Arts & Entertainment

Bensonhurst native shines in off-Broadway production

March 17, 2016 Meaghan McGoldrick
Photos by Ben Strothmann
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One lifelong Brooklynite has found a room of his own in a recent sold-out off-Broadway production.

Bensonhurst native Johnny Tammaro played the role of Peter Morelli in the world premiere, month-long production of “A Room of My Own” – a semiautobiographical show about a dysfunctional Italian-American family living in the late 1970s – written and directed by Charles Messina and presented by New York City’s Abingdon Theatre Company.

Photos by Ben Strothmann
Photos by Ben Strothmann

“It takes place on Thompson Street in Greenwich Village with a mom, a dad, a son, a daughter and an eccentric uncle that lives upstairs,” explained Tammaro, who has been with the show since its inception in 2008. “The unique thing about the play is that when you first see [one of the main characters] Carl, he has a notebook and a laptop in his hand, and he is looking back on his childhood. The only person he can interact with is his younger self. The play is taking place in his mind. We’re all just in his head.”

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This and the show’s set, which is essentially just a large scale picture frame, Tammaro said, brings a special touch to the show.

“The best thing about the play is that everybody sitting in the audience is basically doing the time travel thing, thinking about their parents, their grandparents, the desserts around the table, their father making meatballs in his boxer shorts,” he said. “No matter where you came from, you always wish you could go back and see these people again, and that’s what the show does.”

Also important, Tammaro said, is that older Carl (played by critically acclaimed actor Ralph Macchio) remembers the past as he wants to—and not any other way.

“He can remember it the way he wants to remember it,” he said, “but, when his younger self is not in the room, the character takes a step back and says ‘Wait, this isn’t how I remember it.’”
The show – which ran from early February and closed on March 13 – was a standout hit.

“People can’t get enough of it,” said Tammaro, whose professional career dates back to 1998 when he performed with country music legend Kenny Rogers in “Christmas from the Heart” at the Beacon Theatre. He also made a name for himself in the off-Broadway production of “Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding” where, over a span of 11 years, he tried his hand at every male character in the Playbill—except, of course, the 70-year-old uncle.

Tammaro said he honed his talents right here in Brooklyn.

“Everyone always asked if I took acting classes and I said, no, my classes were in high school,” he said, crediting his time at theater guilds like Franklin Delano Roosevelt High School’s and Saint Simon and Jude’s as well as his time with the Jeff Samaha Singers as some of the most important to his career.

“When I joined my first theater guild I said to myself, ‘Everyone’s like me. They understand when I’m talking about Bernadette Peters and Bill Joel. These people know who I am,’” he recalled, noting that it was at programs like Jeff Samaha’s where he was able to learn how to hang a light properly, sew a costume and put on makeup. “Those were my theater classes.

“Now at 44, to be able to go back on the stage and create – especially as part of a show in which I’ve originated a role – is amazing,” he said. “I was able to watch this play as a baby, grow and mature. Every night is so emotional for me.”

“A Room of My Own”’s most recent run may be over, but this local actor is just getting started.

“This has been such an incredible experience,” he said. “This is what I love to do.”

Photos by Ben Strothmann
Photos by Ben Strothmann

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