ALBA ALBANESE

PRODUCER | ACTOR

THE SHOEMAKER

NEW YORK, NY

Before Nike and Addidas, there was the Hi-Jo!

A 1950s story about an Italian American Shoemaker and his Wife.

Here is a Brooklyn tale set back in the day about a young Italian-American shoemaker (Frank) on the verge of greatness. News comes from his cousins in Italy that they have obtained the first automated vulcanizing machinery to produce gym shoes called the Hi-Jo.

All Frank needs is fifty thousand dollars to ship and set up a factory in Brooklyn and the help from the neighborhood, his friends and his family to achieve a dream of a lifetime! Everything seems to be in place until his wife walks into the shoe shop and asks for a divorce!

Cast includes Burt Young, Peter Greene, Kaves, Alba Albanese, Bree Michael Warner, Joseph D’Onofrio, Vinny Vella and William Heins

Produced by Alba Albanese, Kaves & Donna McKleer

Alba Albanese quoted by

“It comes down to a longing for human contact...

...Today, everything is dehumanized by technology. We miss the intimacy of the Gilded Age — a handwritten letter, flowers at the door, giving a lock of hair, looking into someone’s eyes, feeling a human touch.

There is a void today, and people want connections. We want storytelling and poetry in our lives.”

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“She has a gift. She IS a gift, and one that hundreds and hundreds of people have been blessed to open and be opened by."

COLLIDER

“I was absolutely floored by Alba Albanese’s work in “Home of Enchantments.”

It’s a one-on-one experience where Alba plays a character named Belle, a spiritually gifted yet troubled individual who calls upon you to help her through an especially dark, trying situation.

It’s an extensive tale that requires a powerhouse performance from Alba that not only hits the beats of the story crafted, but also comes with interactive emotional elements that feel deeply personal. It’s a beautiful mix of making the participant feel vulnerable and on edge while also sending you on your way with a surprisingly full heart.

(And the fact that Alba conducted one of these shows after the next at Overlook is absolutely astounding.)"

Saunder Gusinow

Barbed Wire

“Creator Alba Albanese is exceedingly inventive; she’s taken the things most bothersome about immersive theatre and banished them from her work.”