ACTRESS/PLAYWRIGHT
JULIE BOVASSO
Born Julia Anne Bovasso
8/1/1930 - 9/14/1991
FROM THESE ROOTS Rose Corelli Fraser 1958 - 6/3/1960 (walked out on role)
and
DOUBLETAKE Lou DiMona (2 Episodes) 1985
THE MAN IN THE FAMILY Angie Bavasso 1991
movies
THE ICEMAN COMETH Pearl 1960 (Made for T. V.)
THE SIN OF JESUS Arina 1962
THE FALL Self 1969
TELL ME THAT YOU LOVE ME, JUNIE MOON Ramona 1970
SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER Flo 1977
JUST ME AND YOU Waitress 1978 (Made for T. V.)
THE LAST TENANT Marie 1978 (Made for T. V.)
KING CRAB Mrs. Campara 1980 (Made for T. V.)
WILLIE AND PHIL Maria D'Amico 1980
THE GENTLEMAN BANDIT Doris 1981 (Made for T. V.)
THE VERDICT Maureen Rooney 1982
STAYING ALIVE Mrs. Manero 1983
DANIEL Frieda Stein 1983
A TIME TO TRIUMPH Chuck's Mother 1986 (Made for T. V.)
OFF BEAT Mrs. Wareham 1986
WISEGUYS Lil Dickstein 1987
MOONSTRUCK Rita Capponagi 1987
HOT PAINT 1988 (Made for T. V.)
BETSY'S WEDDING Grandma 1990
MY BLUE HEAVEN Vinnie's Mother 1990
ARTICLE 99 Amelia Sturdeyvant 1992
BROADWAY
MONIQUE 10/22/1957 - 12/14/1957 Henriette; Understudy -- Dr. Monique Rigaud; Lucienne Ravinel
MINOR MIRACLE 10/7/1965 - 10/9/1965 Mrs. Prosser
GLORIA AND ESPERANZA 2/4/1970 - 2/14/1970 Gloria B. Gilbert WRITER/DIRECTOR
BOOM BOOM ROOM 11/8/1973 - 12/9/1973 DIRECTOR (Replaced in Preview)
THEATER
FAUSTINA 1952 - 53 Faustina The Cherry Lane Theater
DINNY AND THE WITCHES 1959 Luella Cherry Lane Theater
VICTIMS OF DUTY 1960 Madeleine Theatre De Lys
GALLOWS HUMOR 1961 Lucy Gramercy Arts Theater
ONE MAN'S DREAMS 1969 DIRECTOR Ellen Stewart Theater
THE SCREENS 1972 ***** DRAMA DESK AWARD WINNER for OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE
WHAT I DID LAST SUMMER 1983 Anna Turnbull Circle Rep Theatre
HANDY DANDY (Staged Reading) 1984 Molly Egan Lewis A. Sawyer Theatre
THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST
THE TYPEWRITER
THE LESSON
THE MAIDS
THE DEATH OF OFF BROADWAY OR MONEY! (SIEG HEIL)
AUTHOR
SCHUBERT'S LAST SERENADE
ANGELO'S WEDDING
DOWN BY THE RIVER WHERE
WATER LILIES ARE DISFIGURED
EVERY DAY
Family Ties
Parents -- Angela Padovani and Bernard A. Bovasso
Marriages
George Earl Ortman 2/4/1951 - 58 Divorced
Len Wayland 8/12/1959 - 64 Divorced
Theater In Providence A Too Baroque Bovasso?
SOMETIME during the sixties, the avant‐garde of the Absurd was outflanked in the American theater by—what shall we call it?—the environmentalparticIpational avant‐garde, the avant‐garde that aspires to be a Theater of Cruelty. The new avant‐garde is more communal and less individualistic than the old, more concerned with political realities as opposed to merely subjective states, eager to incite to action, not just to bear witness—more in tune, therefore,” with the needs, or at least the wants, of these times.
But the Absurdists, though no longer at the height of fashion, have not simply gone away. Their influence can be seen all over the American theater. And Absurdist playwrights are still writing Absurdist plays; as Trigorin says in “The Seagull,” “Everyone writes as he likes and as he can.”
Julie Bovasso, for instance, the, actress‐director‐producer who introduced Jean Genet to New York with a famous production of “The Maids,” and who recently played a leading role in the New York premiere of Genet's “The Screens,” is also a playwright with distinct Absurdist leanings. In 1969 the new home of the La Mama Experimental Theater Club was inaugurated with a production of her play “Gloria and Esperanza,” which Won her an Obie Award and stirred up some fervent enthusiasm. And the other Monday evening (her night off from “The Screens”), Miss Bovasso was in Providence to see her new play, “Down by the River Where Waterlilies Are Disfigured Every Day,” receive its world premiere at the hands of the Trinity Square Repertory Company. Unfortunately, nothing in the play is as beautiful or as suggestive as its title.
In the old days, all Absurdist plays looked alike to us. They were distinguished by two salient characteristics: a) they took a rather dim view of the human condition, and b) they were hard to “understand.” Made wiser by time (about this matter—stupider, probably, about others), we can now discern two separate traditions within “the Absurd.” The plays of Beckett and Pinter are bareboned, minimal, classically austere; the plays, of Genet and Ionesco are expansive, inclusive, loosely assembled, often lush and baroque. Miss Bovasso belongs clearly to the second tradition; her new play owes a great deal—too much, perhaps—to Genet, and to “The Balcony” in particular.
