoyed a wonderful bruch at La Belle Vie, the food was delicious and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a wonderful ambiance and staff.



In October we went to Cuba Cafe on 8th Avenue between 20th & 21st Street. We discussed Requiem For A Life by Tony Macy Perez and Fun On The Bayou by Vivian Neuwirth. A good time was had by all as we discussed Tony's play that deals with family traditions and assimulation. Requiem For A Life deals with the strained relationship between a father, who was born and raised in Cuba and now lives in the United States and his son, who was born and raised in the United States. It's a stuggle of wills and lifestyles as the son returns home for his mother's funeral and is confronted by his father who wishes he followed traditional Cuban customs. It a time for healing and clearing up misunderstandings, respect and love. It's a powerful play which I higly recommend to all to read.

In mourning the loss of loved ones, sometimes celebrating their lives is all we can do to give us comfort. We laughed and compared family secrets as Vivian Neuwirth shared with us the fact that her play was based on her dysfunctional loving family. Of course she changed the names to protect her family, but innocent they are not. In fact, writing the play was a liberating experience for Vivian who experienced another loss when her home town was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. She pays homage to New Orleans with this play in which a family decides to make a stop by the mall after leaving a funeral, so a granddaughter can shop to honor her granddaddy's memory. Of course the girl is not in her right mind, so the family concedes to her wishes only to be alarmed moments later when she comes out of the Mall being escorted by a police officer who is determined to arrest her for shoplifting. So guess where she spent the night? Yes, in jail. She never did make it to the wake. They never told a soul about the arrest, but who would believe them? Anyway the experience made for a very moving play about love and devotion. Mrs. Neuwirth won the BEST ACTRESS award for her performance in Fun On The Bayou when it was performed in the Strawberry One-Act Festival in February of 2005.

The Riant Book at the Good Restaurant

On Wednesday, September 27th the Riant Book Club went to the GOOD RESTAURANT at 89 Greenwich Avenue. First of all I want to say they need to change the name of the restaurant from GOOD to GREAT!, because the food was DELICIOUS!!!! I loved the presentation. Every dish was like a work of art. I wish I had pictures to show you, but you can always check out their website at www.goodrestaurantnyc.com.

Karen Page, host of Riant! Riant! Arts & Entertainment was there sporting a new hairstyle and we had a new member join us, Alicia Zadrozany, who works as an editor of children's books at Reader's Digest. Michael Casano, the playwright of HIDDEN IN THE PAST was on hand to sign books and discuss his play. (Photo of Karen Page and Alicia Zadrozany)


















It was fascinating to learn that his play was inspired by his grandmother, who migrated to the U.S. when she was a child with her father. That prompted all of us to share stories about our past and relatives who also migrated to the U.S.

In HIDDEN IN THE PAST, Jessica wants to interview her grandmother Tessie for her class assignment. Tessie is reluctant at first, but finally reveals that when she was 14 her father wanted to come to the U.S., but her mother didn't want to leave Italy. So she told him to take the youngest child, Tessie, because she wouldn't care. Tessie recalls the day they left no one came to see them off at the pier. Her father told her not to think about the rest of the family anymore. It was as if they were dead. Looking back it was a very traumatic experience in Tessie's life. Jessica gets the feeling that her grandmother didn't really want to go to America, but she wasn't given a choice. Back in those days, you didn't ask questions. Her father said, "We are going to America." So that's what they did. There was no looking back.

It's apparent that Tessie misses her mother, her brother and Italy? But she can't bring herself to say the words. You also get a sense that Tessie still holds some resentment towards her mother and brother for not deciding to come to America with them. The sad thing is that it was a very difficult transition for Tessie -- learning a new language and making new friends in a strange land, but her father was stern. He wanted to make something of himself in America, so he would simply tell her to be strong and be an American!

