For the last thirty years, New Haven, Connecticut has been gifted with an outstanding present: The International Festival of Arts and Ideas. Every June, this year from June 13 to 28, plus assorted days in May, the New Haven community has 150 opportunities to celebrate the artistic treasures from all over the world, most at no cost, for children to adults, individuals and groups that have been invited to share their achievements in a most exciting manner. 2025 is no exception. One that is outstanding for the whole family is being offered by The Broken Umbrella Theatre that focuses on one of New Haven’s most delicious and traditional gifts to the world: pizza.
Created in 2008, the Broken Umbrella Company is known for focusing on special New Haven achievements and immortalizing them in original theatrical productions. In the past, they have presented plays about A. C. Gilbert and his Erector Sets, Charles Goodyear’s vulcanization of rubber, the first switchboard, as well as stories about corsets and bicycles and matches and lollipops to name but a few. Why did it take them so long to focus on New Haven’s history of pizza? It’s about time that thin crust, slightly blackened, pepperoni and cheese delight, got its recognition.
In a tribute to the immigrant families that brought this delicious culinary treat to our shores, on the 100th anniversary of Frank Pepe’s Pizzeria Napolotana, "A Family Business: (A) Pizza Play" is a new production by A Broken Umbrella Theatre. Pepe’s opened in 1925, while Pepe’s nephew Salvatore Consiglio opened Sally’s in 1938, again on Wooster Street. Modern and Zuppardi's are relative newcomers. Rather than focusing on the families like the ones that made Pepe's, Sally’s, Modern and Zuppardi's so popular, almost causing wars about which one was best, this story is about a family, the Carbonizattos who for over 100 years and many generations have had an historical attachment to pizza slices. The company, with Jes Mack as director, has taken on the task of telling the tale of all the great pizza ovens and clans all stirred and taken into one great fictionalized unit, looking backward, to the present, and forward to the future, proving that “one slice don’t make a pie.” Women entrepreneurs and their children work to continue their heritage against many odds.
Adding authenticity to the story, the play will be performed at the future home of City Seed and Sanctuary Kitchen where immigrants and new residents will be schooled in how to use food to build economic opportunities. This new home at 162 James Street in New Haven will become part of the story with Sanctuary Kitchen providing concessions at selected shows as well as slices being available. Performances are Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m., and Sunday at 3 p.m. Shows are one hour and 30 minutes. Tickets are $44.86 - $52.42 by PayPal or credit or debit cards online at artidea.org/event/2025/5637. Discount tickets are also available.
This is a family show for all ages, a cultural showcase by a hardworking nonprofit theatre, where most of the teams of people are volunteers. They are currently working on renovating their new home in Westville, at 280 Blake Street, a former dry cleaner’s and mechanic shop, to make it a welcoming space for other theatre groups to hold their productions. It will include a black box space, a bar, a patio, their headquarters, be called The Umbrella and be elegant and amazing for the community.
Take full advantage of all the Festival has to offer: a circus, films, food, ideas, Juneteenth, music genres, neighborhood events, stories, theater, tours, discussions, slavery project, garden of healing, bike rides, photography, panel discussions, restaurant week, cemetery, hip hop, cooking with legend Jacques Pepin, marketplace, walking tour, secret societies, queer history murals, PechaKucha, picnics, sketching, and, of course, (A) Pizza Play about the Pizza Capital of America.
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