Theater Review: 'Secondo' at Waterbury's Seven Angels Theatre

By Nancy Sasso Janis

Waterbury’s Seven Angels Theatre is back with an Equity production of “Secondo.” This new, one-woman comedy, written by Jacques Lamarre, is the sequel to “I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti.”

Lamarre is the playwright behind “Italian Mom Loves You!,” co-written with Daniel Franceze, “Love & Spumoni” and “I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti,” all of which were presented at Seven Angels. He is a Connecticut-based playwright and comedy writer.

In “Secondo,” which means “second” in Italian, the Italian-American Guilia is back in the kitchen. It has been ten years since she shared her dating difficulties in “Spaghetti,” while cooking onstage and sharing some of the food with some onstage guests.

It is the evening of her tenth wedding anniversary, and Giulia has decided to cook for her husband Gavin rather than go out for dinner. She hurriedly works in her unscale (and beautiful) Brooklyn kitchen, at the same time regaling the audience with stories of how married life has provided unexpected delights and challenges. Now one of her past boyfriends is back in New York and wants to reconnect. “Va bene?”

“Secondo” offers lots of new stories filled with plenty of laughs. You truly don’t need to have seen “Spaghetti” to enjoy this new show, because the playwright has woven in enough of the original in this updated script to make it easy to follow.

The prequel was based on the stories of Giulia Melucci included in her 2008 book. The inspiration for “Secondo” writes that she is “thrilled that Lamare is birthing a sequel for her, since she is kind of sick of herself. When she is not outsourcing her creativity, she’s a Vice President at Harper’s Magazine.”

The one-and-only Equity performer Maria Baratta returns to Seven Angels in this new comedy. In her program bio, she dubs the play “A gastronomy of Love, Culinary Mayhem and Absolute Magic. What more can Maria or Giulia ask for!” Baratta gives a master class in performing a one-woman show with charm, humor, and grace under pressure.

Michael Schiralli (“Italian Mom Loves You!”) directed this delightfully funny and touching production, writing in his director’s note: “Love, like a good meal, doesn’t get really interesting until the main course, the Secondo.” I attended a performance of the premiere of this sequel, without having seen “Spaghetti,” at TheaterWorks Hartford, and I enjoyed it just as much the second time. Seeing Baratta as Guilia just made it a bit more special for me.

I remembered the wonderful comedy in the story about Father Joel, the priest that married Guilia and Gavin (yes, she is still very Catholic) and Guilia’s hysterical phone conversations with her “ma,” her doorman and the guy at Whole Foods. Don’t miss how every time she uses the excuse “I’ve got people here” to get off the phone, she changes our identity.

The actor notes that it surely takes a village to bring great theater to life. Lamarre is grateful to Schiralli for being an amazing collaborator and Baratta for once again braving one of his plays with grace and “amore.” Equity member Kevin E. Thompson worked as stage manager and Emily Collins is in charge of reloading all of the ingredients as assistant stage manager.

Emily Nichols (“Cinderella,””Love and Spumoni,” “First Date” at Seven Angels) was in charge of designing the very impressive, working kitchen for Guilia to cook in. Kudos to the set designer for bringing a very upscale kitchen in Brooklyn to the Seven Angels stage.

Murrae Tiano, who was a stage manager and prop designer at Naugatuck Valley Community College, returns to the Seven Angels to serve as props master. Lighting designer Nathan Avakian makes both the set and the actor look wonderful. Shea Lopez was in charge of a long list of sound design elements, including cell phone rings and “Alexa” provided music.

Seven Angels is offering special complimentary food and drink nights and matinees at these remaining performances. Tonight is Fascia's Chocolates night, followed by Sweet Maria’s Bakery on March 30, Saturday, The Cave Bar on Apr. 1, and Big Dipper Ice Cream on Apr. 2.

The two acts are presented with a 15-minute intermission to give the actor time to regroup. “Secondo” continues at Seven Angels through April 2.

Nancy Sasso Janis, writing theatre reviews since 2012 as a way to support local venues, posts well over 100 reviews each year. In 2016, her membership in the Connecticut Critics Circle began and her contributions of theatrical reviews, previews, and audition notices are posted not only in the Naugatuck Patch but also on the Patch sites closest to the venue. She recently became a contributor to the Waterbury Republican-American newspaper. Her weekly column and theatre reviews appear in the Thursday Weekend section of the paper.

Follow the reviewer on her Facebook pages Nancy Sasso Janis: Theatre Reviewer and Connecticut Theatre Previews and on Twitter @nancysjanis417 Check out the NEW CCC Facebook page.