Franco D'Alessandro

Franco D'Alessandro is a native of New York and has been educated and worked both in Italy (Rome and Siena) and New York City and speaks fluent English and Italian. D'Alessandro has had 14 professional international, Off-Broadway, Off-Off Broadway and regional and international productions of his work. His 2002 Off-Broadway hit "Roman Nights" explores the artist/muse paradigm, vis-à-vis the tumultuous and dramatic life of stage and screen legend Anna Magnani and her inspirational friendship with the great playwright Tennessee Williams. This play was a critical and commercial success in New York and in London in 2004 and has been sold out in Prague and touring eastern Europe since 2006. "Roman Nights" is scheduled to be produced in various European countries, including Italy, Spain and Russia throughout 2010 and a feature film is in pre-production. Franco's drama "The Shattering" has been work-shopped at The Cherry Lane Theatre with Olympia Dukakis and Christina Zorich and is seeking a premiere production. A production is planned to premiere Maximum Happiness (featuring two new plays "Venice, Again" and "One Hundred Dollars Worth of Change"). Franco has also been hired to adapt the acclaimed 1970 novel "Out Of Place" by Joseph Papaleo for stage and screen. By 2008 D'Alessandro's plays will have been translated into five languages and performed in six countries. In addition to his work as a writer, D'Alessandro holds a Master's Degree in English Education and teaches drama and creative writing in New York City. Franco is a founding member and resident playwright of Time to Storm, a New York based theatrical company, which focuses on the relationship between actors and writer, and dedicated to new dramatic theatrical works in the tradition of American classic drama. He is a 2001 and 2002 Eugene O'Neill Playwrights Conference Finalist, a 1998 and 2000 Edward F. Albee Foundation Residency recipient and 2000-2001 Cherry Lane Theatre Alternative Finalist and 2001 Princess Grace Award Nominee. A 2000-2001 NEA/TCG Playwrights Nominee, a 1999 and 2000 Dorset Theater Colony Residency recipient and 2005 New Frontiers Playwright. He is a member of The Dramatists Guild and The Cherry Lane Playwrights Alternative and Writer's Guild of America (eligible).