A Queen For a Day

Wow. Wow. Wow. If you are a fan of this genre this is a «don’t miss». David Proval is gut wrenching. I was in the 3 row and could see his eyes tearing when his character became emotional. All of cast members are superb. Vincent Pastore is no longer a one dimensional actor to me anymore but now a respected broadway thespian. The story was spell binding. The set, while simple, was appropriate. The venue was intimate and perfect. This story can easily be made into a movie and become another Goodfellas. My message to anyone who relates to these storylines and was a Soprano type show fan– Go see this before it’s run is over.

This past Sunday I was able to enjoy a great mob drama in the play «A Queen for a Day» at St. Clements Theater in Manhattan. With a crew of 5 brilliant actors set in a warehouse they put together a story of two brothers who ran a mafia together. The elder brother «Nino» (David Proval) is given the opportunity to «rat» on his younger brother and mob boss «Pasquale» to avoid criminal charges of his own. He is given freedom to reveal truth of his brother’s crimes and amnesty from any claims he makes so as not to incriminate himself. However in the end he uncovers secrets of his own along with those that he never knew existed.
A great show for those who like mob dramas, intense dialogs, and that good old Italian attitude. If so, I highly recommend you check it out!

I had read the description of A Queen For a Day and the play caught my attention. As described by the other Unilocaler reviews, its a play centered around the struggle of a ‘made man’, deciding whether or not to help the government build a case against his brother, the boss, in exchange for immunity for his own crimes. Throughout the play, we see the ensuing struggle that this situation creates.
Much of this play is centered around the dialogue between two actors and one actress. The ‘made man’ (David Proval), his lawyer (David Deblinger), and the government agent (Portia). The acting was fantastic. Now since much of this play would be ruined if I went into too much detail, I won’t provide much else, other than to say, that this was a fabulous play to watch, if for nothing else, that the acting was fantastic.
As a side note, three of the actors were in the Sopranos. As another side note, Vincent Pastore who plays, Pasquale, the boss, isn’t seen until towards the end of the play.
Thanks Ruggy and Unilocal for the tickets. It was another awesome play to watch!

I have to say, it’s been a while since a live performance had me feeling anxious, waiting on the edge of my seat for what was going to happen next. The feeling that overtakes you when an actor truly makes you feel their emotions is something that is rare these days; feeling frightened when they are anxious, enraged when they are angry, distraught when they cry — this is something that we should all be lucky enough to experience once in a while.
It took a while for me to get into this performance; when you see a set that is clearly not going to be moving around much you know you will have to rely on the actors to make it work. When the wise guy Giovanni (played by David Proval) started cracking one liners off the bat, I settled in for what I assumed would be a mash up of the funny bits of Goodfellas the Sopranos. To a certain extent I was right as his character was at both demeaning and hilarious, but there was so much more to him than that. I won’t give anything away (not fair to this awesome performance), but let’s just say that the main character gives a portrayal of his turbulent (to put it mildly) life that requires a range that few people could pull off. David Proval did, and he did it well.
As for the set I mentioned earlier, while simple, did its job in a few very cool ways:
The lighting cast along the walls at different angles throughout the show, perfectly portrayed that time was passing; we were not left with the impression that the start time of the play was the same as the end. If anything time passed faster in this show and it appeared to be almost sunset when the play hit its final scene. The one door that «led outside» had a cool feature, in that anytime it opened New Jersey traffic could be heard faintly in the distance (the play takes place in a warehouse in NJ). The people who put this show did a great job with the minimalist set they had.
If enough people that come out to see this (and you should absolutely go out and see it), this will be yet another play that starts at St. Clements, but will absolutely move to a bigger and better venue. Huge shout out to Ruggy and Unilocal NYC for hooking us up with another amazing performance.