It's powerful. We can all relate to the scarifices people make to follow their dreams and sometimes the secrets that are hidden in the past that motivate them to make such a journey often leaves scars that are incurred at a great price. (Photo: Michael Casano, Sharon Zaslaw & Van Dirk Fisher)

















Nick Vigorito, Jr., playwright of THE SQUEEGEE MAN, wasn't able to join us, because he's preparing for a journey of his own to LA, but that didn't stop us from discussing his play. THE SQUEEGEE MAN truly stirred some angry emotions in Sharon Zaslaw, who said she's had her own experiences with Squeegee men while sitting in her car with her children at a red stop light.

In THE SQUEEGEE MAN, Jennifer, a journalist, attempts to interview the Squeegee man for an article she's writing for her newspaper. The Squeegee man is also reluctant, but Jennifer is persistent. She said she saw him step between a gun man who stepped out of a car and tried to rob a man. The gun man shot at him when he refused to move and the Squeegee man put his hand up to catch a bullet that would have hit a woman who was crossing the street with her baby, unbeknownst to what was happening. Luckily, no one was harmed. The gun man, stunned that the bullets seemed to pass through the Squeegee man without harming him, jumped into his car and sped away. The man who was about to be robbed simply ran away.

Jennifer's question to the Sqeegee man is how did he do that? But more importantly, she wants to know if he's God and if He is then where was He when she was a child and her father abandon her and her mother? And if He is God, then how could He let her mother commit suicide and leave her all alone?

The Squeegee man never says that He is God, but he tells her that we all have free will. That he tried several times to stop her mother from doing wrong, but she made her own choice. And that Jennifer was never alone. She was placed with a very good family who treated her very well. Jennifer even admitted that the woman who adopted her was like her guardian angel, the best!

THE SQEEGEE MAN is an amazing play that asks the question, "What If God Was One Of Us?" We all have incidents that we could probably contribute to some act of grace from a higher being. And we all have "free will" to chose what path we will take in life. Sometimes the paths we have chosen in life may bring us grief, sometimes joy.
Do you have anything you would like to share with us on decisions you have made in your life and how they have effected you? Have any of you ever felt like you've been touched by an angel? If so please share it with us.


















(Photo: Our Host Luciano joins us for a picture. He's sitting next to Alicia, center. Photo #2: Out waiter Philip in blue left next to Karen.)



















Our next RIANT BOOK CLUB event will be on October 25th from 6pm - 8:30 p.m. at the Cuba Restaurant, 200 Eight Avenue, NYC. http://www.chelseadining.com/
To RSVP: Call 646-623-3488 or email us at TheRiantTheatre@aol.com

The plays that will be discussed are:

Requiem For A Life by Tony Macy-Perez. A very modern anglicized son, who has been estranged from his traditional old world father, who was born in Cuba, has to spend one night with him when he returns home for his mother's funeral.

Fun On The Bayou by Vivian Neuwirth. If you could turn back time where would you go and what would you do? A woman finds the strength to go on with her life after the death of her father.

Both playwrights will be in attendance to discuss their plays and sign books. The plays are in The Best Plays From The Strawberry One-Act Festival: Volume Three, and can be purchased online at www.amazon.com, www.barnesandnoble.com, www.iUniverse.com or at the online store at www.therianttheatre.com.

The first 50 people to make reservations will receive a special gift when they attend the event.

The Riant Book Club at Cuba Cafe, October 25th 6pm - 8:30pm

Event: Riant Book Club
Date: Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Time: 6:00pm - 8:30pm
Place: Cuba Cafe
200 Eighth Avenue, NYC http://www.chelseadining.com/
To RSVP: Call 646-623-3488 or email us at TheRiantTheatre@aol.com

The plays that will be discussed are:

Requiem For A Life by Tony Macy-Perez. A very modern anglicized son, who has been estranged from his traditional old world father, who was born in Cuba, has to spend one night with him when he returns home for his mother's funeral.

Fun On The Bayou by Vivian Neuwirth. If you could turn back time where would you go and what would you do? A woman finds the strength to go on with her life after the death of her father.

