Also Contains Shocking Details of Leonard’s Mysterious Death and Disappearance.
Two plays by world-renowned Off-Broadway playwright Leonard Melfi have just been published for the first time. The Violinist is the last play Leonard ever completed. It’s full length, just as stunning as any of his earlier works, and also one of his most autobiographical. “The Son of Redhead” is a mesmerizing one-act tragicomedy Leonard wrote in the 1980s. But he gave away his only copy and never thought to track it down. Years later, brother John did the tracking and found it.
Also included is “Leonard’s Final Odyssey” by his brother John, which reveals all the details surrounding Leonard’s mysterious death and disappearance. What happened could have been—and was—something from one of Leonard’s own plays. Leonard Melfi died in New York City on October 28, 2001, but was not laid to rest in the Melfi family plot in Binghamton for almost six months. The tragedy, the mistakes, the cover ups, the lies, the desperate search for a beloved family member, friend, and shining light of American avant-garde theatre… all revealed here for the first time.
Leonard Melfi is best known for his one-act “Birdbath”—which plumbs the depths of love, desire, and ambition—and his contribution to Oh! Calcutta!, the longest-running revue in Broadway history. In praise of Leonard, superstar playwright Edward Albee said “Years ago, there were many serious and daring individuals in Greenwich Village under 30 as well as young playwrights, myself included. It was a wild and vital time, and no one was more vital than Leonard.”
You can get The Violinist and The Son of Redhead: Two Plays by Leonard Melfi at Amazon. Also like the official Leonard Melfi Facebook page. And read this review of the book in the Wilmington StarNews.
