Style Network’s Briella Calafiore stars in Grimm Women

Art by Lisa Ferrante

Style Network star Briella Calafiore (“Jerseylicious,” “Glam Fairy”) is set to lead the five person cast of Grimm Women, a new play by Brandon Monokian, with performances in Philadelphia at the Adrienne Theater’s Second Stage from April 22- May 5. A modern, gritty riff on the Brother’s Grimm fairy tales, Grimm Women examines the classic tales and their characters, while exploring what happens after “happily ever after.” These fairy-tales-gone-wild feature a Little Red with some issues (Calafiore), a Rapunzel with the longest weave in the land, a Cinderella looking for love on reality T.V., a Hansel & Gretel who find a cottage in the woods built by a woman who looks suspiciously like Paula Deen, and a boy kissing frogs trying to find a prince.

“To say I’m looking forward to the second run of Grimm Women is an understatement,” said Calafiore. “After doing The Vagina Monologues last year, preforming Grimm Women in New York and making my Off-Broadway debut in My Big Gay Italian Wedding, I’m eager to continue perfecting my craft in a city as exciting as Philadelphia.”

Recently named one of South Jersey Magazine’s “Names to Know,” Grimm Women writer and director Monokian is no stranger to working with theatrical adaptations from literature. His staged protest project Revolutionary Readings, which was used to fight the banning of the book Revolutionary Voices from two libraries earned him national attention and was the subject of a recent Tedx Talk he delivered produced by the Princeton Public Library. Grimm Women is his first original adaptation. “I really tried to think about how the characters from these classic tales would react if they were born in today’s world,” said Monokian. “The violent, crazy images from the original stories made it easy to create the outrageous world of Grimm Women. The piece is about a group of people who live and love ferociously. They are innocent, pure, beautiful people who are born into a world that is anything but.”

In addition to Briella Calafiore, Grimm Women also stars Daria Feneis whose breakout film performance opposite Deadwood star Robin Weigert in the sexy drama Concussion recently earned rave reviews at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. Rounding off the cast are Andrew Pace, Megan Greener & Gina Chedid. Monokian is joined in the directors seat by co-director Ashley Urbano and assistant director Amanda Guzman. An illustrated version of the script and wall hanging prints will be available for purchase featuring original art by innovative mixed media artist, Lisa Ferrante. Looks of the actors that were translated by Ferrante for the illustrations were designed by Style Network’s Jessica Romano and her makeup company Glamorous Cosmetics.