My Mother’s Italian, My Father’s Jewish & I’m in Therapy!

Paul Kreppel in My Mother's Italian, My Father's Jewish & I'm in Therapy

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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Steve Solomon’s international hit comedy My Mother’s Italian, My Father’s Jewish & I’m in Therapy! opens Wednesday October 19 starring Tony Award-winner Paul Kreppel. The hilarious show runs at the Bathurst St. Theatre through to January 1, 2012. Tickets are on sale through Ticketmaster or www.italianjewish.ca.

My Mother’s Italian, My Father’s Jewish & I’m in Therapy! played for almost two years in New York City in the heart of Broadway at the Little Shubert Theatre and the Westside Theatre; and has toured nationally and internationally in more than 100 cities. Kreppel performed in the show for over a year in New York City which, during his run there, won Broadway.com’s "Favorite New Play" Award.

Variety said it’s
"a little Alan King here, a pinch of Seinfeld there, with a smidgen of Don Rickles, Billy Crystal and George Carlin thrown in."

Regis Philbin called it
"Hysterically funny! Non-stop laughs all the way! I can’t recommend this show enough, it’s just great!"

And Martha Stewart Living Radio raved that it was
"as heartwarming as comfort food. Everyone can relate to this!"

Hadassah Magazine described it as
"a 90-minute laugh-fest!" 

Paul Kreppel in My Mother's Italian, My Father's Jewish & I'm in TherapyPaul Kreppel is best known to TV fans as lounge lizard Sonny Mann in the 80’s sitcom "It’s A Living." His hundreds of other TV appearances include everything from "The Love Boat" to "ER" and as Jackie’s Dad on "That 70’s Show!"

He won a 2007 Tony Award for co-directing/producing/creating Jay Johnson: The Two and Only! (Jay Johnson is a ventriloquist best known for his role on the groundbreaking television show "Soap." He played Chuck Campbell, a ventriloquist who believed his puppet Bob was real and demanded everyone treat Bob as human.)

Kreppel’s New York acting credits include Joseph Papp’s New York Shakespeare Festival productions at the Public, Lincoln Center’s Vivian Beaumont and Shakespeare in the Park’s Delacorte Theaters. His on and off-Broadway acting credits include Godspell, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh!, The Proposition and Joseph Papp’s productions of The Comedy of Errors, Agamemnon and Alice in Concert, and, of course, My Mother’s Italian, My Father’s Jewish and I’m in Therapy! – as well as starring in the national tour of Jerome Robbins’ Broadway.

Kreppel’s theatre directing credits include the Godspell national tour, Both Barrels, Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh!, God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, and world premieres of Zero Hour and Don’t Hug Me.
 
Written by award-winning author Steve Solomon, the hilarious one-man comedy is based on Solomon’s life growing up in a wacky family noted for its bi-ethnic diversity and aptitude for dysfunctional behavior. The author, whose mother is from Palermo and whose father is from Russia, grew up with his older sister (The Smoker!) in Brooklyn, NY.

Described as "One part lasagna, one part kreplach, and two parts Prozac," you don’t have to be Jewish or Italian to love this show. All you need is to know what it feels like to leave a family dinner with heartburn and a headache!

The production was awarded "Audience Choice Award – Favorite New Play" by Broadway.com and won the  "Theater Fans Choice Award" for Best off-Broadway play on BroadwayWorld.com.

Solomon has written two sequels to his original hit: My Mother’s Italian, My Father’s Jewish and I’m STILL in Therapy and his hilarious holiday show My Mother’s Italian, My Father’s Jewish and I’m Home for the Holidays!  All three are currently touring the United States starring either Solomon (who spends more than 40 weeks each year touring with his shows) or other actors he’s trained to keep up with demand. The original show has played almost 1,900 times since its inception, making it one of the longest running one man comedy shows on record.


The show is produced by Philip Roger Roy, Dana Matthow and Bud Martin. Producer Philip Roger Roy previously produced Let My People Come which opened in Toronto in 1981 at Basin St. Cabaret (180 Queen St. West) and ran 3 years there before moving to Club 21 at 21 Yorkville for another 3 years, before moving back to Basin St. for 6 months, and then to the New York Hotel & Dinner Theatre (formerly and presently the DRAKE Hotel) for another 2 years. It ran a total of  8 years as Canada’s longest-running-(Equity licensed) musical ever, playing to over 400,000 people. A second production of Let My People Come toured Canada twice to London, Ottawa, Calgary, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Saskatoon, Vancouver and Victoria BC.

Tickets can be purchased through Ticketmaster at 1-855-985-ARTS (2787) or online at
www.italianjewish.ca or www.ticketmaster.ca. Group discounts for 15 or more, call toll free: 1-855-HIT-SHOW (1-855-448-7469).