A wonderfully entertaining off Broadway play. Dark in theme.
The venue is the intimate and charactered stage of St. Clementine’s Episcopal Church. A small space serves this pocket story that intertwines the criminal underworld and what loyalty, family, and integrity mean when it comes down to survival or self-​preservation.
I don’t want to write too much about the story because it ruins experiencing this theater’s production and its nuances. The underlying story of a «made man (aka mobster)» turning «rat» is the initial entry point to pull the audience in, but it is a slippery slope into Nino’s story (played by David Proval). Nino’s balancing act of being a tough guy on the «outside» but being a human being with emotions on the «inside» is a seesaw performance of inner conflict. A lot of the comedic banter and sharp exchanges are carried by Nino and Patricia Cole (played by Portia). David Deblinger who plays Nino’s lawyer and Vincent Pastore round out the great acting and push the story’s subtle moments as well as the in-​your-​face moments with very organic finesse.
The simplicity of the story reflects itself in the the physical staging of the production which is very sparse and uses lighting and darkness to underscore moments or turning points in the play’s progression. However this simple story has a lot of complexity which is why there is so much «grey» area when trying to deal with things in the story as just black and white – or good and bad.
While it was nice to see this mini reunion of two stars from the Sopranos (Proval and Pastore) – I would totally recommend this show to anyone who wants a to see some theater that has tension, emotion, and struggle without a lot of pork or fattiness to it. Queen For The Day cuts right to the chase and doesn’t let go of you til the end. If you are not a fan of musicals, but a fan of serious theater… this production is for you.
Kudos to RUGGY and Unilocal for putting this together. What a great way to enjoy some great theater with fellow Unilocalers! Awesome.
Drops mic, so I can start rewatching The Sopranos!
I out!

This play is an entertaining and suspenseful. The plot highlights the human conflict between loyalty and self-​preservative. In this case a glance into one crime family GoodFella Giovanni who is torned between making a deal with the government or staying loyal to the «family.»
There are several twits and surprises in this play. You’ll have to see it for yourself!
The acting is great and the play is just over an an hour long.
We got luck and met David Proval and Vincent Pastore as they were leaving!
Interesting how three of the actors were in «Sopranos.» Portia as the government lawyer was very good. This play is worth seeing.
Note: at the beginning of Act I the actor do smoke.

A Queen For a Day is little play big on complexities, about loyalties between two brothers who are also murderers in different degrees, and for different reasons, and how deep our loyalties to our own selfish desires are and how much and who we will betray for them. Without giving much away, it starts off with a mob captain and his attorney, preparing to meet the District Attorney who will offer the mob captain a proffer, «A Queen For a Day», immunity from prosecution as long as the mob captain can «give up» his boss. The catch is that the boss is the captain’s brother. The physical setting is stark, an undisclosed location portrayed by a table with three chairs, grey grimy walls. Nothing is pretty because betrayal isn’t pretty, and what these men, lawyer included, morally corrupt and bankrupt, do or have done is not pretty. The mob captain Nino is played by David Proval, with all the mannerisms and prejudices of a narrow-​minded, old fashioned Italian male. With a twist. For this story doesn’t lack for shades of grey and contrasts; when Nino reminisces about the good old days with a certain gentility, you almost forget these men are mafia. The gun on the table reminds you what they do and really are. Portia, who plays the D.A., Patricia Cole, is electric, attacking mobster and attorney with words and a manner charged with all the ferocity of a sprung bear trap. She snaps and challenges and hammers away at Nino to betray his brother because she wants her prey, Paquale, the Head Don. I had a great deal of fun watching her. The first act of this play did go a little slowly for me at times. When Cole pounds at Nino, demanding he «fess» up some real evidence, I felt her impatience. Then something happens and you are agape with an «OH!» The second act moves faster and you wait for the what you believe will be the inevitable conclusion, and many in the audience will be open mouthed again.
I enjoyed the play, though I thought the weakest part was with Pasquale and not for any fault of Vincent Pastore. While the bulk of Pastore is intimidating, you don’t get the sense of how cold and ruthless he can be based on the character himself because of the scarcity of his lines, the short time he’s on stage. Had this been a movie, this might have worked better for you might see, via closeup, the menace in his face, his expressions or lack of it. Regret, conflict, are not the easiest to portray and Pastore face seemed hidden in shadows. St. Clements is a good venue for this play, intimate, and small, the better to see the expressions on the actors faces, their gestures. I thought a church for this story held a certain irony.
Thanks Ruggy and Unilocal for an enjoyable evening. Thanks Rich W. for being a true Unilocal friend.
Definitely a recommended yes for fans of wiseguy movies, fans of the two leads, and for those who you enjoy watching drama about conflicted human beings forced to choose between family and themselves. I would have settled for 3.5 stars and debated about awarding 3 stars due to the uneven pace but Portia’s sizzling performance had me go for the higher 4 stars.