poet, performance-artist, Author, songwriter, cantastoria, pluralist by nature
Inspired by the demos, cacophonous opera of pushcart peddler street cries, the roots of theater in the agora. Annie Rachele Lanzillotto is an American author, poet, cantastoria, songwriter, and performance-artist whose stage presence has been called riveting and volcanic. She was born in the Bronx and is internationally known for her raw and authentic New York voice and profound memoir work which casts light onto LGBTQ+ lives, domestic violence, intergenerational trauma and post-war CPTSD. She is a long-term survivor of teenage Hodgkin's Lymphoma, and advocates for disability equality.
Lanzillotto has performed at City Lore, The Kitchen, Franklin Furance, Dixon Place, The Guggenheim Museum, Bronx Museum of the Arts, Museum of the City of New York, The Smithsonian Folk Life Festival, in Italy at Napoli Citta Libro, Fondazione Sassi, Matera; Sicilia Queer Filmfest, Palermo, Università degli Studi di Salerno at Fisciano, Università degli Studi Suor Orsola Benincasa, Napoli; Associazione Lette di Sera, Potenza, and in Ireland.
"Staggering. Ground-shaking.”
Annie is the one, an illumination of humanity. Power and poignancy amazingly captured. She gives her heart and soul to the pulse of humanity. We want to listen to these stories that are inherently traumatic because there is light shining through." Salley May, Performance-Artist, Founder of NYC’s Avant-garde-arama
“beyond interactive. . . inclusive and embracing.”
“When you go see Annie, you’re not “at” a show or a reading, you’re essentially in it, and the experience is profoundly refreshing and enriching.” Margaret Mittelbach, Co-Founder / Curator of NYC’s Secret Science Club
photo by Lou Guarneri