Artie Shaughnessy is a songwriter with visions of glory. Toiling by day as a zoo-keeper, he suffers in seedy lounges by night, plying his wares at piano bars in Queens, New York where he lives with his wife, Bananas.
Artie’s downstairs mistress, Bunny Flingus will sleep with him anytime but refuses to cook until they are married. On the day the Pope is making a first visit to the city, Artie’s son Ronnie goes AWOL from Fort Dix stowing a home- made bomb intended to blow up the Pope in Yankee Stadium. Also arriving is Artie’s old school chum, now a successful Hollywood producer, Billy Einhorn with starlet girlfriend in tow, who holds the key to Artie’s dreams of getting out of Queens and away from the life he so despises.
But like many dreams, this promise of glory evaporates amid the chaos of ordinary lives.
By John Guare
Directed by Justin Brady