#18 Briefcase and Moi.

I had the privilege of watching my friend, Marisa Petroro, on stage Saturday night in Lanford Wilson's "Burn This" at the Ruskin Theater in Santa Monica. (YOU may recognize her as Suitcase #18 model on Deal or No Deal.).

The play "begins shortly after the funeral of Robbie, a young gay dancer who drowned in a boating accident. In attendance were his roommates, choreographer Anna and ad man Larry. Soon joining them in Robbie's lower-Manhattan loft are screenwriter Burton, Anna's longtime lover, and Pale, Robbie's coke-snorting, hyperactive restaurant manager brother. In the face of their shared tragedy, the quartet attempts to make sense of their lives and reconsider their own identities and relationships."

I was impressed with Marisa's performance for a couple reasons. Her character carries the weight of interacting and maintaining a relationship with the three other characters in the play, so it's demanding. But I was most impressed with Marisa's range - something I was unable to see in her other work - movie or television roles, and certainly not holding a suitcase on Deal or No Deal.

I usually squirm in my seat at the theater - jimminy legs, I think. But I didn't during this show. Another tell-tale sign that, for me, it was good theater.

I met Marisa some years ago when we were members of the Coronet Theater Writer's Lab - she and I acted in writer's pieces Thursday evenings. That's also where I met Alec (whom I had to cut out of the picture as the light was shining too brightly on him), Michael Carerra and Donovan and Maria in Tujunga. I might add that Marisa Petroro is the 2009 Spokesperson for The Sarcoma Foundation of America - she herself is a sarcoma cancer survivor.

Marisa's website - if you want to peruse.