K.I.S.S. THEATRICALS is pleased to announce that Broadway's Donna Vivino (Les Miz, Hairspray, Wicked) will star in the East Coast premiere of WAITING FOR Johnny Depp, at the RAVE THEATER FESTIVAL. This one-woman musical with book, music and lyrics by Janet Cole Valdez and DEEDEE O'MALLEY, music by BETTIE ROSS, directed by HOLLY FRIEDMAN and choreography by Juson Williams revolves around the zany adventures of an actress who risks it all for the role of a lifetime.
The performance schedule for "Waiting for
Johnny Depp" is as follows:
Saturday, August 17 at 8:45 pm
Sunday, August 18 at 8:30 pm
Monday, August 19 at 7:00 pm
Saturday, August 24 at 4:00 pm
Sunday, August 25 at 2:00 pm
Tickets are $25.00 for regular seats and $35.00 for premium seats (guarantees a seat in the best section of the theater) and can be purchased online at
ravetheaterfestival.com/tickets-and-passes/ or by calling (866) 811-4111.
Teatro SEA, at the Clemente Soto Velez Cultural Center, is located at 107 Suffolk Street, 1st Floor in Manhattan.
WAITING FOR
Johnny Depp takes us on a wild ride with New York actress Rita Donatella, in her quest to land the role of a lifetime in a
Johnny Depp film. Constantly reinventing herself to be more perfect for the role, she courageously navigates the rough waters of the Big Apple with humor and chutzpah.
Past productions of WAITING FOR
Johnny Depp at TUTS Underground in Houston and at the Whitefire Theatre in North Hollywood in 2016 received rave reviews. Stage Raw named it one of the Top Ten Stage Shows in L.A.
Donna Vivino was most recently nominated for a 2019 San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award for Best Actress in a Play for Joe Gilford's blacklist drama "Finks" at Theatreworks Silicon Valley. She was nominated in 2018 for a Los Angeles Ovation Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her portrayal of Mary Flynn in "Merrily We Roll Along" directed by
Michael Arden, starring opposite
Wayne Brady. She performed as Elphaba in Wicked on Broadway, previously seen starring in the role on the 1st National Tour. Donna has been on a Broadway stage since the age of 8; she was the original Young Cosette in Les Miserables on Broadway and is on the cast recording singing "Castle on A Cloud". She starred on Broadway in "Fame Becomes Me" with
Martin Short and was also on Broadway in "Hairspray" and "Saturday Night Fever". She plays Serena Maxwell in the Broadway World web-series "Submissions Only" (also streaming on Stage Network). Film/TV Credits also include: "The Sopranos", "All My Children", "Hometown" "A Gifted Man" as well as dozens of national commercials and voice-overs. Donna studied comedy improv with Upright Citizens Brigade, Chicago City Limits and also performed with the NYC improv group "Don't Quit Your Night Job". Her debut solo album "Beautiful Dreamer" can be found on iTunes and Amazon. She has performed her solo show to sold-out audiences all across the world at venues such as 54 Below and Birdland in NYC, Opal Club in CA, Disney Cruise Lines and most recently in London at the Hippodrome Casino. She has been a guest vocalist with the Florida Orchestra Symphony and will be releasing a new album "DNA" with the "Vivino Sisters" in Fall 2019. Donna is an accomplished vocal coach with a studio based in Bergen County, NJ and also teaches comedy improv to kids, teens and adults in NYC and NJ. She has traveled and worked in 48 states and 4 countries throughout her career and is proud to call New Jersey her home.
Janet Cole Valdez (book, lyrics, music) is a gold record, former Motown songwriter and scriptwriter. Her rock musical "Emerald Man" debuted in the New York Musical Festival to rave reviews, and was subsequently chosen for the ASCAP/Disney Musical Theatre Workshop. Her musical "Cole and Porter" was optioned by "Jersey Boys" co-producer
John Osher. Movie credits include "Gladiator", "The Last Dragon", "The Boost", "South Beach Academy", "Guarded Secrets" and "Chateau Meroux". TV credits include "The Young and the Restless", "Fame", "CBS Late Night", "Chicago Story" and "
Michael Jordan: An American Hero". Janet co-wrote six songs for TV movie "Christmas at Water's Edge". She co-wrote theme songs for two TV series: "Made in Hollywood" and "Live Life & Win", currently airing weekly. After laughing and crying on each other's shoulders for years about the ups and downs of an artist's life, Janet teamed up with Deedee and Bettie to create the semi-autobiographical musical "Waiting for
Johnny Depp".
DEEDEE O'MALLEY (book, lyrics, music) is an award-winning singer/songwriter, actor and author. She earned a BFA in Theatre Arts from Hofstra University, where she won "Best Actress" 3 years in a row. Deedee has co-written 3 successful musicals, including "No Time to Weep", based on the life of holocaust survivor Lucy Deutsch. She has placed over 50 songs in popular film and television shows and is the author of the interactive book "10 Easy Steps to Writing a Song" as well as the autobiographical book "The Lemonade Maker" featuring 21 stories and songs on the art of turning obstacles into opportunities. Deedee was the first star of "Waiting for
Johnny Depp", which landed her "Best Solo Performer" at the Valley Theatre Awards in Los Angeles for her lovable and quirky depiction of Rita. Other awards include Music Connection's "#1 Indie CD of the Year" and Los Angeles Music Award's "Singer-Songwriter of the Year".
BETTIE ROSS (music) is an award-winning composer and keyboardist. She has 2 gold records for pipe organ performances on albums by
Meat Loaf and
Faith Hill. Her solo piano CD won Best Solo Piano Album and Best Solo Piano Song at the 2009 Just Plain Folks Awards. Bettie composed the music for
Nancy Cartwright's Dramalogue award-winning one-woman show "In Search of Fellini" as well as "Neon: a Vaudeville of Obsessions." For Broadway's "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark", Bettie worked as part of the music prep team and assisted arranger/composer
David Campbell.
HOLLY FRIEDMAN's (director) love of theatre began at a very young age, when she created shows at holiday dinners and forced her little cousins to take roles. From the first Broadway production she attended with her parents, she was hooked. Holly received accolades for her direction of "Life, Love & Other 4-Letter Words", an evening of 8 one-act plays in Hollywood. She discovered the quirky "Waiting for
Johnny Depp" at its 2014 NoHo workshop production. She reached out to the show's creators with insights about Rita, and the rest, as they say, was "herstory". Holly helmed the show's critically acclaimed West Coast Premiere, which was named in Stage Raw's Top 10 theatrical productions. She is thrilled to direct "Waiting for
Johnny Depp" at the Rave Theater Festival in the Big Apple, the ultimate theatre city!!
RAVE THEATER FESTIVAL will be held this summer from August 9-25, 2019 at the Clemente Solo Velez Cultural Center (107 Suffolk Street) on the Lower East Side. The festival is helmed by Tony Award-winning Broadway producer
Ken Davenport, who will serve as artistic director.
For its inaugural year, Rave Theater Festival has selected a diverse roster of 20 plays, musicals, family-friendly shows, and cross-disciplinary projects. To learn more about Rave Theater Festival visit
RaveTheaterFestival.com.
Photo Credit: Seth Abel
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