Mineola’s theater scene has a new player: Mezzo Theatrical. The family-run production company is beginning to rehearse “Almost, Maine,” its inaugural play in a new location, which will open May 1.
Co-founders and spouses Cathryn and John Mezzo said they have high hopes for the Mineola theater, and are looking to the future for cooperation among local businesses and government. They said they want to “light the darkness” both literally on stage and figuratively, bringing art to difficult moments.
“We’re hoping to find a home in downtown Mineola. That’s our goal,” said Cathryn Mezzo, who also works as creative director, said. The Mezzos are renting a stage at the village’s First Presbyterian Church on First Street. and Main Street, but the church is not in partnership with the company.
“The building next door to the 140-year-old church is a community event building,” Cathryn said. “There is a beautiful little black-box theater that has been standing vacant. John discovered it, and we felt it was the perfect place to set up shop.”
The Mezzos describe “Almost, Maine” as a funny, poignant play set in a fictional Northern Maine town called Almost. The play of vignettes by John Cariani is surreal and romantic, with a melancholic blur between the realistic and the fantastic, they said.
The couple said they hope to forge relationships with Mineola’s business community, a partnership that could eventually include promotional events such as dinner-and-a-show deals.
“We believe to revitalize a village, you have to make it a destination for the arts,” Cathryn said. “We want to help boost the restaurants in our downtown area as well as our theater company.”
They said they enlisted the help of two friends, award-winning editor Andrew Morreale and assistant director Melissa Ryan, who are each working on a portion of the vignettes.
The two said they met through theater in a production of “Once Upon a Mattress” at St. Aidan’s Summer Stage in 1986. They said they were married in 1996 and now have a son, a violinist and composer living in Brooklyn.
“I was painting the sets, and he was playing Prince Dauntless,” Cathryn said.
John Mezzo said the company has done several plays, musicals and original productions in the past. He said he frequently directs, and on occasion acts, while Cathryn covers sets, costumes, props and other artistic elements.
“There’s a lot of experience here,” John said. “If I do say so myself, [our shows] are professional, well done, invested in, polished and we have top-notch people.”
The two said they pay actors, stage managers, and other team members. They said that even though not everyone who auditions is cast in the show, they are intentional about following up with actors and having conversations to strengthen the acting community in the area.
They said they are not an Equity theater, meaning they don’t hire Equity actors. The Mezzos said they had actors from across the island and into the city come out for auditions.
“We wouldn’t consider ourselves a community theater either,” Cathryn said. “We’re sort of in the middle. We’re a mix of professional and volunteer.”
“We have a curated approach to hiring talented people to perform amazing shows,” John said. “I believe that theater companies owe it to their audiences to put out a polished finished product.”
The Mezzos said they hope to pack the audience for the run of “Almost, Maine” and will open ticket sales soon.
