Premiered on: Original premiere was scheduled for March 19-April5 2020 at Theater for the New City, NYC/ with Lisa Monde playing the role of Romina Castello (Mina)
State: Pending, awaiting new production dates in Summer 2020
Creators: Written by Barbara Kahn/ Directed by Barbara Kahn and Robert Gonzales Jr.
Featuring: Robert Gonzales Jr, Vilma Hodo, Christopher Lowe, Lisa Monde, Crosbie Roper, Aristotle Stamat, Leila Stricker, Amanda Boekelheide.
Produce issued: Posters, Playbill, Postcards
Brief Summary: They Came to the Castle: Immigrants, a Tenor and Lola Montez is a historical play set in the mid- 19th century in a now landmarked building in Battery Park – Castle Garden, that was the entry point to the United States prior the facility on Ellis Island. Newly-arrived travelers share their reasons for immigrating and their hopes and dreams, finding love and success in a new land. An Irishman fleeing the potato famine; an Italian man who escaped from forced child labor in the sulphur mines of Sicily; the sole survivor of a pogrom (organized violence against Jews) in a Russian village; a woman who “always felt different” and ran from an arranged marriage; a Freeborn African American woman who works for the NYC Commission on Immigration. The building was briefly a prominent entertainment center. In a re-imagining of a night of entertainment at Castle Garden, the Italian tenor Lorenzo Salvi performs along with the infamous Lola Montez, dancer and courtesan, who recreates her notorious “Spider Dance.”
Lisa Monde portrays Mina (Romina Castello), an earlier immigrant from Italy.
Cast:
Rose, Freeborn African American – Crosbie Roper
Romina “Mina” Castello, Italian American – Lisa Monde
Jimmy Rogan, Irish immigrant – Christopher Lowe
Aldo, Italian worker on transatlantic ship – Aristotle Stamat
Clara, Russian immigrant – Leila Stricker
Lily, Polish immigrant – Amanda Boekelheide
Lola Montez, Dancer-actress – Vilma Hodo
Lorenzo Salvi, Italian opera star – Robert Gonzales Jr.
Crew:
Set design – Mark Marcante
Lighting design – Alexander Bartenieff
Costume design – Everett Clark
Sound design – Joy Linscheid
Prop design and building – Lytza R. Colon
Stage manager – Selear Duke
Graphic design – Virginia Asman
Original Music – Allison Tartalia
Photo and video services – Joe Bly
Purchase tickets at 212 254 1109, or www.theaterforthenewcity.net