By David Michonski
At the July 12 meeting of the Greenwich Retired Men’s Association, Joe Mancinelli introduced his younger sister Celeste Mancinelli, who performed a fascinating one-woman show called “Crying on the Camino,” about her journey from Portugal to Spain on the Camino de Santiago. Her show has appeared on Broadway and Celeste was the Broadway World Winner for “Best New Play” and for “Best Performer in a Play.” Information is on her website https://crycamino.com.
Stage performer Celeste Mancinelli reenacted a unique true story in this one-woman show. Dressed in hiking gear, she recounted her 200-mile walk on the Portuguese route to the Cathedral Santiago de Compostela, relating in sometimes moving, sometimes hilarious fashion the sights, sounds, and even the smells of the unusual journey (unusual, at least, for a comfortable New Jersey housewife). She described in vivid fashion the people she met, the places she stayed, and the events she witnessed as she made the long trek with minimal creature comforts.
Her desire to share her experience brought her to the legendary teacher/director Wynn Handman, who helped her develop the show at his New York City studio. This led Celeste to embark on a new “camino,” bringing this true account of her walk to the stage. “This piece is about minimalism and simplicity, self-reflection and honesty,” says Mancinelli, a veteran stage actress. “In sharing this piece my goal is to inspire others to take their own journey – to fully live their own Caminos.”
Celeste Mancinelli has been performing professionally since the early 80’s. Her New York City credits include the hit show “Nunsense” at the Douglas Fairbanks Theater, Cynthia Heimel’s long-running play “A Girl’s Guide to Chaos” at the American Place Theater (originating the character of Lurene) and Larry Gelbart’s “One Two Three Four Five” at the Manhattan Theater Club. She has appeared as Mama in “My Big Fat Gay Italian Wedding” and its sequel (Funeral) at the St Luke’s Theatre. She has worked in numerous off-Broadway, cabaret, stock, regional, and national touring productions throughout the United States. Her most recent appearance was as Edith Frank in “The Diary of Anne Frank” at the Greenbrier Valley Theatre in West Virginia.
Celeste has proudly enjoyed a second career as an ASHA certified Speech/Language Pathologist and earned the NJSHA Distinguished Clinical Achievement Award. In that capacity, she developed a unique speech/theatrical program at Spectra Academy in Montclair, New Jersey. During the COVID outbreak Celeste began writing/developing and performing her original, one-woman show, “Crying on the Camino,” based on her 200 mile hike through Spain. Celeste is thrilled to share this experience with all.
The performance was live and, unlike most RMA presentations, is not available for later viewing.
The RMA’s upcoming presentation, “I Give These Books: The History of the Yale University Library,
1656-2022,” by David Richards, is scheduled for 11 AM on Wednesday, July 26th. David Alan Richards is a member of RMA and has spoken to the Association on previous occasions, including about the donation of the High Line railroad viaduct for a New York City park, and on the British author Rudyard Kipling. He holds history degrees from Yale College and the University of Cambridge, where he was a Keasbey Scholar, and then attended Yale Law School. During his legal career in Manhattan, he handled the sale of Tiffany’s air rights to Trump Tower, the sale of the AT&T building to Sony, and over thirteen years, the donation of the High Line from Conrail and CSX to the City of New York.
Up in New Haven, he is the recently-retired chair of the Yale Library Associates, the alumni support group for the university’s Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, which holds his collection of the first editions and manuscripts of Rudyard Kipling, the largest such collection in the world. He is also currently the president of the Kipling Society, the first non-Briton to hold that position. Dave is the author of seven books, including the modern bibliography of Kipling, published by the British Library in 2010 and now the industry standard for auction houses and bookdealers; the exhibition catalogue for the summer 2007 show of his Kipling collection at the Beinecke; and two histories of Yale: “Skulls and Keys,” the story of its famous secret societies published in 2017, and a second which has just been published in May by Oak Knoll Press, the history of Yale University Library, which is the subject—together with other colonial college libraries including Harvard, William & Mary, Princeton, and Columbia—of this program.
To stream the presentation by Mr. Richards at 11 AM on Wednesday, July 26th, click on https://bit.ly/30IBj21. This presentation will also be available on local public access TV channels, Verizon FIOS channel 24 and Optimum (Cablevision) channel 79.
Note: The views expressed in these presentations are those of the speakers. They are not intended to represent the views of the RMA or its members.
RMA speaker presentations are presented as a community service at no cost to in-person or Zoom attendees, regardless of gender. The RMA urges all eligible individuals to consider becoming a member of our great organization, and thereby enjoy all the available fellowship, volunteer, and community service opportunities which the RMA offers to its members. For further information, go to https://greenwichrma.org/, or contact our membership chairman (mailto:members@greenwichrma.org).
