Plays
David
has written dozens of plays, both full-length and short
pieces. A number of them have been produced by theater
companies around the world, and many have been published, as
well, including these highlighted pieces (links to PDFs of
the scripts. Contact
David for performance rights. There is no fee for
schools, but I would appreciate being contacted if a
performance is scheduled.)
Colene Byrd and Ray Baker in the brown couch
production of Resurrection, directed by Allison QuetelArnold Nawrocki is Dead, a short piece in which two men ruminate over the obituary of the man who perfected the process of individually wrapping cheese slices, premiered at the 2004 Boston Theater Marathon. Resurrection (2005) Eugene O'Neill once suggested that man should experience a resurrection a week. How do you suppose mankind would react? This short play presents one possibility. Resurrection premiered simultaneously in 2005 at both the brown couch theatre in Chicago and Studio Rep of Rhode Island, was presented as part of the 2006 Boston Theater Marathon, and the Curan Theater of New York City's Notes from the Underground one-act festival. It's my favorite piece and I hope you'll take a few minutes to read it here. Upon Seeing God in Dearborn. Percy is a birthday present on his way to a little girl's party. Life couldn't be better. But into the mailbox falls Raymond, a PAYMENT OVERDUE notice, who doesn't share Percy's rosy view of the world - or the postal system.
- The End is about how a father's impending death affects his three sons differently. It was published by JAC Publishing & Promotions in 2005. It premiered at the ACME short play festival in 2006.
- Top of the World, Ma! is spoof of "Outward-Bound" type of programs for executives, In this comedy (black, no sugar) two office workers realize they are the only ones to have survived the day's challenge. This piece was presented brilliantly in July 2001 as part of Waltham's Hovey Players Summer Shorts Festival and was published in 2003 by Brooklyn Publishing.
- Good for Nothing (a wild take on the current crop of reality-based TV shows) was produced by several companies before being published by Brooklyn Publishing in 2004.
David, director Carmel O'Reilly,
and the cast of Sugan Theater's
production of "Arnold Nawrocki
is dead, performed at the 2004
Boston Theater Marathon.
Immaculate Deception is a sports-themed short piece. Pittsburgh natives Harry and Frank return to their boyhood homes after their father's funeral. There, they learn that the secret their deceased mother had been hiding from their father - and them.
Ice Age was written after the world learned that Ted Williams, the Splendid Splinter, was, after death, frozen at a facility on Arizona. It begged the question "what will eventually happen to the greatest hitter that ever lived?" This short play takes a stab at one scenario.
What Would A.R. Do? (also titled, "Maintaining Appearances") spoofs the life styles of the rich and self-centered. It was produced for the 2003 ACME Theater New Winter Works Festival in Maynard, MA.
The Riverbank Code, a full-length drama for the stage is based on the true story of the people who in 1916 proved in court that Francis Bacon wrote Shakespeare. Published by the Eldridge Publishing Company in 2003.
Another full-length piece is the comedy I.P.O. which takes place on the last full day of the 1990s, as we follow Gil Bates, who has quit his Harvard scholarship to grab his share of the Internet boom and start a new company. Over the course of this one day, Gil battles with his investor-father, his competitors, his girlfriend, and a myriad of temptations of the 1990s, while his company rises from nothing (we start with an empty stage in the morning) to the height of a media-driven frenzy (mid-day the office is crowded with furniture, reporters, and lawyers) to the inevitable collapse of the company (as the last lines of the play are spoken, a worker is removing the desks and chairs.) A staged reading was performed at the Quannapowitt Playhouse in February, 2011.
Last, but surely not least is CURSE OF THE BAMBINO, the musical I wrote with composer Steve Bergman. It premiered at Boston's Lyric Stage in 2001 and yes, we rewrote the ending after 2004. Go here to visit the official web site of the musical, or click here to view the PDf of the script.
Movie Scripts
- PONZI! A collaboration with the late Arnie Reisman, this script is about the infamous Boston swindler who, coincidentally, operated at the exact same time that Harry Frazee sold Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees.
- Placed in the quarter finals of the 2001 Scriptapalooza Screen Writers competition
- Honorable mention in the Writer's Network FADE IN contest in 2003.
- Be Careful What You Wish For..., both a novel and screenplay, which tell the story about how the Red Sox finally winning the World Series affects the lives of several Bostonians. (Note: this was written BEFORE 2004) The novel is now available for purchase on Kindle.
- Screenplay was a finalist in Screenplay Festival's 2003 competition
- Placed in the quarter finals of Fade-In Magazine's annual screenwriting competition in 2004
Acting & StandupAlthough they can be a fun way to earn a buck, both are harder than they look. Aside from extra work in several movies and TV shows shot here in the Boston area, David has also performed in stage shows such as Late Night Catechism and Curley: The Musical and was also a cast member of the traveling troupe of Joey & Maria's Italian Wedding (he played a priest and his wife Mauzy played a nun. Yes, they still have their costumes. No, they don't wear them.) David also spent three plus years writing and performing standup comedy, and likes to say that he saw the back of every Chinese restaurant between Narragansett, Rhode Island to York Beach, Maine.
In the mid-1990s David did some extra work on several movies and TV shows that were filmed here in Boston. Here is David in his big scene with Dylan McDermott (in the pilot episode of "The Practice") which shows David and McDermott together on screen. (By watching the whole scene here you can appreciate the Zapruder-like capture of this one fleeting moment...)
Finally, David takes strange pride in noting that thanks to his 7.4 seconds on the HBO special "The Curse of the Bambino" (yes, he timed it) he has his very own page on the Internet Movie Database website. (Click on the IMBD logo above to see it)