“On the boardwalk everything is small talk - Sarsaparilla, sex and the Brooklyn Dodgers at Coney Island.”
“Coney Island” is a nostalgic yet unflinching look at postwar America: where dreams are cheap, sauce is sacred, and a young man with a song can either win the girl—or get eaten alive by the city. It’s a love letter to Brooklyn, wrapped in dance numbers and laced with real danger.
The Story
Summer, 1946. The war is over, the boys are home, and Coney Island is pulsing with life.
But beneath the sunshine and sideshow lights, a family-owned café is at the center of a changing neighborhood. Coney Island follows Frankie Renzi, a returning GI with a velvet voice, his streetwise younger brother Junior, and the women who shape them—each chasing love, ambition, and a place to belong.
From burlesque back rooms to the booming Boardwalk, the show blends romance, humor, trauma, and temptation with a big-hearted score and snappy period detail. Think Guys and Dolls meets On the Town, with a shot of marinara and a splash of Sinatra.
Songs woven through a hybrid of Jazz, Swing, Country, and Pop traditions.
Book and Lyrics by Frank Cuthbert
Music by Frank Cuthbert and Manny Focarazzo
Running Time: Approx. 90 minutes with no intermission
Genre: Historical musical drama