Winter Tour 2024 Information & Shows
2024 Dates: January 14th through March 2nd
Thanks for stopping by and your interest in my shows.
Since 2005, I've been performing my unique solo shows in New England, New Jersey, New York and Florida, for libraries, retirement communities, senior centers, historical societies, women's groups, and performing arts spaces.
I'm excited to announce that in 2024, in addition to Florida, I'll also be available to present my shows in Georgia, the Carolinas, Virginia, Pennsylvania and Maryland. You can read more about the shows below.
Contact me about when I'll be in your area, pricing, block booking DISCOUNTS and particular dates or if you have any other questions. The best way to get a hold of me is via my email or by cell phone: 978-430-1357. Looking forward to hearing from you. Enjoy your day! -Rita
"I have chosen selections from Waterfall Productions for years because they are engaging, unusual, quality shows which our audiences have loved. We appreciate her choices of under the radar women, whose stories are well researched, creatively entertaining, and thought provoking. Waterfall Productions is easy to contact, work with, and is affordable... We are always thrilled when a new play or activity is generated and look forward to the experience!' -Annie Wuelfing Service Coordinator MHPI, Inc.
The Shows
Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald is often known as the crazy wife of F. Scott Fitzgerald, author of The Great Gatsby. She was the glittering half of the Golden Couple of the 1920's and muse and inspiration for the flapper characters in Fitzgerald's Jazz Age stories. But before she met Scott, she was the flamboyant and outrageous Zelda Sayre, the famous belle from Montgomery Alabama and the daughter of a judge and an artistic mother. Her antics before and after marriage became the stuff of legends. But Zelda was much more than a southern belle, a glittering jewel on Fitzgerald's arm, Roaring 20's icon or an American expatriate wife in Paris. This original play, will pay tribute to an often misunderstood woman; a women who battled schizophrenia for much of her life; a woman who was also a mother, an accomplished ballet dancer, an exhibited artist and a published writer .
*Appropriate for mature teens and up.
Features full set and printed show program for audience.
65 minute performance with talk-back afterward
Video Clips from I am Zelda
1908 Tea
In 1908, the world was on the cusp of change. The traditions of the Victorians were giving way to a more modern way of thinking and living. Mrs. Gordon, a woman having lived in both the 19th and 20th century, has a lot to say about all these new changes in technology, fashion, beauty, current thinking and opinions and more at the turn of the 20th century.
Tropical Tea
Travel back to winter 1913 with Mrs. Michael Gordon as she tours Florida with her husband. She will share her experiences and impressions of railroad travel, tourist attractions, grand hotels, and shopping at the original Burdines Department Store in Miami .
Both 1908 Tea and Tropical Tea are 50-60 minutes in length and are interactive.
The audience is free to ask Mrs. Gordon questions or
even add their own "two cents" to the discussion.
"Rita Parisi presents delightful performances of historic characters. It's clear how much research she does to bring characters to life, right down to the gloves and hats and the activities of daily life. I have attended a number of her performances, and whenever I hear she's doing a new one I make sure not to miss it! Highly recommend."
-Edith Maxwell, author of the Quaker Midwife Mysteries
Video Clip from 1908 Tea
Meet some of the women, loyalist and patriot, American born and foreign, who witnessed and in some cases changed the course of the American Revolution.
Some of the women, Rita will portray:
- A Massachusetts housewife who led an all female militia in search of British spies.
- A German Baroness POW
- A Georgian farmer's wife who fought the Red Coats and WON!
Features full set and printed programs for audience.
60 min performance with discussion afterward
Video Clip from Women of '76
(Rita) was able to transform herself into five different characters, each with a slight accent or gestural characteristic that made the historical figure come alive. Our members were mesmerized learning about the five women...each with a different, compelling story to tell. Rita uses historically accurate costuming and props which helps to engage the audience and set the scene.
-Augusta Gonzalez, program coordinator Middlesex Community College (MILE), Middletown CT
Born Salamah bint Said, Princess of Zanzibar, in 1844, Emily Reute grew up in a harem as the youngest child of the Sultan of Oman and Zanzibar. In this show, she will share with the audience the story of her life from her childhood on Zanzibar and her involvement in politics to her elopement with a German trader and her married life in Germany. The former princess will also speak about women's rights in Eastern and Western culture. In the words of Oscar Wilde: "The Princess is herself a woman of high culture, and the story of her life is as instructive as history and as fascinating as fiction.”
Features set and printed program for audience
60 minutes with discussion afterward
"Many thanks for bringing the Arabian princess to our stage...it's a wonderful piece in addition to being so very timely. We were transported into a world of wonders and stirring human drama." -Marc Clopton Artistic Director, Actors Studio of Newburyport MA
Arabian Princess Video Clip Coming Soon!
Winter Tour 2024 Schedule of Performances
1908 Tea
The Villages Library at Pinellas Plaza
7375 Powell Road Wildwood FL / 352-689-4567
Thursday January 18, 2024 at 2 pm
1908 Tea
Private Performance
Clermont, FL
Saturday January 20, 2024 at Noon
Memoirs of an Arabian Princess from Zanzibar
South County Regional Library
21100 Three Oaks Parkway Estero, FL / 239-533-4413
Tuesday January 23, 2024 at 2 pm
Tropical Tea
Private Performance
Naples, FL
Wednesday January 24, 2024
I am Zelda
Mid County Regional Library
2050 Forrest Nelson Boulevard Port Charlotte FL / 941-613-3176
Thursday January 25, 2024 @ 6 pm
I am Zelda
Private Performance
Melbourne FL
Saturday February 3, 2024 at 3 pm
Tropical Tea
Suntree/Viera Public Library
902 Jordan Blass Drive Melbourne FL / 321-255-4404
Monday February 5, 2024 at 6:30 pm
1908 Tea
Bradford County Public Library
456 West Pratt Street Starke FL / 904-368-3911
Friday February 9, 2024 at TBD
