Milford Native Hits Broadway

By Katherine Landergan
The year was 1979. A senior at Milford High School was noticed for his disco dancing skills and roped into the school musical. Thirty years later, Rob Ruggiero would be making his directorial debut on Broadway.

“It really is a dream come true for someone who is in the theater,” said Ruggiero, who opened on Broadway this past February, with Matthew Lombardo’s comedy, Looped.

Looped tells the story of Tallulah Bankhead, an actress and wild partygoer, who is called into a sound studio to rerecord (or “loop”) one line of dialogue for her last film. Given her inebriated state, Bankhead is unable to loop the line. This sparks a comedic showdown between the actress and her film editor.

Ruggiero has also directed Looped for the Arena Stage in Washington D.C., and the Pasenda Playhouse in Los Angeles. He said his biggest challenge was adding scenes before the show premiered on Broadway.

“The challenges on a new play are different, it’s a bit like a moving target,” he said. “The characters develop, so you have to put a lot of focus and energy to nurture that.”

Looped features Valerie Harper, a four-time Emmy Award winner, who achieved fame as Rhoda Morgenstern on both the “Mary Tyler Moore Show,” and the CBS spin-off series “Rhoda.” Ruggiero has heard rumors that Harper’s performance in Looped will be nominated for a Tony Award.

“She is one of the most talented, kind, generous people that I know,” he said. “She doesn’t want any special treatment.”

Ruggiero said he is usually in rehearsal from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., six days a week. Before a show opens, he can be at the theater anywhere from 12 to 18 hours each day. And when one show is finished, the next one starts.

“It makes it very hard with friendships and personal relationships,” he said. “It’s a fascinating life but there are prices to pay.”

Ruggiero, originally from Milford, Mass., didn’t get his first taste of theater until his senior year of high school. He was a member of the disco dance club, and the choreographer of the club recruited him for the school musical, Oklahoma!.

Ruggiero went on to attend Westfield State College, where he participated in a number of musicals. He then transferred to Stonehill College, and became an active member of the theater department.

Patricia Sankus, head of Stonehill’s Theater Arts Program, said she first thought of Ruggiero as a sweet and shy young man.

“He started as an actor, and those first roles were life changing,” Sankus said. “After he did those roles I knew he had a talent that could be developed.”

Sankus said he participated in all the theater productions, whether as an actor, or technician. Ruggiero also directed a one-act play and a short musical.

“Stonehill helped springboard me into my career,” Ruggiero said. “It opened up doors and helped me understand myself as an artist.

In 2005, Ruggiero wrote and directed Ella, a musical about the life of Ella Fitzgerald, starring Tina Fabrique. The production won three Kevin Kline Awards, including “Outstanding Director of a Musical,” and three Joseph Jefferson Awards, including “Best Director-Revue.”

He also wrote and directed a musical revue, entitled Make Me a Song: The Music of William Finn. The production had a successful run Off-Broadway in 2006, and received nominations for both the Outer Critics Circle Award for “Outstanding New Off-Broadway Musical,” and the Drama Desk Award for “Outstanding Review.”

Currently, Ruggiero is directing the play, High, which he hopes to open on Broadway next year. But Ruggiero said Broadway has never been his ultimate goal as a director.

“I didn’t need to have a Broadway show, I just wanted to have my work produced,” he said. “A Broadway show is like the cherry on the sundae.”