Meatballs in New York
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The play "20 Seconds," by Altoona native Thomas "Tom" Sweitzer will be performed off-broadway for six weeks on the Irene Diamond Stage at the Pershing Square Signature Center, 480 West 42nd St., New York, Sept. 10 to Oct. 21.
Formerly known as "Meatballs and Music," Sweitzer stars in this biographical, one-man show about his childhood growing up in Altoona. Sweitzer last performed the show in Altoona two summers ago, as part of the renaming of the theater stage in his honor at The Church in the Middle of the Block.
The upcoming off-broadway production culminates five years of work and gaining financing from producers, Sweitzer said, a journey interrupted by the pandemic and his own recovery from COVID-19. It gained momentum after he landed an agent after a one-night show last year in NYC, he said.
Sweitzer, 51, lives in Leesburg, Virginia, and is the co-founder and head of development for A Place To Be, a nonprofit music therapy practice. He'll relocate -- temporarily -- to NYC for the show, which has been "workshopped and refined" and enhanced through the addition of a large creative team, including a set, costume and sound designers.
"It's still the story of my childhood in Altoona and the day I crossed the street and met my Sunday School teacher," he said. Then 8, he was lured to cross the street by the outpouring of music from the neighborhood church. Music and theater became his sanctuary from a turbulent childhood. The play is about "how one person saved my life by showing me music and because I forgave dad" and is also a nod to "my community and world where they allowed me to be who I was. I was loved much more than I was bullied."
Sweitzer portrays 12 characters during the 90-minute show which is slated for 48 performances in the 299-seat theater.
"It's called '20 seconds' because it's the centerpiece of my show where my Sunday school teacher tells me to really forgive my father that I should hug him for 20 seconds," Sweitzer said during a recent phone interview.
"It's humbling and daunting," he said, as there's no understudy. Sweitzer does have a large supporting team behind the scenes as the show has 15 producers, including Jacqueline B. Mars, of Mars Candy, and a 12-member creative team.
A review of a December show in Washington, D.C., called the play, "'Wonderful and cathartic. Chock full of song, humor, but most of all heart," according to information about the show on its website. The play captured an award for "Best Solo Performance," at the 2022 Capital Fringe Festival.
For more information and for tickets, visit https://20secondsplay.com/.