Both playwrights will be in attendance to discuss their plays and sign books. The plays are in The Best Plays From The Strawberry One-Act Festival: Volume Three, and can be purchased online at www.amazon.com, www.barnesandnoble.com, www.iUniverse.com or at the online store at www.therianttheatre.com.

The first 50 people to make reservations will receive a special gift when they attend the event.

The Riant Book Club at the Good Restaurant, September 27, 2006

The next Riant Book Club event:

Date: Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Time: 6:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Restaurant: Good Restaurant, located at 89 Greenwich Avenue, NYC, between Bank Street and West 12th Street. One block west of 7th Avenue. Take the 1, 2, 3, A, C, E train to 14th Street. http://www.goodrestaurantnyc.com/
RSVP: 646-623-3488 or email us at therianttheatre@aol.com

One of the plays we will be discussing is HIDDEN IN THE PAST by Michael Casano. A young girl interviews her grandmother to find out more about her family's history. It's an interview she may wish she never conducted. The second play is THE SQUEEGEE MAN by Nick Vigorito, Jr. A reporter finds inspiration for stories through the squeegee man on the street corner outside her office.

The plays are in the anthology: The Best Plays From The Strawberry One-Act Festival: Volume Two. To order the book go to www.iUniverse.com, www.barnesandnoble.com or you can call us 646-623-3488.

The Riant Book Club at the Piccolo Restaurant

The Riant Book Club had a great time at the Piccolo Restaurant on the Eastside. The food was delicious and the company even better.
















Actress, Sharon Zaslaw and Karen Page, host of Riant! Riant! Arts & Entertainment, get a hug from playwright David Risk who signed copies of his play THE KISSING BOOTH and discussed why he chose to write a play about a girl with multiple myeloma, a form of cancer that's terminal and quick. The carrier usually doesn't show any symptoms and can look perfectly fine. THE KISSING BOOTH is an enchanting story about a young lady named Beckie, who's working at a Kissing Booth to distract herself from the fact that she is dying. Bucky, an exterminator working in the park, decides to stand in the booth and get a few kisses when he discovers the booth is vacant. Beckie returns from her break and his breath is taken away just by the mere presence of her beauty. Bucky, who's wife has recently died is in much need of a distraction too, but is determined to not let life pass him by and to live it with joy and conviction. He describes life as such: "It's all a kiss. Kiss of death. Kiss of life. Kiss of blindness. Kiss of vision. Kiss of ignorance. Kiss of reason. You don't get to pick your kiss, Beckie; it picks you. But sometimes...sometimes there's a kiss of grace. And when it comes...you better be open to it. You're more living than you are dying."

It's a very moving play, in which two wounded souls find each other and learn to take a chance on love, for whatever it's worth. After all, tomorrow isn't promised to any of us. Which reminds me, playwright Vivian Neuwirth was with us again. We'll be discussing her play FUN ON THE BAYOU in October. Stay tuned. That's me with Vivian below.
















But not to be outdone playwright Deborah Greenhut joined us, along with playwright John Baldi who discussed his play MONKEY RHYTHMS. John shared with us the fact that a childhood death of a friend inspired his play. It's a moving story of 3 generations, a loving son who's trying to get his elderly father, who's recently widowed and suffering from Alzheimer's, to leave his home and move in with him. But his father Pop, is determined to stay put even though he knows the house has already been sold. Pop has had a change of heart and wants to pass the house on to his grandson Jessie. It's a heartbreaking story as we read in the end, after Pop has tricked his son and grandson to leave the house only to lock them out and then proceeds to slow dance in the living room as he remembers fonder times with his beloved wife.

We were all able to relate to the two plays chosen for today's event. Love's a powerful potion and we were grateful to make some new friends and share some happy memories with some old friends. Good food, good wine, good friends, what more could you ask for? Well, I'm sure Carol Handwerker would agree a good waiter doesn't hurt as she thanks Antonio for the good service he provided us.