Nicole Pandolfo

Nicole Pandolfo

Nicole Pandolfo was most recently selected for a commission with the Writers Theatre of NJ. Her NJPAC Stage Exchange commission play, Brick City, opened at Premiere Stages at Kean University. She is a Dramatists Guild Foundation Fellow and her work has been developed at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center as a Playwright Observer, at Tofte Lake as a Jerome Foundation Fellow, and at The Actors Studio, NJ Rep...
Nicole Pandolfo was most recently selected for a commission with the Writers Theatre of NJ. Her NJPAC Stage Exchange commission play, Brick City, opened at Premiere Stages at Kean University. She is a Dramatists Guild Foundation Fellow and her work has been developed at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center as a Playwright Observer, at Tofte Lake as a Jerome Foundation Fellow, and at The Actors Studio, NJ Rep, and the Lark among others. She was a finalist for the Edward Albee Foundation Fellowship, SPACE on Ryder Farm, Ashland New Play Festival, and the Leah Ryan Fund for Emerging Women Writers. She is a member of The Actors Studio in the Playwright/Director Unit and received her MFA at Hunter College.

Plays

  • SOMETHING BLUE by Nicole Pandolfo
    Cast: 
    2
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    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 1 more
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    Keyword: wedding industrial complex, brides + 2 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, drama
    Keyword: wedding industrial complex, brides, bridesmaid, complex female characters
    Something Blue explores female gender roles via the wedding industrial complex and investigates the unique societal expectations and pressures of marriage and singledom on the modern American women. Intercut with pivotal moments from their relationship, this dark comedy examines the complexity of female friendship through the lens of two best friends, Chloe, a bride, and Gia, a bridesmaid, on Chloe's wedding day.
  • BRICK CITY by Nicole Pandolfo
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    4
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    Genre: comedy, drama + 1 more
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    Keyword: disability, diversity + 2 more
    Genre: comedy, drama, young audiences
    Keyword: disability, diversity, educational equity, Newark New Jersey
    Jessie, a combative high school senior with a disability, and Darnell, the star player of the basketball team, find themselves together in extended study hall during the most important marking period of their lives. As Darnell inches dangerously close to throwing away a chance at a lucrative college scholarship and Jessie a potential career as an artist, both discover that things aren't always as simple as they may seem.
  • THE BELLE OF BELMAR by Nicole Pandolfo
    Recommendations: 2
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    Cast: 
    4
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    Genre: dark comedy, drama + 1 more
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    Keyword: acquaintance rape, marine biology
    Genre: dark comedy, drama, young audiences
    Keyword: acquaintance rape, marine biology
    The Belle of Belmar is a coming-of-age story about Denise, an aspiring marine biologist and her best friend Crystal, who has a disability, navigating prom as outcasts searching for both independence and inclusion. Earlier in the school year Denise was a victim of an acquaintance rape by two of her classmates. Added to the mix is Denise's mother, Lorna, who is just one more online purchase away from fixing...
    The Belle of Belmar is a coming-of-age story about Denise, an aspiring marine biologist and her best friend Crystal, who has a disability, navigating prom as outcasts searching for both independence and inclusion. Earlier in the school year Denise was a victim of an acquaintance rape by two of her classmates. Added to the mix is Denise's mother, Lorna, who is just one more online purchase away from fixing her life, and Mikey, Denise's ex-best friend with a big secret to hide. This is a provoking and humorous story about how we choose to move forward in our lives.
  • PUMP by Nicole Pandolfo
    Recommendations: 3
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    Cast: 
    5
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    Genre: dark comedy, drama
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    Keyword: based on a true story, journalists + 4 more
    Genre: dark comedy, drama
    Keyword: based on a true story, journalists, corporate corruption, toxic waste, blue collar, class
    Jimmy loses his job as a reporter at the Philadelphia Times on the same day that a train carrying toxic chemicals derails in his hometown in New Jersey. To survive, he takes a job pumping gas at the station that his dad manages, where he learns that big oil interests and the health of people in his hometown collide in ways he never expected. This play examines the disenfranchisement of the working class, the...
    Jimmy loses his job as a reporter at the Philadelphia Times on the same day that a train carrying toxic chemicals derails in his hometown in New Jersey. To survive, he takes a job pumping gas at the station that his dad manages, where he learns that big oil interests and the health of people in his hometown collide in ways he never expected. This play examines the disenfranchisement of the working class, the role of press in society, corporate greed, and the continuing chemical and toxic waste incidents that threaten American communities today.
  • LUSH by Nicole Pandolfo
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    7
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    Genre: dark comedy, drama
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    Keyword: non-linear, current events + 3 more
    Genre: dark comedy, drama
    Keyword: non-linear, current events, US history, New York history, home shopping industry
    If you're not careful, can your life be marked by the love you miss? LUSH follows Mia non-linearly from teenager to mid-life as she navigates her self-destructive urges and fate flings her and those around her in directions they’d never imagined. The play travels from places like a high school reunion in New Jersey in 2002, to a Honky-tonk in Tennessee in 1982, to a television studio on the East Coast in...
    If you're not careful, can your life be marked by the love you miss? LUSH follows Mia non-linearly from teenager to mid-life as she navigates her self-destructive urges and fate flings her and those around her in directions they’d never imagined. The play travels from places like a high school reunion in New Jersey in 2002, to a Honky-tonk in Tennessee in 1982, to a television studio on the East Coast in 2026.

