Joe Simonelli
Called "the next Neil Simon," Simonelli's plays have delighted audiences and production companies with their fast humor, simple stagings and quirky characters.
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Men are Dogs Heaven Help Me Roommates
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The fast paced world of Wall Street is broadly parodied in this side-splitting comedy where rapid-fire repartee is the norm and the doors never stop slamming.
Set in a small suburban brokerage office, things start to unravel when it is learned that Jeff Hanson's biggest client, Herb Willy, is planning to pull his brokerage account from the firm. Since this account generates most of the revenue for the office, Tom, the rather unscrupulous office manager, hatches a plan to try to retain the account. As they uncover that Jeff s client has a weak spot for blondes, they decide to sic a femme fatale on the unsuspecting and rather nerdish Willy.
But who to get on such short notice? Why Jeff s unfaithful and rather promiscuous fiancee Myra. Throw into the mix a pesky singing telegram messenger, a surprise audit by the female compliance officer and a deranged female client who holds the office hostage in act two, and you have a madcap caper that will keep audiences in stitches from beginning to end.
Five women, ages thirty to sixty.
Doctor Cecelia Monahan thinks she has everything under control. As a family therapist she runs a support group for single and divorced women who are trying to come to grips with the way they are treated by the various men in their lives.
One member of her group only dates police officers while another had a boyfriend who, unbeknownst to her, was a bank robber. As she listens to the complaints of her group her eavesdropping mother, who lives upstairs from her home office, constantly plagues with unwanted advice on everything from cooking to dating.
Cecelia is not above employing some rather unorthodox methods in therapy. She hires a young bartender/actor to interact with her group. Role playing, however, can be quite dangerous in Dr. Monahan's group therapy as a hostile cadre of angry woman beats the unsuspecting bartender senseless.
It's only when she meets, the new substitute postal delivery person, Bob Crowley that the smitten Cecelia must learn to practice what she preaches.
"...a sweet sitcom about the life of a woman psychologist...it's group therapy with a women's support group, and the comedy sections work the best..." Richmond Shepard, Performing Arts insider (New York City)
"...audiences are doubling up with laughter." Asbury Park Press.
"Simonelli displays an adept comic touch..the group therapy sessions alone are worth the price of admission." Phil Dorian - Two River Times
2 men, ages 25 to 45.
clip 1 from Men are dogs
clip 2 from Men are dogs'Heaven Help Me' Synopsis
The three Holloway brothers have a slight problem. The chain of restaurants left to them by their father is close to receivership. The only remaining asset they jointly own is an old beach house located on a valuable bit of waterfront property in Rockaway, New York.
The dilemma? Their deceased brother, Fred, who also happened to be the only brother who knew anything about running restaurants, is haunting the beach house. And to make matters worse, he doesn't even believe he's dead!
It's up to the three remaining siblings to convince him that he is indeed a ghost and that he should stop haunting the house so they can unload it. Eldest brother Sam wants to sell the beach house and put the money into saving the restaurants. More pragrnatic middle sibling Kevin, who also happens to be the companies' accountant, has an overbearing wife and children to answer to. And younger 'black sheep' brother Rollie, desperately needs the money to settle gambling debts. Add Rollie's ditzy New Jersey girlfriend and the deceased Fred's remarried widow to the mix and you have a recipe for fun.
Act two opens with one of the funniest seance's since "Ethel tried to contact Tillie." The play ends with a 'twist' ending that will leave a smile on everyone's face.
Four Men, ages thirty to sixty.
clip from Heaven Help MeFrank Avino is a divorced 40-something accountant with dreams of becoming a best selling author. A pretty smooth operator when it comes to the dating game, Frank's only problem seems to be how to keep his overbearing mother back in Brooklyn and out of his small suburban New Jersey apartment.
The serenity is broken when a police officer brings Frank's best friend Tom over to the tiny apartment. Tom, it seems, has been thrown out of the house of his live in girlfriend due to a domestic squabble. The "put open" Frank agrees to let Tom stay a few nights until he can find his own place. However as the days turn into weeks Frank is a little concerned that Tom is getting too comfortable.
Add in a tough downstairs landlord, Franks' latest flame and a surprise visit by Frank's mother and things start to get hilarious. When fFrank learns, that Tom has started to date his older sister he has had enough and hatches a plan to get rid of him without hurting his feelings.
In his review of this play the critic for the Asbury Park Press referred to the author as "the next Neil Simon."
Two women, 40 to 65.
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clips are best veiwed when save to desktop
"...don't miss Ladies in Lingerie." Two River Times
"Romance.com, with words, book and lyrics by Joe Simonelli, is a promising new work...the musical scenes are witty, funny and poignant." Hi Drama Manhattan cable Theatre review program
"...the audience at the performance I attended certainly couldn't get enough of it." Mitch Montgomery-
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clip from Roommates
Five women, 15 to 50.
clip from The Next Time Around