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Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY: Hofstra Entertainment presents the New York premiere of the comic love story Rachel and Julio, starring two of Hofstra’s most successful alumni in the performing arts - Lainie Kazan and Robert Davi. Three performances of Rachel and Julio, directed by Bob Spiotto, will be held at the John Cranford Adams Playhouse, August 8 to 10, 2008.

Show times are 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. on Sunday. Tickets are $28, $25 for senior citizens (over 65) and $15 for matriculated non-Hofstra students with ID. Members of the Hofstra community may pay $10 each (two ticket maximum) upon presentation of a current HofstraCard.

Great Neck native Carrol Mendelson, now a Los Angeles-based writer and producer, first came up with the idea for Rachel and Julio in the 1990s. She was living in Florida and asked to write something for a fundraiser for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. She developed Rachel and Julio, a short play about two kids from Brooklyn - a Jewish girl and a Cuban boy. More than 30 years later, they recall two sides of a love affair that forever changed the way they felt about themselves, each other, and the world around them.
Ms. Mendelson explains that after moving to Los Angeles, she met actor, writer and director William Katt, who helped her develop Rachel and Julio into a full-length production. Mr. Katt has had a very prestigious career in theater and film but is perhaps best recognized for his starring television role in The Greatest American Hero in the 1980s. He explains, “Carrol and I met through mutual friends and became writing partners almost immediately. She showed me a short bittersweet love story that had terrific potential and over the next several years Rachel and Julio evolved into the beautiful two act love story that it is today. Their lives are complex - but their love is forever.”

Rachel and Julio celebrated its world premiere at the Miniaci Theater in Fort Lauderdale Florida in October 2006 (starring Lainie Kazan).

For more tickets and more information on the New York premiere of Rachel and Julio, call the Hofstra Box Office at (516) 463-6644, Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. or visit www.tickets.com or www.hofstra.edu/HofstraEntertainment.

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Biographies

The Playwrights

Carrol Mendelson is an accomplished writer and producer. She was president of Carrel Productions where she wrote and produced musical theater, cabaret shows, as well as interactive theater and serious drama. After the loss of her son Marc in 1994, she created Marc Productions in his memory, co-wrote and produced Imperfect Seed, a play based on the story of her family’s devastating struggle with her son’s illness and subsequent death. She currently sits on the board of directors of the Los Angeles chapter of The American Foundation For Suicide Prevention. In the years following, she created, along with Ken Mazur, under the direction of Moosie Drier, Precious Piglet and Her Pals, a musical for children, which garnered the ADA Award for best original children’s musical of 2005. She was co-producer of Mariette Hartely’s one woman show If You Get To Bethlehem, You’ve Gone Too Far. Carrol and writer/producer Mitchell Usher, have a new musical, Borcht Belt Bistro, scheduled to open in the spring of 2009.

William Katt first appeared with the Tony Award winning South Coast Repertory in 1969. He continued in the theater and has worked many times at such prestigious venues as the Mark Taper Forum, The Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, and the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles as well as starring in productions at The Phoenix Repertory in NY and The George Street Playhouse in NJ among other east coast venues. A personal favorite in his theater career perhaps was Pippin for video directed by Bob Fosse. He has more recently shared the stage at ACT in Seattle for The Education of Randy Newman and starred in a world premiere of Bicoastal Woman at the Pasadena Playhouse in LA. Well known for his work in television and film in such productions as Carrie, Big Wednesday and House, among many other film and TV projects - but most noticeably his starring role in Greatest American Hero and regular appearances in The Perry Mason Specials. He is a published musician as well as having three produced screenplays.

The Cast

Robert Davi recently wrote, directed and produced his feature film debut, The Dukes, in which he stars with Chazz Palminteri, Peter Bodgdanovich, Miriam Margolyes, and Melora Hardin. The movie has been winning raves and awards on the worldwide film festival circuit.

From his portrayal of James Bond villain Franz Sanchez to FBI profiler Bailey Malone in Profiler (1996), Mr. Davi is one of the film industry's most recognized tough guys, whether on the big screen or on television. His work as a Palestinian terrorist Salim Ajami in an award-winning TV movie brought him critical acclaim and caught the eye of legendary James Bond producer Albert R. Broccoli, who cast Mr. Davi as Colombian drug lord and lead villain Franz Sanchez in the Bond film Licence to Kill (1989). Mr. Davi studied with the legendary Stella Adler, who became his mentor, and he was also a member of the Actors Studio, where he studied with Lee Strasberg. His big break came when he was cast opposite Frank Sinatra in the television movie Contract on Cherry Street (1977), and he has worked in projects with Marlon Brando, Roberto Benigni, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, Clint Eastwood, Benicio Del Toro, Danny Glover and Adam Sandler, to name a few. Among his many notable film credits are Die Hard, The Goonies, Son of the Pink Panther, Raw Deal and Showgirls. He has worked with such directors as Steven Spielberg, Richard Donner, Blake Edwards, John McTiernan and Paul Verhoeven, among others. He is equally adept at comedy, as is evident by his work in a Rodney Dangerfield romantic comedy, as a con artist and he can be seen in the Rob Schneider/Adam Sandler comedy The Hot Chick (2002). He produced and starred in Hitters (2002), a film that takes a realistic look at the struggles that occur within a neighborhood mob crew.

Lainie Kazan reprises her role as “Rachel” in this performance of Rachel and Julio, a part she first played at Rose & Alfred Miniaci Performing Arts Center in Fort Lauderdale and the Hollywood Playhouse in Hollywood, Florida.

Ms. Kazan began her career as Barbra Streisand’s Broadway understudy in Funny Girl, followed by nightclub stints and guest appearances on virtually every top variety and talk show in network  television, including an unparalleled 26 appearances on The Dean Martin  Show. After seeing her perform, fellow Hofstra alum Francis Ford Coppola offered her a plum role in One From The Heart. In 1983 Ms. Kazan received a Golden Globe nomination for her performance in Richard Benjamin's My Favorite Year, starring Peter O'Toole. Ms. Kazan received critical acclaim for her role in the blockbuster comedy My Big Fat Greek Wedding, which has grossed over $600 million worldwide and won the People's Choice Award. Ms. Kazan reprised that role in CBS television series, My Big Fat Greek Life. She recently appeared in The Engagement Ring on TNT starring Patricia Heaton, Vincent Spano, and Tony Lo Bianco as well as Whiskey School, an independent feature starring Olympia Dukakis, Mary Stuart Masterson and Gary Swanson.  Despite a myriad of acclaimed film and television roles, Ms. Kazan has never forgotten her roots as a live performer. Some of her recent nightclub credits include sold out engagements in Los Angeles at the Cinegrill and The Catalina Bar and Grill, in New York City at The Regency, Las Vegas and Atlantic City at the Atlantic City Hilton, Harrah's Casino and Resort and Trumps Castle and the hallowed stages of New York's Rainbow and Stars, Tavern on the Green and  the famed Oak Room at the Algonquin Hotel. She has sung with such symphonies as The Boston Pops, The Palm Beach Pops and The Cleveland Symphony to name just a few, and has sung at performing arts centers throughout the United States, Europe and the Orient.