New Yorkers Speak From The
Other Side
A Play in three Acts
Cast of
Characters:
Henry Blome: born in 1898 in Queens and
died in Marne, France in 1918.
Served as a medic in the First Expeditionary forces during WWI.
Jerry Fostor: born 1947 in Vincennes, Indiana, moved to New York City to be a dancer and died of cardiac arrest
while dancing in a New Jersey supper club.
Sonya Petrov: born 1878 in Kiev and
brutally murdered in New York City in 1904 by her lover. A poetess by
profession; she lived a short and dissolute life.
Rosa Dominquez: born 1934 in the Dominican
Republic and died in New York City of breast cancer in 1974. Married to her
deceased sister’s husband in 1962 while in New York.
Dominic Gallo: born in Queens, New York
in 1890 and died in New York City in 1952. Worked as a welder at the Todd
Shipyard most of his life. Married Ernestine DeFabrizi in 1910.
Ernestine
Gallo: born
in Naples, Italy in 1892 and died in Benson Hurst, Long Island in 1959. She was married to Dominic Gallo for 42 years
in a marriage arranged by her family. They had two sons; Frankie and Joseph.
Antonio
Coleman :
Born in Brooklyn in 1987. Died in Brooklyn from a gunshot wound outside of his home in May of 2001.
Setting - A forgotten cemetery outside of New
York City
Copyright 2007
Act One
Scene One
[Six figures are seated on a dark stage. The setting is a forgotten
cemetery hilltop in the year 2001. A panoramic view of the New York skyline is
seen in the far distance. The time of day is around dawn.
A lone figure stands up and begins a dance as
celestial music plays. The dancer is expresses a feeling of great joy through
his dance. Eventually the lights come fully on and the five-seated figures
arise. One of the five figures slowly wanders to the edge of stage
DOMINIC
DOMINIC
[standing forward, gazing
upwards]
Look at this beautiful orange sun Ernestine.
I’ve never seen anything like it before.
Glory be to our Maker.
ERNESTINE
[standing forward, gazing upwards]
Glory be to the Maker for all the wonders of
creation.
HENRY
{walkling forward}
Glory to Yahweh
ROSA
[moving forward, crossing herself]
Gracias Padre Santo
[The four figures feeling
disoriented turn and face
each other]
HENRY
[extending his hand to Dominic, apolagetically]
Henry Blome is my name. I'm from Jefferson
Street on the
EastSide. That’s two blocks from the river.
We must be all
neighbors up here but I cannot recall meeting
you before.
Beautiful cemetery, don't you think. My
brother
Albert brought me here after the Great War.
Wanted to keep me close to him, he said.
DOMINIC
Glad to meet you soldier. I’m Dominic Gallo
from
Queens and this is my wife Ernestine.
ERNESTNE
[extending her hand, demurely]
It’s very nice to meet you Henry.
HENRY
[taking her hand]
The pleasure is all mine, Mrs. Gallo
ROSA
{addressing the group}
My name is Rosa and I came from the Santo
Cristobel in the Dominican Republic. I had
twenty two years
When I came to New York.
HENRY
You are a long way from home.
ROSA
[demurely]
Yes, I am a long way from my island that I
love. I am not
sure where I am right now. How strange is
this?
HENRY
This is very strange indeed.
DOMINIC
I feel like I’ve known all of you before but
I can’t
remember when. Maybe I've just wakened and
I'm
still under the weather.
ROSA
Yes, I
feel like I’m dreaming. I’m not sure where I am.
{Rosa Walks to side stage and
looks out into the audience]
HENRY
And look at New York City over in the
horizon. When I
shipped out overseas she didn’t look anything
like that
DOMINIC
Yeah soldier boy, There’s Miss Liberty in the
harbor. She’s
one beautiful gal.
ROSA
[from side stage ]
It looks so calm from here. So quiet and
calm.
[Walks over to the group]
[Dancing figure stops and takes a
generous bow to the audience and comes over to the group]
JERRY
Allow me introduce myself. My name is Jerry
Fostor. You are
invited to participate in my last great
performance. I so much
want to thank you all for finding time in
your busy schedules
to attend. As for myself, I have been awake
for hours and today
is positively glorious so I feel like dancing
my
entire afterlife away.
