We recently connected with Santo D. Marabella and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Santo D. thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

I have been fortunate that I consider the bulk of my creative work to be projects I consider meaningful. Projects of other creators, such as This Is Reading, created by Tony-nominated and two-time Pulitzer Prize winning playwright, Lynn Nottage, and Finding Jenn’s Voice from Tracy Schott, award-winning documentarian, are just two of the projects that I believed in passionately. When it comes to my own projects, the one that comes to mind right now because I am in the middle of another re-write, is a play I wrote and had several workshop productions called, Getting: COMPLETE!

Getting: COMPLETE! was written in 2014, re-written in 2016, before a second workshop production. This play was written as my way of healing from being a bully’s target when I was a kid. From kindergarten to 10th grade I feared going to school and being at school. I vowed that when I was a grown-up, I’d never let myself be bullied again and I would stand up for myself. Those who know me, know that to be true. I am assertive, can take care of myself, and will assertively defend myself to others’ challenges (sometimes too much so!). When I wrote this play, I fully expected the bully in this story to have a horrific demise, to die or be humiliated or some other punishment equal to the oppression they caused me. Fortunately (for my spirit), the universe had other ideas. What started with vengeance, ended with empathy!

I truly found healing in writing this story, but also I found that audiences will empathize with people who do bad things when they decide they want to do (be?) better. Both surprised me! I didn’t expect writing the play to be so cathartic, and I certainly didn’t expect audiences to feel understanding for a villain.

Getting: COMPLETE! is the story of what happens when the bully grows up. Jo-Jo, had a secret that created many challenges as an adolescent that manifested through angry, bullying behavior. Now, an adult, Jo, wants to take responsibility for the past and apologize. The question is – are the bully’s targets ready and willing to accept the apologies.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I have always had a passion for the arts, but I am an educator first. That role gets expressed in many ways: college prof , writer, speaker, trainer, theater and film director. As a kid, I grew up with a Dad who was a songwriter/piano player/bandleader, and we collaborated on many projects. High school and college included participating in musicals, plays and chorus. It’s then that I started to write and direct, too. I always pursued a “real job”, eventually, landing a full-time job as a college professor at Moravian University, but the arts were always with me and a part of my life.

In my adult life, I have written and produced books, television pilots, a musical, short films and plays. I was a producer of This Is Reading by two-time Pulitzer Prize winning and Tony nominated playwright, Lynn Nottage, for which I was recognized as the 2018 Reading Eagle Entertainment Newsmaker of the Year. I co-founded and executive produced ReadingFilmFEST (2015 through 2017), as well as co-founded and served as Film Commissioner, ReadingFilm (2006 to 2018). My newspaper column, Office Hours with The Practical Prof®, has appeared in MediaNews Group newspapers since 2012.

Now, having begun retirement a bit early, I am focusing primarily on developing my art as a writer/producer. I am working on developing my writing skill for what I call “story-telling for GOOD”! That is, stories with the potential to have meaningful and positive social impact that can make a positive difference for for business, not-for-profit organizations, communities and individuals everywhere.

In 2023, I produced two feature films, Ava and Flashlight; and directed and co-produced a workshop presentation of an original musical, Love Is Afoot. Currently, I am working on my latest play, being produced in May 2024 by Reading Community Players, called Short Stage Stories: Rocky Road Ain’t Always Sweet, a compilation of five of my short one-act plays..

I am proud to be a Professor Emeritus of Management, Moravian University where I continue to teach part time. I am a member of The Lambs®, The Dramatists Guild of America and Theatre Communications Group. I earned his Bachelor’s degree from Villanova University; an MBA from St. Joseph’s University; and, a doctorate in social work from the University of Pennsylvania.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

As a young adult, the driving force for my creative journey was to write for Broadway or Hollywood. As an older adult, that driving force hasn’t changed all that much, but the motivation for it certainly has.

I am no longer motivated to “become famous” for my creative work; that has evolved into being respected for it. The difference is important. When you are motivated to become famous, you can lose sight of your passion and the core of your creative soul because you may be careless (as in not care) about your choices, as long as they lead you to becoming famous. In my case, I could choose to write about what’s trending, rather than what speaks to me. Or, I could attach my self as a producer to what’s commercial entertainment when I would prefer to align with what’s compelling art.

Pursuing respect may not make me famous on Broadway or in Hollywood, but it will give me satisfaction knowing that my art is seen and heard, judged for its voice and message, and appreciated for its value, even if it’s not something particularly liked or popular. That would be enough for me. And, a big aspect of being respected on your creative journey is being paid – something many artists undervalue or feel impotent seeking. I was fortunate to have that “real job” to pay bills, and fortunate now to pursue my art in early retirement, but I still believe it’s important to commercialize my art for consumption by the public and be compensated. That’s not mercenary, that’s good business. And, any creative journey is a business, let no one tell you differently.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

At my worst, I am a control freak. At my best, I call it discipline. In between is openness. When I’m open, my proclivity to over-control can become an asset.

Left un-checked, the problem for me with control in my writing is that I want to tell the audience what to think and feel. By audience I mean literally, the audience in a theater, or the audience who reads my books or newspaper columns, etc. It comes from insecurity about my writing skill. The more insecure I am, the more I want to control how I “land” with my audience. Not a very effective way to engage an audience, I know. In my earlier experience as a writer, I worried that my writing wasn’t good enough, and that’s easy to do with the amount of rejections of their work that writers may get (it’s likely the same with every artist!). And, if it’s not good enough, the “consumer” (my audience) of my writing won’t get the point or purpose, and they’ll join me in thinking my writing isn’t “good enough”! So, if I tell them what I want them to get, that should solve the problem.

Of course it doesn’t, it only constrains the audience and limits the possibilities for what they might glean from experiencing my art. Not only will they not get what I want them to get, they won’t get what they want to get.

So, the solution? Write without directing – meaning write what I want, but don’t direct what I want; my assertion ends when “the end” is written. I have to trust that if my writing is authentic and has meaning, it will be engaging. If that happens, my audience will find meaning – which may or may not be what inspired my writing. More important is for the audience to find what inspires them. It’s my writing, but it’s about them!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://marabellallc.com/entertainment/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thepracticalprof/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marabellaenterprises
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/marabella-enterprises/?viewAsMember=true
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGs-cJGuX4xKrLyH5QQ2ApA

Image Credits
Jeremy Drey, Reading Eagle