BIOS:

PAUL KREPPEL Paul Kreppel is thrilled to be making his Toronto acting debut in "Therapy" following his successful long run starring as Steve in My Mother’s Italian… in New York City. A Tony Award winner, Paul is best known to TV fans as lounge lizard Sonny Mann in the 80’s sitcom "It’s A Living." His hundreds of other TV appearances include everything from "Laverne & Shirley," "The Love Boat," and "$25,000 Pyramid" to "ER" and as Jackie’s Dad on "That 70’s Show!" The latter distinction meaning he married Brooke Shields and fathered Mila Kunis. Paul’s NY acting credits include appearances in Joseph Papp’s productions at the Public Theater, Lincoln Center’s Vivian Beaumont Theater and Shakespeare in the Park’s Delacorte Theater, working with the equally youthful Meryl Streep, Danny DeVito, Ted Danson, and Linda Lavin among others. He also appeared in the original production of Godspell and the original casts of Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh! – the Allan Sherman musical, The Proposition and the NY premiere of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. While appearing in "MMI," Mr. Kreppel and his partner Ms. Murphy Cross (WetRock Entertainment) were the recipients of the 2007 Tony Award for "Best Special Theatrical Event" for co-conceiving /directing/producing Broadway’s Jay Johnson: The Two and Only! They also produced off-Broadway’s award-winning musical The Big Voice: God or Merman? Paul and Murphy recently produced and directed a star-studded benefit for The Actors Fund entitled: Six Degrees of Marvin Hamlisch starring Marvin Hamlisch, Lucie Arnaz, Robert Klein, Victor Garber, Leslie Gore, among many others. They are currently developing several theatre projects including First Kids, a musical about the triumphant and tragic lives of the children of the U.S. presidents. Paul has appeared across the United States at The Williamstown and Berkshire Theater Festivals, Studio Arena, Los Angeles’ Reprise and Mark Taper Forum as well as starring from coast-to-coast in Jerome Robbins’ Broadway. Paul’s stage directing credits also include Godspell, Hello Muddah, The All Night Strut, and TV directing credits include "Brotherly Love," "It’s A Living" and "Dave’s World." Want more? Visit: www.paulkreppel.com

STEVE SOLOMON A native of Brooklyn, Steve grew up in the multi-ethnic neighborhood of Sheepshead Bay. This was the perfect training ground for a dialectician and comedian. Steve learned at an early age how to use his gift for imitating accents to his advantage. He also realized that he was a prolific writer of jokes and stories; real jokes. He submitted dozens of his stories to periodicals, friends & stand up comics he knew in the business. With the coming of the internet & e-mail, Steve now had an outlet for much of his comedy writings. One e-mail full of his jokes became ten, ten became hundreds, soon thou- sands of fellow e-mailers were enjoying Steve’s humor; and so it went for over twenty years. To this day, Steve receives e-mail versions of his own jokes from all over the world. So, if some of the hilarious stories you hear "ring" familiar; trust me, they’re probably Steve’s. Using humor, dialects & sound effects in teaching, Steve was real life version of Gabe Kaplan’s "Welcome Back Kotter." Eventually, Steve became a Physics teacher and a school administrator on Long Island, New York. He left his academic career behind and turned his attention to his latent love of making people laugh.


As Steve puts it, "I decided to follow my heart and become an impoverished comedy writer and performer." Steve’s show, the two-time award-winning My Mother’s Italian, My Father’s Jewish and I’m In Therapy has met with rave reviews to sold out crowds throughout the country & became one of the longest running one-man comedy shows in history. This hilarious show highlights the very best of his writing talents. Steve has written two additional sequels to his original hit: My Mother’s Italian, My Father’s Jewish and I’m STILL in Therapy and his hilarious holiday show; My Mother’s Italian, My Father’s Jewish and I’m Home for the Holidays! All three of Steve’s shows are currently touring the United States and have received critical acclaim including The Connecticut Critics Circle and The San Francisco Drama Desk nomination.

Hilarious one-man comedy hits Toronto!
MY MOTHER’S ITALIAN, MY FATHER’S JEWISH & I’M IN THERAPY!

By Steve Solomon

Starring Tony Award-winner Paul Kreppel

OPENS OCTOBER 19, 2011 and runs to January 1, 2012
Bathurst St. Theatre, 736 Bathurst St. (south of Bloor St. W.)
Performance times: Wed at 2pm & 7pm; Thurs and Fri at 8pm; Sat at 2pm and 8pm; Sun at 2pm & 5:30pm.
Ticket prices (includes HST): Wed & Thurs –  $51.50; Fri, Sat & Sun –  $56. (Discounts for groups of 15+)
For tickets, call Ticketmaster at 1-855-985-ARTS (2787) or purchase online at www.italianjewish.ca
(Groups 15 or more, call toll free: 1-855-HIT-SHOW or 1-855-448-7469)
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