DOMINIC
Are we here to watch you dance? Thank you very little. I
can think of lots of things I'd rather be
doing.
JERRY
Now what exactly would you rather be doing?.
Watching the
dandelions grow or cheering on the Squirrels
as they chase
each other around? Mr. Gallo, you will find there is precious
little to Do here.
DOMINIC
I’m ok with little to do, Right Ernestine?
ERNESTINE
[pointing to the figure at the edge of the stage]
Come over here my dear. Don’t be standing by
yourself.
JERRY
You with the red beret. Please come over here
and tell us
about all about yourself. You may be my last
hope so don’t
dissapoint
SONYA
[haughtily]
My name is Sonya Petrov, the famous Russian
poetess from
Kiev. I am the purveyor of the most exquisite
rhyme and
verse in all of New York City. If you
slumbered less you
might have remembered.
HENRY
My name is Henry. I don't believe I've ever
had the
pleasure until now. If we have been
introduced before, then
you have my most sincere apology. Did you say
you were a
purveyor of rhyme?
SONYA
Yes, I
was a purveyor of fine rhymes and sonnets
JERRY
{laughs to himself}
Mademoiselle, Did you say you were a purveyor
of fine
rhymes? Very Interesting choice of words I
must say.
SONYA
[looking at Jerry}
And
what did I say that you find so amusing?
JERRY
Oh nothing at all, my mysterious friend. Let
me
introduce myself, My name is Jerry and I
dedicated my life
to interpretive dance and so you see we are
both artists,
impoverished and yes so often misunderstood.
ERNESTINE
[speaking to Sonya]
Have you published many poetry books my dear?
SONYA
Published?
No... I would have published many wonderful
books but my time on earth was sadly cut
short. Yes,
Beautiful books written in Russian and
English as well had I
Been given just a little more time.
HENRY
{sympathetically]
My time was very short as well. If it is not
too
impertinent, may I ask what were the
circumstances of your
death?
SONYA
[taken aback]
Your inquiries are very personal but you seem
to be sincere
and so I will oblige you. I was struck in the
head with a
paving stone in a forceful and decisive blow
which silenced
my voice forever.
ERNESTINE
That’s horrible. Who could have done such a
thing?
SONYA
His name was Nicholas Solway and he was my
lover. His act
was so foul and treacherous that his family
is cursed
to this very day and will never know peace.
ERNESTINE
Cursed By whom?
SONYA
Myself of course. I will now take my leave.
[Turns and walks off stage].
HENRY
{addressing the group]
I too lost my life at a young age. It was in
Marne, France
during the Great War. What a wonderful
country France was.
I had the grandest time in Paris but it was
too short for I
was killed just two short months before the
Armistice.
DOMINIC
My boy Joey went over there and he didn’t
come back to us.
It just broke his mother’s heart. He was only
nineteen years
When he left.
HENRY
I’m sorry to hear that. When did he
die?
DOMINIC
In 1944 fight’ in the Germans in Sicily.
HENRY
Fighting the Germans! Mine was to be the war
to end all
wars. My life was given in folly. I should
have known.
{Henry walks off stage.]
DOMINIC
Hey I’m sorry. I thought you knew.
JERRY
Well, here we are in this old cemetery and so
far removed
from the action down there. I wonder what new
musicals are
playing on Broadway? Could there be a part in
a chorus line
for a slightly ripe Jerry Fostor? What are the chances?
DOMINIC
Chances are lousy unless there’s a ghoul
review that needs
you
JERRY
That’s it! A ghoul review! Agnes get me David
Merrick on the
phone! I need fifty ghouls at once!
ERNESTINE
Dominic It's so peaceful and quiet up here
before. Don’t you
ruin it.
DOMINIC
Alright, I’ll keep my mouth shut.
ERNESTINE
I do wish they would cut the grass here more
often.
ROSA
Yes, they really need to take better care.
The
man who cuts the grass drinks beer underneath
that Maple
tree for half the day.
DOMINIC
Think about it. Who’s gonna turn that lazy Mick
in.
He’s got the best job a drunk could have!
ERNESTINE
And the people who bring their dogs here.
They just let them
run wild around here. There's so little
respect nowadays.
What do you think Dominic? What don't you
like about this
place?
DOMINIC
The neighbors; I liked our neighbors better
in our old
[lights dim]
