Paul Stroili

Paul Stroili

Paul Stroili’s autobiographical solo show Straight Up with a Twist toured the U.S. for nearly ten years, culminating in a twice-extended Off-Broadway run. Stroili’s playwriting credits include A Jukebox for the Algonquin, Last Call at The Aardvark, Cheese Louise (with Maureen Morley), Plane Crazy (with Cissy Conner), and My Dinner with Arlecchino. His screenplay for the film The Beating was utilized by...
Paul Stroili’s autobiographical solo show Straight Up with a Twist toured the U.S. for nearly ten years, culminating in a twice-extended Off-Broadway run. Stroili’s playwriting credits include A Jukebox for the Algonquin, Last Call at The Aardvark, Cheese Louise (with Maureen Morley), Plane Crazy (with Cissy Conner), and My Dinner with Arlecchino. His screenplay for the film The Beating was utilized by Columbia College in their course of study on short filmmaking. Stroili’s writing has also appeared in Los Angeles Magazine and the Chicago Tribune. Recently, he served as Executive Producer for the feature film, Wake., currently in distribution through Gravitas Ventures. While residing in Los Angeles, he was a faculty member in the UCLA Entertainment Studies program. He currently lives in his adopted hometown of Chicago. He is a proud member of Actors’ Equity, the Screen Actors Guild and The Dramatists Guild, as well as being a resident artist at The Purple Rose Theatre, founded by Jeff Daniels. www.PaulStroili.com

Plays

  • Last Call at the Aardvark by Paul Stroili
    Recommendations: 2
    ·
    Cast: 
    3–5
    ·
    Genre: dark comedy, drama + 1 more
    ·
    Keyword: prohibition
    Genre: dark comedy, drama, period
    Keyword: prohibition
    The Bronx, 1935. The end of prohibition turned all the speakeasies into legitimate nightclubs, if you want to call The Aardvark Club legitimate. Honey has worn nearly every hat you can wear; slinging drinks, cooking the books, but at the end of the day, she’s a stripper.

    Most people come and go like ghosts, but it’s hard to miss Zack, an aspiring comic who performs at the club. Zack’s got some...
    The Bronx, 1935. The end of prohibition turned all the speakeasies into legitimate nightclubs, if you want to call The Aardvark Club legitimate. Honey has worn nearly every hat you can wear; slinging drinks, cooking the books, but at the end of the day, she’s a stripper.

    Most people come and go like ghosts, but it’s hard to miss Zack, an aspiring comic who performs at the club. Zack’s got some talent. He might even amount to something. So why did he have to tell that joke? One bad joke, about Frankie’s girl, no less – and club owner Frankie is not known for his sense of humor.

    Now Frankie has given Honey one more job to juggle. She’s got to help Zack build a whole new act for an audience of one. And as they say in comedy; “You either kill, or you just die up there.”
  • A Jukebox for the Algonquin by Paul Stroili
    Recommendations: 1
    ·
    Cast: 
    7
    ·
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 1 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, drama
    At a senior living community in the Adirondacks, a small group of residents decide they’re not quite ready to “go gentle into that good night.” This band of displaced former city dwellers from Brooklyn and The Bronx hatch a plot to prove that aging is not a New York state of mind. A Jukebox for the Algonquin is a tale about those who will not be forgotten - a serious comedy about sex, drugs, and rocking chairs.

Recommended by Paul Stroili

  • Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Elusive Ear by David MacGregor
    10 May. 2019
    “ Conan Doyle would be proud! Wonderful "tongue-in-cheek" social commentary, and funny as hell. Sherlock Holmes aficionados will love it, but one needn't be to have a great time at this rollicking, swordfighting romp - with Vincent Van Gogh and Oscar Wilde thrown in for good measure! ”
  • Never Not Once by Carey Crim
    18 Nov. 2017
    “ I was lucky enough to attend the reading at The Purple Rose Theatre, and mark my words - this play is a diamond waiting to be mined. Poignant, provocative, funny and timely - honest, fully-drawn characterizations plus dream roles for actors. Read it and you'll see for yourself. I've followed Carey Crim's work for awhile (Morning After Grace, Wake) and I truly think this is among her best in a body of already outstanding work. ”