Mario Correa

Mario Correa

Born in Santiago, Chile and raised in Chile and the United States, Mario Correa worked for a number of years in politics before becoming a writer. His hit play TAIL! SPIN!, starring Saturday Night Live vet Rachel Dratch and directed by Tony nominee Dan Knechtges, played an acclaimed, extended run Off Broadway in 2014-2015. A New York Times “Critic's Pick,” TAIL! SPIN! was nominated for Best Unique...
Born in Santiago, Chile and raised in Chile and the United States, Mario Correa worked for a number of years in politics before becoming a writer. His hit play TAIL! SPIN!, starring Saturday Night Live vet Rachel Dratch and directed by Tony nominee Dan Knechtges, played an acclaimed, extended run Off Broadway in 2014-2015. A New York Times “Critic's Pick,” TAIL! SPIN! was nominated for Best Unique Theatrical Experience by the Off-Broadway Alliance. Its 2012 NYC Fringe Festival premiere was a GLAAD Media Awards nominee for Outstanding New York Theater: Off-Off Broadway.

Mario’s play, COMMANDER, won the Carol Weinberg Award for Best Play and was named Best Production at the 2015 Baltimore Playwrights Festival (Chelsea Dove directed at Vagabond Theatre). Featured in the 2015 John F. Kennedy Center's Page to Stage Festival, COMMANDER was Runner-Up for the National Latino Playwriting Award from Arizona Theatre Company and a semi-finalist for the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s National Playwrights Conference. Mario was awarded a "BRIClab" artists residency by Brooklyn's BRIC Arts + Media to develop COMMANDER.

Mario has also written for television and documentary film. He was a staff writer for two seasons on WHOA! SUNDAY WITH MO ROCCA, a script consultant on the acclaimed documentary ELECTORAL DYSFUNCTION, and a writer for numerous TV pilots.

Mario has also been a broadcaster and was the host of Entertainment Weekly Radio’s daily arts and culture program, NEWS & NOTES, on SiriusXM. He has contributed to NPR’s Weekend Edition Sunday, WNYC Public Radio's Soundcheck, and many other programs.

Plays

  • TAIL! SPIN! by Mario Correa
    Cast: 
    5
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    Genre: biography, comedy + 8 more
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    Keyword: Sex, news + 5 more
    Genre: biography, comedy, dark comedy, docudrama/historic, drama, experimental, farce, parody/spoof, political, satire
    Keyword: Sex, news, scandal, Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, social issues, LGBTQ
    "MORDANTLY FUNNY BURLESQUE"--New York Times 'Critic's Pick'; "BALLSY SATIRE"--The New Yorker; "DELICIOUSLY SMART POLITICAL SATIRE"--Entertainment Weekly; "JUICY"--The Washington Post; "VASTLY ENTERTAINING"--New York Post

    TAIL! SPIN! is the acclaimed, hilarious, VERBATIM recreation of the political sex scandals that brought down...
    "MORDANTLY FUNNY BURLESQUE"--New York Times 'Critic's Pick'; "BALLSY SATIRE"--The New Yorker; "DELICIOUSLY SMART POLITICAL SATIRE"--Entertainment Weekly; "JUICY"--The Washington Post; "VASTLY ENTERTAINING"--New York Post

    TAIL! SPIN! is the acclaimed, hilarious, VERBATIM recreation of the political sex scandals that brought down politicians Anthony (“I was hacked!”) Weiner, Larry (“Wide stance”) Craig, Mark ("Underage page") Foley, and Mark (“Appalachian Trail”) Sanford. EVERY SINGLE WORD of the whip-smart TAIL! SPIN! was either spoken, written, tweeted or sung by the politicians in question, the paramours they desperately tried to hide, or the media who pursued them.

    A New York Times "Critics' Pick," TAIL! SPIN! was nominated for Best Unique Theatrical Experience by the Off Broadway Alliance Awards (2015) and Outstanding New York Theatre: Off-Off Broadway by the GLAAD Media Awards (2013).

