Testimonial #38: LindaAnn Loschiavo, Journalist, Dramatist, and a long time magazine columnist

How has your life been indelibly touched by a teacher who utilized the arts for whatever reason and acknowledge how they were instrumental in breaking the mold to allow you to become who you are today?

I had the best “teachers” . . . every talented performer I admired in a Broadway show taught me to pursue excellence and that you had to be able to tell a good story that would capture the audience’s attention.

My first full-length play came about when I was 10 years old.

I wrote my first one-act play (for 5 actresses), typed each script myself on a manual typewriter, developed the costumes with one of my aunts, and I had devised a simple “unit set”: 1 rocking chair. My 50-minute play was produced in Brooklyn, NY and it ran for close to 18 months.

My most recent play ran 1 hour, 40 minutes, had a simple set (1 stool, 2 chairs, and a small table), and a cast of eight. This play ran in Manhattan on West 46th Street from August 17th, 2013 – – November 24th, 2013. I have entered this play into the NYC Fringe Festival.

I doubt that I would have become a writer without so much exposure to the arts since I was an infant in a New York City crib listening to “La Boheme” while sucking on a pacifier.