Italytime and the John D. Calandra Italian American Institute are pleased to sponsor this new venture of marrying cinema and theater this spring semester. This pairing of cinema and theater is the brainchild of Italytime, the notion that both creative formats share the common goal of representing life's experiences on both the live stage and on the silver screen.

February 9, 6:00 PM, Italytime and the Calandra Institute will screen Bob Giraldi's critically acclaimed film, Dinner Rush (2001). The film will be followed by a one-act play "Five Years Later" by Paolo Tartamella (15 min.), inspired by Dinner Rush; father and son clash on the future of their relationship. The actors are Fulvio Della Volta (son) and David Donahoe (father), directed by Vittorio Capotorto.

"Dinner Rush is gourmet cinema, served with a generous helping of culinary panache…. Bob Giraldi casts his own New York eatery as a TriBeCa hot spot where the owner (Danny Aiello) presides over a busy night of fine dining and mob entanglements. He's been a bookmaker for 25 years but he's going legit; his son (Edoardo Ballerini) is a nuovo cuisine genius, eager to inherit the business; the sous-chef (Kirk Acevedo) is deeply in debt to mafia thugs; an art-dealer snob (Mark Margolis) is antagonizing his waitress (Summer Phoenix); a charming stranger (John Corbett) harbors a climactic surprise; and a powerful food critic (Sandra Bernhard) is ready to pounce on any wrong move. In perfect control of this bustling environment, Giraldi directs like a great chef cooks: with Altmanesque delicacy, confident that every ingredient is vital to the success of his creation. It's utterly delicious."

—Jeff Shannon

Award-winning director Bob Giraldi brings an independent hand to everything he touches. From Michael Jackson's classic 1983 music video "Beat It" to his latest 2014 short film "A Poet Long Ago", Giraldi has produced and directed over 4,000 unique visual pieces. His commercials and films have garnered numerous awards and have found their way into collections as diverse as the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, MoMA, AICP, Cannes Advertising Festival, Advertising Hall Fame, and the Art Director's Club. Advertising Age named him one of "101 Stars Behind 100 Years of Advertising". Giraldi made history by being the first film director to be inducted into the Advertising Hall of Fame.

Join us for this unique marriage of cinema and theater at:

Italytime's theaterOur Lady of Pompeii Theater238 Bleecker Street (corner of Carmine Street)

February 9, 6 PM

The screening of Dinner Rush and the performance of "Five Years Later" will be followed by a Q&A.

PS: Dinner Rush is rated R - RESTRICTED - Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian