Review Fix Midtown International Theatre Festival Coverage: Heider Tunarrosa Talks ‘You Belong With Me Because You’re So Vain’

Review Fix chats with playwright Heider Tunarrosa, who discusses “You Belong With Me Because You’re So Vain” and its upcoming run at the 2016 Midtown International Theatre Festival.

About You Belong With Me Because You’re So Vain:

YOU BELONG WITH ME BECAUSE YOU’RE SO VAIN By Heider Tunarrosa; starring Ian Whitt, Michelle Persoff, Ty Baumann, Tristan J. Shuler, and Phillip Shinn. When a neurotic songwriter accidentally falls in love with his best friend’s ex-boyfriend, and he must decide between losing his best friend or the love of his life, he receives help from the imaginary versions of Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga. (Romantic Comedy) Performance Schedule: Mon 3/21, 6:00pm; Thurs 3/24, 8:30pm; Sat 3/26, 3:00pm

Review Fix: What was the inspiration for this project?

Heider Tunarrosa: I wrote “You belong with me because you’re so vain” after my heart was broken because I fell in love with the wrong person. I always thought that forbidden love is one of the best themes in literature.

Review Fix: What’s your creative process like?

Tunarrosa: I usually watch movies that have a similar theme and study the way the characters deal with conflict. Based on that, I exaggerate their flaws in order to make them relatable but also funny.

Review Fix: What makes this different or special?

Tunarrosa: “You Belong with Me Because You’re so Vain” is different because it’s a love story where the characters happen to be gay and the play also shows the audience that love is a universal feeling that everyone will experience at least once in their lives.

Review Fix: What did you learn about yourself through this process?

Tunarrosa: I learned that a play is never fully written because a playwright is never happy with the final product. I also learned that in order to tell a story properly, it’s important to have real characters.

Review Fix: How does it feel to be a part of something like this?

Tunarrosa: It’s incredibly exciting and refreshing to find a festival that is willing to try new plays. To be honest, I can’t wait to see the play on stage.

Review Fix: What are your ultimate goals for this production and for the future?

Tunarrosa: I want to extend it into a full-length play with music. I would love to talk to
composers and lyricists to help me come up with songs.

Review Fix: What do you think your audiences will enjoy the most?

Tunarrosa: Probably the love triangle and the way how the main character deals with his neurosis.

Review Fix: What’s next?

Tunarrosa: I’m working on developing a web series and I’m also promoting a short film I wrote a few years ago.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13819 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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