About the Play:

Mambo Italiano is a full-length comedic drama by Steve Galluccio. Take two gay men who are still "in the closet." Toss in Italian parents who haven't left the Old Country behind. Add two 20-something women trapped between duty and desire. Stir in a family secret. Give it a good shake and what do you have? The hilarious yet touching comedy called Mambo Italiano, which is considered one of the most successful plays in Canadian theatre.

Mambo Italiano is a coming-out classic set in Montreal's Little Italy. Angelo is a nice Italian boy. He lives at home with his parents, who won't hear of him moving out until he gets married. The trouble is, Angelo is in love with another boy. When his sister Anna finally persuades him to come out of the closet, Angelo's traditional parents don't know what to make of his sexual orientation and nearly abandon him. And things only get worse when Angelo's mother spills the beans to his partner Nino's widowed mother, who Nino did not want to know about the relationship. Often compared to a gay My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Mambo Italiano is the journey two families take towards honesty and acceptance. As in the real world, some make it, some don't, and some make it later rather than sooner.

His first major stage play, Mambo Italiano, was translated into French by Michele Tremblay and produced by the Théâtre Jean-Duceppe in 2002, then in 2003 at the venerable Centaur Theatre, the oldest English-language theatre in Montréal. A hit in both French and English, the play has toured Québec in French (Compagnie Jean Duceppe), and remains the longest running play in Centaur's history. It was adapted for the big screen and became an international hit which sold in more than 50 countries.

Cast: 4 female, 3 male

What people say:

"Anyone who saw My Big Fat Greek Wedding ... will see many parallels in Mambo Italiano. They're both about ethnic families that won't let go of their children, and they're both very, very funny." — Montreal Gazette

"Mambo Italiano deftly mixes comedy and substance while dealing with the difficulties gay lovers face in their relationship." — Los Angeles Times

"It's fresh, funny and terribly touching!" — Toronto Star

"Mambo Italiano is, simply put, a very funny play. It has all the right ingredients to keep you laughing and to touch your heart at the same time." — The Beat Magazine

"Mambo Italiano has entered the realm of the theatrical phenomenon...." — The Globe and Mail

About the Playwright:

Steve Galluccio is a Canadian playwright and screenwriter who has written box office hits in both English and French. His plays are, for the most part, rooted in Italian immigrant behaviour. The son of parents who came to Montréal from Campania, he was raised in Montréal's tight-knit Little Italy, and earned a degree in translation from Concordia University. He taught briefly at Berlitz, audited creative writing classes, and worked in Montréal's vibrant underground theatre scene. He burst into "legit" theatre in with his breakthrough work Mambo Italiano and repeated his box office success with In Piazza San Domenico.