For Immediate Release: May 4, 2005
Media Contact: Jane Stojak, Triangle Theater, 215.763.0110

Ant'ny is a dandy, sharp-talking shyster and small-time bookie. His younger cousin Sonny, a gay hit man, runs a hair salon during the day and moonlights as a contract killer at night. This darkest of comedies “Moolah,” by Broadway playwright Arje Shaw, will have its premiere at the Triangle Theater on Thursday, May 19 and will run until June 5. (Thursday through Saturdays at 8 p.m.; Sundays at 3 p.m.)

“Moolah” is unique in breaking the stereotypical treatment of gays and tough guys by giving a human face to their desperation, each one with a bounty on his head, each one conning the other, only to find out they have conned themselves. Shaw appears in “Moolah” as Ant'ny, working with longtime friend and associate Ed Chemaly as Sonny. The show is directed by Jane Stojak, Executive Producer and Founder of Random Acts of Theater at the Triangle Theater.

Shaw wrote his first play, “A Catered Affair,” with George W. George, making his off-Broadway debut in 1992 at Madison Avenue Theater. He was 42 years old and based the play on his wife Esther's kosher catering business. This was followed by “The Gathering” starring Hal Linden on Broadway in 2001, following a successful Off-Broadway production at Playhouse 91 starring Theodore Bikel. The New York Times hailed “The Gathering” as “thoughtful, provocative, filled with humor and warmth, fierce drama, potent theater ... entertains as it touches the heart and stimulates the mind….”

Shaw's most recent play, “Magic Hands Freddy”, appeared Off-Broadway at the Soho Playhouse in 2004 and starred Michael Rispoli (“The Sopranos”) and Ralph Macchio (“The Karate Kid”). “Magic Hands Freddy” was rated the number one show in New York by Zagat in the Wall Street Journal. The New York Times wrote, “'Magic Hands Freddy” has a heart and soul open to the most exalted possibilities of art and life, ... engrossing, charming, touching ...to be savored.”

Shaw was recently named co-artistic director of Random Acts of Theater, the theater company in residence at the Triangle Theater. Stojak founded Random Acts of Theater in 1999 to produce the original works of local playwrights and to revive and re-interpret classic plays.

Shaw lives in Marlton, New Jersey with his wife Esther.

Tickets for “Moolah” are $25 on Saturday nights and $20 at all other performances. Seniors and students are entitled to $12 tickets with valid IDs. The Triangle Theater is located at 1220 N. Lawrence Street, Philadelphia. Call 215-763-0110 or e-mail tickets@triangletheater.com for information or reservations, or visit www.triangletheater.com for more information.

The Triangle Theater was created in 2001. Since 1999, its producing arm, Random Acts of Theater has produced 10 plays based on original material. The Triangle Theater was honored in November 2004 by the Theatre Alliance of Greater Philadelphia with a Barrymore award for New Collaborations in Theatre, for their collaboration with KitchenAid's The Book and The Cook festival on the Spring 2004 productions of Arje Shaw's “A Catered Affair” and Michael A. Carson's “Front of House.”

ART AVAILABLE ON REQUEST. Call Jane Stojak at 215-763-0110 or email janestojak@aol.com for art.

Go to News Releases»