    What would we do if we could see what will happen? How do we move forward in our lives when we carry the pain of the past? Lush moves forward and backward in time opening with Mia’s life out of control. It's right after September 11th, she's being evicted, and she spills her cocaine all over the restroom floor at her 10-year high school reunion. An out-of-work soap actress, she's moonlighting as a fake psychic who pretends to see across time, as she struggles to understand her current circumstance. In the past she was traumatized by the death of her friends in a drunken car crash. In the future she’ll marry Johnny who’d traveled to Vegas to sell a guitar for $15,000 to Bobby, who Johnny discovers is his father, who was gifted the guitar by Elvis, and stolen by Bobby’s wife Loretta when she leaves him in Nashville. Like a DNA helix their lives entwine, but they don't always see the connections. Can we stop the future from happening?
  • AEROSOL DREAMS by Nicole Pandolfo
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    5
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    Genre: dark comedy, drama
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    Keyword: mother and daughter, New Jersey + 4 more
    Genre: dark comedy, drama
    Keyword: mother and daughter, New Jersey, Lottery, rock and roll, hometown, death and grief
    After the unexpected death of her fiancé and subsequent tabloid scandal in Vegas, Maria is back in her hometown with no job, no money, and her lottery-obsessed mother, Patty, for a roommate. Her best friend Amber insists on dragging her to the local bar where she's got to face the people from her past, and just when Maria thinks her chance at happiness is lost forever she meets Tommy, an almost-famous-...
    After the unexpected death of her fiancé and subsequent tabloid scandal in Vegas, Maria is back in her hometown with no job, no money, and her lottery-obsessed mother, Patty, for a roommate. Her best friend Amber insists on dragging her to the local bar where she's got to face the people from her past, and just when Maria thinks her chance at happiness is lost forever she meets Tommy, an almost-famous-rock-star bartender. Can Maria escape the grip of her old life for the chance to discover something new?
  • NOWHERETOWN by Nicole Pandolfo
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    7–9
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    Genre: dark comedy, drama
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    Keyword: war, PTSD + 5 more
    Genre: dark comedy, drama
    Keyword: war, PTSD, housing crisis, housing foreclosures, addiction, crime, modern
    Mikey, an Iraq-War vet suffering from PTSD, is back home in his blue collar New Jersey town to find that his mom’s house is being foreclosed on and only twenty thousand dollars can save it. Unable to find employment he heads to the bar to drown his sorrows. There he meets the bartender, Gina, who not only offers him his first human connection in years, but an illicit opportunity to get the money he needs to...
    Mikey, an Iraq-War vet suffering from PTSD, is back home in his blue collar New Jersey town to find that his mom’s house is being foreclosed on and only twenty thousand dollars can save it. Unable to find employment he heads to the bar to drown his sorrows. There he meets the bartender, Gina, who not only offers him his first human connection in years, but an illicit opportunity to get the money he needs to save his house. Problem is, her boyfriend, Eddie, is in the way, and oh yeah, it’s his money…Mikey survived the war, but can he survive small town life, heroin addiction, home foreclosure, a slutty sister, falling in love, and an asshole who has the girl of his dreams?
  • LOCAL NOBODY by Nicole Pandolfo
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    4
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    Genre: dark comedy, drama
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    Keyword: death and grief, fathers and sons + 3 more
    Genre: dark comedy, drama
    Keyword: death and grief, fathers and sons, love, Alcohol, bar
    Sal, a hard drinking loner, wakes up one morning to find his father dead in his room. With no one to turn to for comfort, he does the only thing he knows- heads to the bar to drown himself in booze by the side of the bartender and his only friend Lou. There, he runs into the local mess Gina, who also happens to be really really into Cher. Their interaction forces him to face himself, and for the first time...
    Sal, a hard drinking loner, wakes up one morning to find his father dead in his room. With no one to turn to for comfort, he does the only thing he knows- heads to the bar to drown himself in booze by the side of the bartender and his only friend Lou. There, he runs into the local mess Gina, who also happens to be really really into Cher. Their interaction forces him to face himself, and for the first time in his life, he makes a real human connection. Little does he know, Gina owes money to some very bad people, throwing Sal into a life or death confrontation with a local mafia soldier. Can Sal and Gina live happily ever after, or will his first love be his undoing?
  • DEATH IN NJ by Nicole Pandolfo
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    6
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    Genre: comedy, dark comedy
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    Keyword: New Jersey, purgatory + 1 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy
    Keyword: New Jersey, purgatory, estrangement
    Growing up in Jersey, Caroline has dreamed of one thing: moving to New York and owning her own hoagie stand. While on a date at the rodeo in Cowtown, the ghost of her estranged father comes to her explaining that as a result of committing fraud and being a bad dad, he has been sent to purgatory. The only way he can avoid hell, which happens to be an exact replica of crowded Canal Street in Chinatown, New York...
    Growing up in Jersey, Caroline has dreamed of one thing: moving to New York and owning her own hoagie stand. While on a date at the rodeo in Cowtown, the ghost of her estranged father comes to her explaining that as a result of committing fraud and being a bad dad, he has been sent to purgatory. The only way he can avoid hell, which happens to be an exact replica of crowded Canal Street in Chinatown, New York City on a 105 degree day, is by achieving her forgiveness. This, of course, pisses her off, but after pleading his case she decides to give it a shot. She must find a way to forge the relationship they never had without losing her mind or her boyfriend.