This witty, imagined year in the life of Anna Nicole Smith began as a sheaf of published poems by Grace Cavalieri, award winning poet and playwright. Ms. Cavalieri's creation of a quintet of characters in Anna's life is a richly invented panorama. This poignant and humorous play limns the soul of its subject. Ms. Cavalieri teams up once again with director Shela Xoregos and Xoregos Performing Company to present this fascinating production. New York's Mary Riley channels her character's charisma, innocence and battered resolutions into a dynamic whole. Aided by the wizardry of Don Cate's lighting, Rayneese Primrose's costumes and the brilliance of Jon Tomlinson's music and sound score, director Xoregos has cast the other roles with five actors who match Ms. Riley's power. A cheer-leading production number highlights Anna's quest for fame.

Xoregos Performing Company presents

Mary Riley as Anna Nicole Smith with Amanda Elizabeth Sawyer, Jason Altman, Bong Dizon, William Kozy and John Sarno 

Composer: Jon Tomlinson

Costume Designer: Rayneese Primrose

Lighting Designer: Don Cate

Director: Shela Xoregos

 Grace Cavalieri (Playwright)
24 full-length and short-form plays by Grace Cavalieri have been produced on American stages. Her book Anna Nicole: Poems (Case Menendez, 2008) won the national Paterson Award for Literary Excellence in 2009. The characters in that book inspired this play. She founded and still produces ‘The Poet and the Poem” for public radio, now from the Library of Congress, now celebrating its 34th year on-air. In addition to poetry and playwriting awards, Grace holds numerous playwriting awards: the Allan Ginsberg Award for Poetry, the Pen-Fiction Award for story, the Bordighera Poetry Award, The Columbia Award and the Corporation for Broadcasting Silver Medal, among others.  She has a 25-year association with The Xoregos Performing Company.

Shela Xoregos (Director) has directed many new plays as well as Shakespeare, Euripides, Wilde, Lillian Hellman, George Kelly, others. She is the Producing Artistic Director of Xoregos Performing Company which  commissions works of theater, dance and music.  The company's production of MEDEA played last summer; this year, Sophocles' ANTIGONE  performed in four boroughs July and early August. She began as a dancer and has choreographed for the Oakland Ballet, Seattle Chamber Dance, MAD for Dance and others.