SV grad lands starring role in CLO show
PITTSBURGH — The classmates and friends of 2003 Seneca Valley graduate Amanda Pulcini, who wondered if her constant singing, dancing and acting as a child and young adult would ever lead her to the stage, can find out the answer for themselves.
Pulcini, who was raised in Cranberry Township, opens tonight in a starring role in “Boeing Boeing” at the CLO Cabaret in Pittsburgh. The comedy farce runs through April 26 at the theater, 655 Penn Ave.
“The folklore of the family is that I came out acting,” Pulcini said on Thursday. “I cannot remember a time in my life when I was not singing and dancing.”
She said one childhood role she can remember playing is Huck Finn’s mother in “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” at the Seneca Valley Middle School. Pulcini was initially disappointed, as she was hoping to land the role of Becky.
“Then I found out I had a crying scene at the end,” Pulcini said, laughing at the memory. “I milked that for all it was worth.”
In “Boeing Boeing,” Pulcini will play Gloria, one of three stewardesses who think they each are the lone fiancee of wannabe playboy Bernard. Hilarity and hijinx follow as Bernard tries to maintain the relationships without the fiancees finding out about one another.
Pulcini said Gloria is a strong woman with a penchant for the wild and crazy, but only on her own terms.
“I’m not a wilting flower ingenue,” Pulcini said. “I love these women who have a little bite to them, who are a little brash, and even a little off their rocker.”
Some of Pulcini’s favorite roles since her 2007 graduation from Shenandoah Conservatory in Winchester, Va., include Annie Oakley in “Annie Get Your Gun,” as well as Shakespeare’s Lady Macbeth in “Macbeth” and Mercutio in “Romeo and Juliet.”
“I also love classical theater,” Pulcini said.
Although she lives in New York City, Pulcini is staying with her parents in Cranberry Township during the run of “Boeing Boeing.”
“My mother is living her dream,” Pulcini said. “I’m 29 and I’ve moved back home.”
Lois Pulcini confirms that she is delighted to have Amanda as a house guest, and that she and her husband won’t have to fly to another city to see their daughter act.
“We are pleased because we can see her more than once, it being in Pittsburgh,” Lois said.
She also confirmed that Amanda was always an outgoing child who would unabashedly burst into song and dance at the slightest provocation, including the background music at the mall.
“It didn’t matter who was around, she was attuned to the music,” Lois said of Amanda, who had her first dance lesson at 3 or 4 years old. “She was always singing and dancing.”
As for “Boeing Boeing,” Amanda said the CLO Cabaret offers dinner and a full menu and bar up to 90 minutes before, as well as after a performance.
“In the winter, when there’s nothing to do, you can come on out and have some cocktails and an appetizer and watch people be funny,” she said.
More information, as well as tickets, are available at www.pittsburghclo.culturaldistrict.org.
