A VERY PUBLIC MARRIAGE PROPOSAL IN STAMFORD
A well-known Shakespearean tragedy had a happy ending last night. So much so that a certain production of OTHELLO may have well been ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL as the audience was treated to an on-stage marriage proposal.
There's something about the intense collaborative process of creating live theatre that brings people very close together. It's one of the reasons many performers (amateur and professional alike) go into a mini-depression when a show ends.
Sometimes that closeness lasts merely as long as the show itself - but often life-longs bonds are made. And at Curtain Call, those bonds turned to a marriage proposal as Kevin Thompson proposed to Julia Maggiola at the final bows on Thursday evening, July 18.
Having met during Curtain Call's Shakespeare on the Green production of The Tempest in 2009, they have shared the stage each summer since including this summer's 10th anniversary production of Othello. In Othello, Julia's character Desdemona is wrongly accused of having an affair with Kevin's character, Cassio,"but there is no mistaking their on-stage chemistry," said Lou Ursone, Curtain Call's executive director and producer for this show. "I am very, very happy for Julia and Kevin and wish them many years of happiness together" Ursone added.
Many actors will tell you that they have had their share of "showmances" - short-lived romances during the run of a show - but those flings tend not to last too long. But Curtain Call seems to be doing something right because, among many others, Joe Efferen and Kari Sweeney - another couple of Shakespeare on the Green alums - were recently engaged and plan to be married in August 2014. Curtain Call education director Brian Bianco met his fiance Donna Fox working on a production there too. Additionally, Peter Barbieri, Jr., Curtain Call's associate artistic director and director of the annual summer Shakespeare program met his wife Julia at Curtain Call in 2008 and are expecting their first child in January, 2014.
"We have always considered Curtain Call as a huge, extended family,"Ursone said. "On opening night, I always say to those new to Curtain Call, 'welcome to the family' and I mean it," he added.
