Steve Galluccio (born October 9, 1960) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

screenwriter and playwright, most noted for his play ''Mambo Italiano'' and its feature film adaptation '' Mambo Italiano''.

Background

Born and raised in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

to immigrant parents from Italy, Galluccio studied translation at

Concordia University Concordia University ( French: ''Université Concordia'') is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College and Sir George Williams University, Concordia is one of the t ...

.Alan Hustak
"Steve Galluccio"
''

The Canadian Encyclopedia ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; french: L'Encyclopédie canadienne) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with the support of Canadian Heritage. Available fo ...

'', December 21, 2009. His first theatrical play, ''My Mom Was on the Radio'', premiered at the Quebec Drama Festival in 1990. He followed up with a number of plays on the

fringe festival Fringe theatre is theatre that is produced outside of the main theatre institutions, and that is often small-scale and non-traditional in style or subject matter. The term comes from the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.Kemp, Robert, ''More that is Fre ...

circuit, including ''She's the Queen'', ''Sex, Lies and Brian Mulroney'', ''The Brady Bunch: The Hidden Episode'', ''Peter 'n Paul Get Mary'd'', ''Sexual Success in Montreal'', ''Batman and Robin: The Untold Story'' and ''What's Alice Doing in the Freezer?''

''Mambo Italiano''

In the late 1990s Galluccio wrote ''Mambo Italiano'', a

semi-autobiographical An autobiographical novel is a form of novel using autofiction techniques, or the merging of autobiographical and fictive elements. The literary technique is distinguished from an autobiography or memoir by the stipulation of being fiction. Bec ...

comedy about a young man in Montreal who comes out as

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

to his

Italian-Canadian Italian Canadians ( it, italo-canadesi, french: italo-canadiens) comprise Canadians who have full or partial Italian heritage and Italians who migrated from Italy or reside in Canada. According to the 2021 Census of Canada, 1,546,390 Canadians ...

family. Although the play was originally written in English, a French translation by

Michel Tremblay Michel Tremblay (born 25 June 1942) is a French-Canadian novelist and playwright. Tremblay was born in Montreal, Quebec, where he grew up in the French-speaking neighbourhood of Plateau Mont-Royal; at the time of his birth, a neighbourhood wit ...

was produced by Montreal's Théâtre Jean-Duceppe in 2000, in advance of its English premiere at

Centaur Theatre The Centaur Theatre Company is a theatre company based in Montreal, Quebec. It was co-founded in 1969 by Maurice Podbrey along with The Centaur Foundation for the Performing Arts. It currently has Eda Holmes as the Artistic and Executive Director, ...

in 2001. The play was one of the most successful and popular productions in the history of both theatre companies, with the runs repeatedly extended due to its popularity; a production was also mounted at the

Elgin Theatre The Elgin Theatre can refer to: * Elgin Theatre (Ottawa) in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, a former movie cinema that was the first twin cinema in North America * Elgin and Winter Garden Theatres, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada * Elgin Theater, a former mov ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

in 2003. By 2002, the film adaptation was in the works; directed by

Émile Gaudreault Émile Gaudreault, ( born March 6, 1964) is a Quebec director, author, screenwriter and producer. Since 1994, he has been directing, writing and producing feature films as well as episodes for television series. Several of his films have won awar ...

, the film premiered in 2003 in both English and French versions.Brendan Kelly, "Make way for movie Mambo". ''

Montreal Gazette The ''Montreal Gazette'', formerly titled ''The Gazette'', is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Three other daily English-language newspapers shuttered at various times during the second half of th ...

'', May 7, 2003. The film was acted primarily in English and then dubbed into French; as most of its cast were fluently bilingual residents of Montreal, most actors were able to dub their own parts. It went on to be one of the most internationally successful films in Canadian film history, and the theatrical version became one of the most widely-produced Canadian plays of the 21st century.

Later work

His subsequent credits include the films '' Surviving My Mother (Comment survivre à sa mère)'', ''

Funkytown "Funkytown" is a song by the American disco/funk band Lipps Inc., released in 1980 as the second single from their 1979 debut album, '' Mouth to Mouth''. It was successful globally, reaching top spots in places such as the United States, West ...

'', and ''

Little Italy Little Italy is a general name for an ethnic enclave populated primarily by Italians or people of Italian ancestry, usually in an urban neighborhood. The concept of "Little Italy" holds many different aspects of the Italian culture. There are s ...

'', the television series '' Ciao Bella'', and the theatrical plays ''In Piazza San Domenico'' and ''The St. Leonard Chronicles''. He has also been involved in the writing and composition of music for his film soundtracks. He received two

Genie Award The Genie Awards were given out annually by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to recognize the best of Canadian cinema from 1980–2012. They succeeded the Canadian Film Awards (1949–1978; also known as the "Etrog Awards," for scu ...

nominations for

Best Original Song This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

, for ''Mambo Italiano'''s "Montréal Italiano" at the

24th Genie Awards The 24th Genie Awards were held on May 1, 2004, to honour films released in 2003. The ceremony was hosted by Scott Thompson."He's gonna spank that Genie". ''The Globe and Mail'', May 1, 2004. The ceremony was broadcast on CHUM Limited's terrestri ...

in 2004, and for ''Funkytown'''s "Waiting for Your Touch" at the

32nd Genie Awards The 32nd Genie Awards ceremony was held on March 8, 2012 to honour films released in 2011.

in 2012. In 2012 he published ''Montréal à la Galluccio'', a tourist guide to the city's cafés, restaurants, bars and other cultural amenities, in collaboration with photographer Mathieu Dupuis. His theatrical play ''At the Beginning of Time'' received an online reading from Centaur Theatre in 2020.Jim Burke
"Mambo Italiano's Steve Galluccio pays tribute to late husband in new play"
''

'', October 19, 2020. The premiere for "At the Beginning of Time" opens at

directed by renowned Canadian director Peter Hinton-Davis. The show features set designed by Michael Gianfrancesco with paintings by Montreal artist Daniel Barkley In 2021 he participated in translating the scripts for '' Entre deux draps'', a Quebec television comedy series, into English for the adaptation ''

Pillow Talk Pillow talk is the relaxed, intimate conversation that often occurs between two sexual partners, sometimes after sexual activity, usually accompanied by cuddling, caresses, kissing, and other physical intimacy. It is associated with honesty, sex ...

''.Marc-André Lemieux
"Pillow Talk: Un copié-collé d’Entre deux draps"
'' La Presse'', February 7, 2022.

Personal life

Galluccio is openly gay.Marilla Steuter-Martin
"Italian-Montrealer Steve Galluccio takes on love and loss in new play dedicated to his late husband"

CBC News CBC News is a division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC.ca. ...

, October 21, 2020. His husband, Yves Dionne, died of

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...

in 2020, and the challenges of their relationship after his diagnosis form part of the basis for ''At the Beginning of Time''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Galluccio, Steve 1960 births Living people 20th-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Canadian male writers 21st-century Canadian male writers 21st-century Canadian screenwriters 21st-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights Canadian male screenwriters Canadian male songwriters Canadian LGBT screenwriters Canadian LGBT dramatists and playwrights Canadian gay writers Writers from Montreal Canadian people of Italian descent Canadian male dramatists and playwrights Canadian male television writers Gay screenwriters Gay dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Canadian LGBT people 20th-century Canadian LGBT people