Video: Meet the Cast of John Patrick Shanley's BROOKLYN LAUNDRY

Hello, I'm Richard Ridge for Broadway World

Up next at MTC's Stage 1 is the world premiere of Brooklyn Laundry

written and directed by Pulitzer and Tony Award winner John Patrick Shanley

and I caught up with a company during a break in rehearsal. I live in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and I am devoted to my drop-off laundry

So I go down once a week with my bag of stuff, and I put it on a scale

and the woman there looks at it and I suddenly feel like I'm being judged

and maybe my whole life is basically in that bag and she's deciding whether it's worthy or not

and something about that both struck me as very funny and also kind of like

well how would I judge my life in the lives of other people and I realized that I wanted to write a play

about all the invisible people that actually make life work whether they be, you know, emergency services, people

nurses, doctors, people who run in the laundromat, you know, and that I wanted to tell their stories

and through them maybe in a weird way, do honor to my mother

who was one of those invisible people who raised five children. Well, you're about to return to the New York stage

in this glorious play. How excited are you? I'm very excited. I think it was, I think my agent's

and manager were shocked at the quick response how quickly I said yes and they were like wait a minute

so we have to read this now I mean I got the email read it immediately loved it cried laughed and it like I one of those things then you start picturing like I gonna get to do Just the idea of getting to do that was so exciting And now I here now I have to you know put in the work

But it's, I'm very excited. And John Patrick Shantley, obviously, you know, I went to theater school

I've all these friends from theater school who, like, this is the thing that now they're reaching out to me about, you know

You know, I started in theater. So it was, I've always, like, known I wanted to go back

So it's great that I get to again. And it's a totally different experience and having an audience and getting to share with people and knowing and feeling like I have this secret that is this new show that they don't know yet and I get to share it with them

And that feels really, I feel so lucky that I get to share it with them

And yes, being with theater people, it's like we wear our hearts on our sleeves, we laugh a lot, you know, everyone comes in

This is where I am today. and it's just, it feels, it's just a good feeling

I'm super excited. This is really, really a great play. One of his great plays, I can't wait

The three magnificent, powerful women on stage with me, it's just wonderful to be in that energy

And it's just, I'm so happy to be back at MTC, which has always created a culture for excellence in the theater

So it's something that, if they call, I'm going to probably come

because I know the projects are going to be special. And everyone cares about what they're doing

So when you first got this play, like, what went through your mind when you read it the first time

Wow. They really want me to do this play. It was a great character

It was a character that I can relate to as a character that I could learn from John dialogue is just you know it just digs deep into the soul of the characters and he just got that knack for making a story about death

and responsibility, make it funny. And he's got that, you know, a lot of people that have come to the theater

are going to recognize themselves or part of their lives with this story

And it's really unique, and it's beautiful. I'm so excited. Working with John Patrick Shanley is a dream come true. I mean, the play that really transformed my life and inspired me to go to Juilliard was seeing Cherry Jones in doubt. I saw it at the Amundsen, and then I came to New York and brought my entire family. I grew up in a big Italian Catholic family, so Moonstruck was on in our house every day. John's one of my favorite writers, so this is truly a Efendi's. I'm a

dream come true in this play is beautiful, personal about love, loss, and it's funny

And Cessley and David and Florentia are incredible, so everybody should come see it

Having John Patrick Shanley in the room as the director, too, what that's been like

So I've worked with Shanley before as a director and as a writer, and he is, you know

He's a wise soul and he's a funny man. And to get to hear him really talk about where the play came from in his own life His family it a very personal play for him He oftentimes very emotional during it

and that is such an honor to get to see him be so vulnerable in front of us

I feel so humbled, again, by getting to play a character from his real life

based on a character from his real life who he loved and who he learned from

I just feel like, wow, what a gift to get to bring that person to life

And he's just oftentimes, you know, he's easy. He's easy to work with

He's a great sense of humor, but he's so deeply invested in the work that I just

I feel so thrilled to get to work with him. I've been doing this for a long time

I'm very devoted to New York. I'm very devoted to the theater. And the reasons that I love New York are many

And this play demonstrates them. You see the kind of people in this play

that make me want to live in New York and why I love New York

And the theater is my church. and there is a spiritual aspect to this play

that I think many people are going to find moving I certainly do

rehearsals have been quite moving for me and funny and it's a noble effort

I'm humbled and pleased to be doing it