Maria & Stefano Genovese Directing a scene

We became friends and we stayed in touch. He used to come to NY to see the latest shows and musicals and I would always stop and see him when I was in Italy.

In September 2006 I was in ‘the old boot’ for a couple of weeks and I stopped by in Rome, as usual, on my way back to NY.
I only spent a couple of days there; it was the end of my stay.

The first night I arrived me and Stefano started to talk, about pretty much anything, from life to art going through dreams and hopes…before we knew it, it was dawn out, but we were keep saying to each other “We have to work together one day!”.

Stefano then told me about a play he had read many years ago. He loved it and he had been looking for someone to do it with ever since. It was in a drawer now. He told me the story…I thought it was brilliant…

We went to bed while the world was getting up and when I woke up, way after noon, I found a copy of the play next to me and Stefano who was cooking lunch…
He told me to read the first couple of scenes…and so there I was on that couch, with that play in my hands, wrapped in a delicious smell of a homemade Italian lunch…

I started to read it, unaware of having in my hand the next 2 years of my life.
I started to laugh out loud!
I loved it! From the very first page.

I knew that was it…we sat at that table talking about how we could make this work…I knew the perfect venue would be NY, I knew it was going to be easier for me to try to put it together here.

The day after I was on a plane back to NY, reading the play, laughing and being touched by the characters. I could see it in front of me. My imagination was running wild.

I arrived in the Big Apple and I started…

From Left: Tom Hedlund, Maria Riboli and Felipe Bonilla in "Baaahhh!!!"

I honestly had no idea where to begin, but I did, we both did. We had a dream and a passion and out of that roman night came the journey that took 2 years of my life, two very hard years, but two amazingly beautiful ones.

“BAAAHHH!!!” (www.baaahhh.com) got accepted at the FringeNYC and after that we extended for almost a month at the Payan Theater. In May 2008 we were able to bring ‘our little sheep’ to London for a staged reading at the prestigious Pleasance Theater.

It was a long journey and a beautiful one, where we met some amazing artists.

The show is now in my drawer, but always in my heart. We are still looking for a producer to bring it to Broadway, and I truly believe one day we’ll be there.
Today Stefano is in Italy working very hard to put on stage “Avenue Q” over there. (www.avenueq.it)

I’m so proud of him, and so truly excited for this new step he has in front of him. I have no doubts it’s going to be a huge success and I will of course be there for opening night, I wouldn’t miss it!

Believe in your dreams because dreams do come true!
Don’t let anyone tell you “you can’t” …follow your heart…work hard…and believe!

“To dream anything that you want to dream. That's the beauty of the human mind. 
To do anything that you want to do. That is the strength of the human will. 
To trust yourself to test your limits. That is the courage to succeed.”(Bernard Edmonds)