    TAIL! SPIN! runs 70 minutes without intermission.
  • SANTA FOR PRESIDENT by Mario Correa
    Cast: 
    9–17
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    Genre: comedy, holiday + 4 more
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    Keyword: christmas, radio play + 4 more
    Genre: comedy, holiday, parody/spoof, political, satire, young audiences
    Keyword: christmas, radio play, Santa Claus, Mrs. Claus, election, Presidential campaign
    In this 20-minute radio play commissioned by National Public Radio (NPR) and the PRX podcast The Truth, a team of hardened political consultants convinces Santa Claus--the ultimate "outsider"--to run for President. "Santa for President" aired nationally on NPR's "All Things Considered" on Christmas Day, 2015. The cast included Rachel Dratch and Mo Rocca.
  • HENRY by Mario Correa
    Cast: 
    2
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    Genre: comedy, dark comedy
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    Keyword: breakup, awkward + 7 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy
    Keyword: breakup, awkward, Relationships, pregnancy, fatherhood, motherhood, single, heartbreak, dating
    In this 10-minute romantic comedy, Lucy--who's all but abandoned hopes of having children--runs into Jon, her longtime ex, and learns of his brand new family.
  • MAGNOLIA, REVISITED by Mario Correa
    Cast: 
    2
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    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 1 more
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    Keyword: gentrification, change + 5 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, satire
    Keyword: gentrification, change, television, Sex & The City, celebrity, New York, Greenwich Village
    In this 10-minute comedy, the mountains of empty "Magnolia Bakery" cupcake boxes littering his neighborhood park become the straw that breaks the camel's back for Caleb, the last of the 'real' New Yorkers.
  • THIS IS WHAT I KNOW by Mario Correa
    Cast: 
    3
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    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 1 more
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    Keyword: finding oneself, unemployment + 5 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, experimental
    Keyword: finding oneself, unemployment, frustrated writer, New York, millennials, Screenwriter, novelist
    In this one-act comedy, a seemingly mundane tussle in a coffee shop sparks a communal, existential crisis: 'What am I doing with my life?' At a busy New York City coffee shop, three aspiring writers—Craig, a would-be playwright; Anna, a would-be novelist; and Dave, a would-be screenwriter—fight for a plug, a table, and a way out.

    The action weaves between the coffee shop, today, and...
    In this one-act comedy, a seemingly mundane tussle in a coffee shop sparks a communal, existential crisis: 'What am I doing with my life?' At a busy New York City coffee shop, three aspiring writers—Craig, a would-be playwright; Anna, a would-be novelist; and Dave, a would-be screenwriter—fight for a plug, a table, and a way out.

    The action weaves between the coffee shop, today, and each character’s backstory, told directly to the audience. As each character tells us how he/she got here, the other two take on roles from that person’s life: Anna and Dave become Craig’s anxious, disapproving parents; Craig and Dave become Anna’s sneering dog walking clients; Anna and Craig become Dave’s fast-talking Hollywood agents.
  • COMMANDER by Mario Correa
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    5
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    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 3 more
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    Keyword: government, social issues + 4 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, drama, political, satire
    Keyword: government, social issues, gay and lesbian, American, American government, LGBTQ
    "NEXT STOP, BROADWAY, SURELY!" --Baltimore Sun; "STARTLING TIMELINESS" --NPR; "A SUREFIRE HIT"--DC Metro Arts; "A TRULY THOUGHT PROVOKING PLAY"--Berkshire On Stage And Screen; "INSIGHTFUL"--Madison Magazine

    In the darkly comic COMMANDER (90 minutes plus intermission), an ambitious politician battles public doubts, personal demons and his own...
    "NEXT STOP, BROADWAY, SURELY!" --Baltimore Sun; "STARTLING TIMELINESS" --NPR; "A SUREFIRE HIT"--DC Metro Arts; "A TRULY THOUGHT PROVOKING PLAY"--Berkshire On Stage And Screen; "INSIGHTFUL"--Madison Magazine

    In the darkly comic COMMANDER (90 minutes plus intermission), an ambitious politician battles public doubts, personal demons and his own partner in a troubled quest to become America's first openly gay President.

    COMMANDER centers on the complicated relationship between Ned Worley, a former college professor-turned-unlikely Governor of Rhode Island, and his possibly alcoholic partner, Richard, who sees little to gain--and much to lose--from Ned's quixotic bid for the Presidency. Propping up Ned's campaign is Frank Sands, a hardened operative determined to extract little more than a payday from this improbable effort, and Zack Maines, an idealistic young aide who may be the only one who grasps the true stakes of Ned's candidacy.