{{Short description|Canadian screenwriter (born 1961)}} {{Hatnote|This article is about the Canadian screenwriter. For the Italian philologist, see [[Vittorio Rossi (philologist)]].}} {{BLP sources|date=April 2008}} {{Infobox person | name = Vittorio Rossi | image = VRossi.jpg | caption = Mr. Rossi, October 2010 | birth_name = Vittorio Luciano Rossi | birth_date = April 16, 1961 | birth_place = [[Montreal]], [[Quebec]], [[Canada]] | occupation = Playwright, Actor, Screenwriter, Director | years active = 1986-present }}
'''Vittorio Luciano Rossi''' (born April 16, 1961) is a [[playwright]], actor and [[screenwriter]] born in [[Montreal]], [[Quebec]], Canada.<ref>Gregory Reid, [https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/vittorio-rossi "Vittorio Rossi"]. ''[[The Canadian Encyclopedia]]'', June 6, 2010.</ref> He grew up in the district of [[Ville Emard]]. Graduating from [[Concordia University (Quebec)|Concordia University]] in 1985 with a B.F.A. specializing in theatre performance,<ref>{{cite web|title='I've never looked back': Blue Metropolis pays tribute to Montreal playwright and Concordia grad Vittorio Rossi|website=Concordia University|date=April 26, 2019|access-date=March 30, 2024|last=Burnett|first=Richard|url=https://www.concordia.ca/cunews/offices/vpaer/aar/2019/04/26/ive-never-looked-back-blue-metropolis-pays-tribute-to-montreal-playwright-and-concordia-grad-vittorio-rossi.html}} </ref> Rossi has earned the respect of the national theatre community with his award-winning plays. Mr. Rossi received two consecutive Best New Play Awards at the Quebec Drama Festival in 1986 and 1987 with ''Little Blood Brother'' and ''Backstreets''.<ref name="face">{{cite journal|last=Reid|first=Gregory J.|title=Face to Face: A Conversation with Vittorio Rossi|journal=Forum|volume=21|issue=2|publisher=[[Theatre Research in Canada]] |date=June 1, 2000|pages=177–194 |doi=10.3138/tric.21.2.177 |url=https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/TRIC/article/view/12636/13523|issn=1913-9101|url-access=subscription}}</ref> His plays have been produced in Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, Vancouver, New York City, Boston, Syracuse and [[Stratford Shakespeare Festival|The Stratford Festival]] in Ontario.
In 1987 Rossi became playwright-in-residence at Montreal's prestigious [[Centaur Theatre]], during which time he wrote his first full-length play, ''The Chain'', which opened Centaur's 20th anniversary season in October 1988. The show was then produced at the [[National Arts Centre]] in Ottawa. Other plays include: ''Scarpone'', ''In Pursuit Of A Cow'', ''The Last Adam'', (winner of the Canadian Authors Association Literary Award for Drama in 1996), ''Love and Other Games'', ''Filumena'' (Translation), ''Paradise By The River''. In 2006 Vittorio debuted the beginning of what may be his most ambitious work to date, a collection of three plays inspired by the life of his late father entitled ''A Carpenter’s Trilogy''. The three plays include ''Hellfire Pass'' (winner of the MECCA Award for Best New Text in 2006), ''Carmela’s Table'' (winner of the MECCA Award for Best New Text in 2007), and ''The Carpenter''. His play ''The Envelope'' had its World Premiere in March 2015, a production which he also directed. This marked his landmark 10th production at The Centaur Theatre. His latest play ''Legacy'' had its World Premiere at The Leonardo Da Vinci Centre in Montreal in June 2022, and was produced by MAGJUSJEN Entertainment, a production he also starred in.
Rossi was Writer-in-Residence at [[Concordia University (Quebec)|Concordia University]] in 1990-91 where he also taught playwriting. He is also the recipient of the 1994 Premio Award given by CIBPA (Canadian Italian Business Professionals Association) in the field of Creativity for bringing honour and distinction to the Italian-Canadian community with his body of work. In 2003 Mr. Rossi taught screenwriting at the [[Université de Sherbrooke]].
As an actor, Rossi appeared as a regular as Dino Marrone on [[Urban Angel]] and as Detective Tom Celano in the award-winning French-language television series ''Omertá''. His film credits include performances in the CBS Emmy Award-winning [[Day One (1989 film)|Day One]], and the critically acclaimed feature [[Malarek]]. Rossi was also a co-star in ''Le Sphinx'' and acted the lead in the film ''Canvas'' starring opposite Gary Busey and John Rhys-Davies. He also co-starred in the feature film ''The Timekeeper''. In his most recent work, he appeared in ''The Walk'' directed by Robert Zemeckis. He has written several screenplays and has directed film versions of both ''Little Blood Brother'' and ''The Chain''. His plays are published by [[Talonbooks]].
== Plays == {{Infobox person | name = Vittorio Rossi | image = VR2.jpg | caption = Mr. Rossi, August 2013 }} *''Legacy'' (2022) *''The Envelope'' (2015) *'''A Carpenter's Trilogy''': **''The Carpenter'' (2007) **''Carmela’s Table'' (2006) **''Hellfire Pass'' (2006) *''Paradise By The River'' (1998) *''Filumena'' (Translation) (1997) *''Love and Other Games'' (1995) *''The Last Adam'' (1994) *''In Pursuit Of A Cow'' (1992) *''Scarpone'' (1990) *''The Chain'' (1988) *''Backstreets'' (1987) *''Little Blood Brother'' (1986)
== Film == *''[[The Sphinx (film)|The Sphinx]] (Le Sphinx)'' ([[Louis Saia]], 1995) (Plays Tony, Pat Carbone's barman.)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114510/fullcredits?ref_=tt_ov_st_sm|title = Le sphinx (1995) |publisher=IMDb}}</ref> *''Little Blood Brother'' (writer/producer/director) filmed in Montreal. *''The Chain'' (writer/director) filmed in Montreal (2020). *''Legacy'' (writer/director) filmed in Montreal (2021).
== MAGJUSJEN Entertainment == A Montreal based entertainment company founded on June 28, 2018 by Barry F. Lorenzetti and Vittorio Rossi. The name comes from the first three letters of Mr. Lorenzetti’s three children, Maggie, Justin, and Jenna. Barry is the Executive Producer of the company, and Vittorio is the Artistic Director.
== References ==
Reid, Gregory J. (2000) “Worlds Within Worlds of Vittorio Rossi.” <ref>Canadian Theatre Review</ref> 104: 16 - 23.
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== External links == * {{IMDb name|id=0744344|name=Vittorio Rossi}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Rossi, Vittorio}} [[Category:20th-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights]] [[Category:21st-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights]] [[Category:Canadian male screenwriters]] [[Category:1961 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Concordia University alumni]] [[Category:People from Le Sud-Ouest]] [[Category:Canadian people of Italian descent]] [[Category:Canadian male dramatists and playwrights]] [[Category:20th-century Canadian male writers]] [[Category:21st-century Canadian male writers]] [[Category:20th-century Canadian screenwriters]] [[Category:21st-century Canadian screenwriters]] [[Category:Screenwriters from Montreal]]