You’re probably asking who is the “Podcast Queen.” Well, her name is Dani Cipolla and she is the latest actress to join the cast of Batboy. Now in the second year of production I think the show has surprised many because of how great the human element has been on the stage.
Veteran actors and sparkling newcomers have appeared throughout the year. We have had probably five or six actors that have moved on to movies or Broadway. We have Pat Staffor who has done three shows doing “Porgy and Bess” right now. I actually get excited when one of my actors tells me that they have a big show going on and can’t do “Batboy” at the moment.
My newest talent is Dani. I actually discovered her on Instagram. Her face kept popping up wearing a Yankee cap. I couldn’t tell if she was a girl or a boy. I saw that she had a podcast. I checked it out and instantly started to laugh. That plus the fact that she knew baseball. Oh, and by the way guys, when she takes her hat off you know that she is a girl. A good looking one at that.
I became very intrigued with her. My crazy mind started to race. Could this girl possibly act on stage. She does a great job on her podcast and she has almost 60 thousand followers. There had to be something to her. I decided to reach out to my friend Christian Pasquale, one of the owners of the “Hunt & Fish Club,” which happens to be one of the top celebrity restaurants in the city. If you’re a star or a wanna- be star, Christian knows of you. So I asked Christian if he knew this mystery woman and he did. He told me all about her and said that it would not shock him if someday she became a star.
He introduced us and I went for the jugular right away. In my mind I envisioned her in a scene with the great singer, Sal Valentinetti, who will be playing Lou Piniella in the next show. I asked Dani if she could handle that and without batting an eye she said of course. I laughed but loved her true confidence.
Before I put her on stage opposite Mr Valentinetti, I decided to have her do a locker room scene with veteran actor Kenny Cowie. I knew that if she could handle Kenny in front of the rest of the cast on the Argyle Theatre stage that she would be ok. Well the scene went over well and Dani could not be fazed by the intimidating Kenny Cowie.
The cocky Dani Cipolla even gave us some advice on scene improvement.
I’m hoping that Dani is this years version of Alex Martin, the actor singer that I found at a comedy club, who reminded me of Derek Jeter. Alex has helped take the show to another level. I expect to lose Alex soon because he is that good.
Every show I sweat wondering if I will have that incredible talent Layla Dionne who has a voice to die for and always brings down the house. Well I have good news, Layla will be there. After every show I don’t know if I should kiss her or ask her for her autograph. Mickey Rivers is back with his comic relief. The very versatile and talented Theresa Farrell is back as my Aunt Olga and Lisa Coppola will be returning after missing a couple of shows due to illness. She was definitely missed. And Luis Squigee Castillo is Tony Award worthy.
With our returning veteran actors and the rookie Cipolla and other surprises, our very talented director Martin Knapp should have his hands full.
Get your tickets at Argyletheatre.com.