“Outside, in the streets, the revolution is raging.” A sentence like this should be part or the equipment of every dramatic critic; it can serve to describe many plays by many writers, including, of course, Genet, and now Julie Bovasso as well. In “Waterlilies,” the revolution is being waged by children. The King and Queen, like the Queen in “The Balcony,” have disappeared. Count Josef, the leader of the counter‐revolutionary forces, is fascinated by his revolutionary opposite number—somewhat as Roger, the revolutionaty, in “The Balcony,” is fascinated by his opponent, the Police Chief.
But nobody would take this play for one of Genet's; Miss Bovasso has a willful, campy imagination all her own. That King and Queen, for instance, are a couple of Cockneys who won their crowns in some kind of sweepstakes—or so the King says. (He's sorry now that he didn't take cash instead.) Meanwhile, in a highrise apartment, an old lady named Phoebe Snow quarrels with her dapper lover, Clement; in the second act, they change, identities, and Phoebe becomes Clement and Clement becomes Phoebe. A Paratrooper who crashes through the ceiling may or may not be their long‐lost son Jim. All the women's roles are played by men (as are all of, the men's roles), which provides a further dimension of grotesquerie. And I haven't told you about Count Josef's aides, two midgets named Constantine and Herschel, or about his idiot son, Count Junior. (Nor do I intend to tell about them.)
“Waterlilies” has been directed by Adrian Hall, the artistic director of Trinity Square, and probably the most interesting director now working in the American regional theater. His work on this occasion is less explosively theatrical than it has sometimes been in the past, but he has turned out a smoother and more proficient production than Miss‐Bovasso herself achieved as director of her previous play, “The Moon Dreamers.”
As usual in my recent experience of Trinity Square, there are no brilliant performances, but a remarkable level of competence and consistency; this company is a real ensemble. They play Miss Bovasso's baroque imaginings with disciplined boldness: very energetically and broadly, but without getting on your nerves. (Witham Cain's Count Josef is the most striking performance, but I also liked James Eichelberger and Richard Kneeland as Phoebe and Clement, George Martin and David C. jones as King Array and Queen Nell, and several of the others.)
The essential weakness is in the play itself. Most of it seems comic in intent; much of it plays as some sort of parody—a parody, perhaps, of a play that someone like Anouilh or Betti might write on these themes, But Miss Bovasso's comic writing is sometimes arbitrary, some times cheap, and often not funny. Then, near the end there are long, florid monologues for Count Josef and for the Paratrooper that are evidently meant to be taken seriously, but that come across as just hollow verbiage.
Beyond these complaints comes the basic question: do Miss Bovasso's metaphors of revolution, violence, deformity, displacement, ambiguous sexuality, dubious sonship—do they fuse into a cogent, and affecting image of the objective or subjective worlds we inhabit? For some people, perhaps, yes; for me, at a first viewing, no, although there is something about Miss Bovasso's thickly proliferous imaginings that commands respect.
SALEM DOCTOR
SEBRINA PURCELL
6/17/1981 - Present
JANE THE VIRGIN Female Cop 2016
QUEEN SUGAR Tasha 2017
THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS Jail Guard February 2019
SISTAS Sergeant Tiffany Hamilton 2024
DAYS OF OUR LIVES Dr. ___ Crawford 8/21/2026
and
LEENDEN UNIVERSITY Mr. Jenkins 2015
SHAMELESS Jolene (2 Episodes) 2019
9-1-1 LONESTAR Officer Lexi Mitchell 2021 - 24
Television Special
UP CLOSE 2018
movies
HOPE Hope 2014
BREAK AWAY Sharon 2016
FRAMES Bobbi Evans 2019
I LOVE YOU Wife 2019
CODE__SWITCH Maya Oliver 2019
SHATTERING FAITH Grace 2020
ALL THE LOVE I COULD HANDLE Kathleen Collins 2025
LOVE AT FIRST SPITE Ruby 2025
DEAD END GIRLS 2025
Upcoming
THE LAST FIREFIGHTER Nurse Sebrina TBA Post Production
THE VALUE OF EX: SEASON 2 Angela TBA Post Production (Made for T. V.)
https://boldjourney.com/meet-sebrina-purcell/
SALEM HENCHMAN...
ZACH ZEBROWSKI
DAYS OF OUR LIVES Henchman 8/11/2026
and
KEYTV'S SPORTS FAN Mike 2023
movies
PET EXPO Tim Matthews 2014
BERNARD AND LUCY Boyfriend 2016
C'EST LA VIE Sean 2017
WHAT NOW Aaron 2017
MY TIME Marshall Sarver 2017 (Made for T. V.)
PUPPET MASTER: DOKTOR DEATH Flynn 2022
THE SECRETS OF THE MATRIARCH Robert 2026
Upcoming
THE ROYAL CHRISTMAS MIX-UP Finn TBA Post Production (Made for T. V.)
THEATER (Florida)
ANNA IN THE TROPICS Sir Charles Marlow
SHE STOOPS TO CONQUER Charles Marlow
BOOM! Jules
PICASSO OF THE LAPIN APPLE The Visitor
Troupe Member of the Rollins Improv Players
@Franko @DRW50 @Bright Eyes @Paul Raven @robbwolff @vetsoapfan
@Xanthe @P.J. @janea4old @jam6242 Tagged for this and the above post.
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slick jones ·
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