'Love Stories' musical by North Babylon man comes to Tilles Center
"Love Stories: Neat or On the Rocks" by Robert L. Arleo, of North Babylon, was performed at Woodstock Playhouse in June. Credit: Robert L. Arleo
A litigator turned lyricist from North Babylon will stage a production of his musical, "Love Stories: Neat or On the Rocks," at LIU Post's Tilles Center for the Performing Arts on Nov. 14.
"During the week I’m punching it out as lawyer," attorney Robert Arleo said, "but in the evenings and on the weekends, I’m writing songs of love."
Arleo’s play is the culmination of nearly two years of moonlighting as a playwright while practicing as a trial lawyer who specializes in debt-collection cases. A longtime songwriter with a predilection toward romantic material, Arleo said he put out a CD many years ago but wanted another way to get his music in front of audiences. He came up with the idea of a musical with an anthology format: 12 separate stories, all set in a fictional watering hole called Hadleys, where the bartenders pour drinks with a chaser of sympathy. A cast of roughly a dozen will tell their tales, followed by a song. Each segment lasts just 10 minutes.
Arleo, 69, and now based in upstate Haines Falls, said he drew from his own romance while writing the play. He always had an eye for a classmate at North Babylon High School, he recalled, but their paths diverged. Each got married, then divorced, then showed up to a high school reunion at Belmont Lake State Park several years ago.
“She said, ‘Hello, Bob,’ ” and at that moment I thought, ‘I’m going to marry her,’” Arleo said. Their story inspired the play’s song “Train Tracks,” which Arleo will perform.
A staging in June at the Woodstock Playhouse got a good reception according to Arleo, so he decided to try it out in his hometown region. “Love Stories” was originally slated for Sept. 26 at LIU Post’s Krasnoff Theater but the nor'easter forced a postponement to a week from Saturday.
Arleo called his songs “pop stuff, nothing complicated,” and described the play’s themes as universal. “ ‘Oh, we’ve been going out for five years, but I just met someone at the gym,’ ” he offered as an example. “Or, you're in love with a friend but you don’t want to ruin the friendship. Stuff everyone’s gone through, has always gone through and will go through."
To purchase tickets and for more information, go to tillescenter.org.
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