CaptainSicily  

As far as I can remember I have always been attracted to people’s behavior and cultures. I wanted to be an actor, a writer and a director all for the same reason; molding and representing life no matter where it came from. In 3rd grade I fully realized that if I wanted to use my life adequately my only chance was leaving Palermo ‐ my hometown - as soon as I could and spreading my wings open elsewhere. However although it was clear to me that by proxy this would make me a bi-lingual individual - if I wanted to leave abroad - I still had no idea about the incredible challenge that learning another culture would have brought me. Born and bred in Sicily I left at the much too young age of 16 and moved to London to find out whether or not I had what it takes to survive life on my own. After 2 years in a perpetual drizzling weather, I tried my country again and moved to Rome - the capital of priests and politicians - where I soon realized that making a living, without the support of your family was virtually impossible. In '92 I took a leap of faith and came to New York City and within a week I easily found several jobs as a waiter. I made enough to rent my own little studio in the city and started shaping up my life in America. In '94, while still an acting student at the Espers Studio, I met my beloved partner, Steven C. Kleiser, a wonderful man who would change my life forever. Steven too, had a love for the theatre. He was an extraordinarily talented costume designer, but he was not yet in the union. So he worked Off-Broadway shows at night and on weekends, and subsidized that paycheck with a job at a translation agency five days a week. In order to see each other, I kept him company at the theatre whenever I could, not realizing that in the process, I was learning how to run a whole department in a production. It was better than anything anyone could teach you in a class. When Steve got the job to supervise the upcoming Off- Broadway ”I Love You, You’re Perfect… Now