Janyce Lapore was born into a large Italian family in a steel mill town in Western Pennsylvania. Ferris Wheel is a tribute to all the women of these small towns who quietly raise their families and are unable to voice the secret rages of their hearts. The play won Chicago's Center Theatre International Play Award, was a New Century Writers top award winner and was nominated for a Carbonell Award for the Best Play of 1998. It was produced by 13th Street Repertory, Common Basis Theatre and Fireside Theatre (all in New York City) and the Florida Shakespeare Theatre. Ferris Wheel was also published in Dutch. It was further developed by The Coppola New Century Writing Series in New York City. Her play Street Dolores Rain, about an American Indian family adjusting to life in an urban Pittsburgh neighborhood, premiered at the Cleveland Public Theatre to rave reviews. A Curse of Angels is the tale of steelworker Salvador Vinta, an opera lover who rules his family with forbidden love and an iron hand. Derringer (formerly titled Beach Babes) is the story of a desperate actress and a writer who run into a beautiful Latin hustler on Miami Beach. Derringer was developed at 13th Street Repertory in New York City. In recent years, Lapore has turned her attention to writing for film. Her screenplays 10 Minutes From Paradise, Poppytown and Screaming My Heart Out have won several film festival awards. Most recently, 10 Minutes From Paradise won Best Screenplay at the Independent Film Festival, and Poppytown was named Best Film Noir by Fade In magazine. Screaming My Heart Out and 10 Minutes from Paradise were both named official selections at the 2008 Action On Film International Film Festival in Los Angeles. Screaming My Heart Out was named official selection at the 2009 NJ Film Festival and official selection at the 2009 Action on Film International Film Festival in Los Angeles. It was also named Best Screenplay at the 2009 Female Eye Film Festival in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and Best Screenplay at the Hollywood Scriptwriting Awards. Lapore was nominated for the Arthur Rosenfeld Award for Excellence in Writing and the Ability to Tell an Outstanding Story.
