Jeannette Rizzi is a master of storytelling. Beautifully written and heartwarmingly gut wrenching. If you or someone you know has committed suicide or you suspect might be considering suicide, Jeannette’s show is a “Must See.”

Using humor and honesty Jeannette’s one women show touches the heart and soul of what we in America are so unwilling to talk about or discuss i.e. Suicide and our cultural unkindness towards others who are not “just like ourselves.”

Also, Jeannette’s gift and skill of bringing different characters to life is nothing short of amazing. I found myself crying and laughing at the same time as she uniquely wove her story of a young Italian girl growing up against all odds in a small rural community.

Finally, As I looked around the audience I could tell Ms. Rizzi had succeeded at what she had come to do, that is, Perform, Inform, and truly entertain her audience.

M.S.

What an experience! no elaborate set, no famous cast…. just raw, visceral emotion that tugged at your heart and made you a witness to Jeannette’s incredible story. She is an accomplished story teller who takes you to a journey filled with bittersweet humor, unbearable anguish and sadness yet leaves you with an incredible appreciation for life with all its ups and down. This show should be performed in schools all around the country. As Jeannette said toward the end of her performance “Be careful how you speak to women”.

Jeannette’s passion for suicide prevention is amazing; her drive and determination are unrelenting. The only way to stop suicide is to talk about suicide. We are happy and honored to continue to support her in our joint effort to bring suicide out of the shadows and ensure that people know that they do have someone to talk to, somewhere to turn.

President, Friends of the Crisis Center

A one-woman show about the effects of teen suicide doesn’t sound like a rip-roaring night out by any accounts, but Jeanette Rizzi’s ‘Blindsided’ manages to straddle the line between funny and tragic with a grace unexpected.

Beginning with ‘outcast’ Jeanette’s upbringing as a daughter of a monk and a nun (both, she hastens to add, well out of the orders before embarking on the baby-making), and as a full-blooded Italian in the ‘red-neck’ town in Florida where she’s the local ‘milano’ (or machiatto, or marinara, or whatever word the locals confuse for Mulatto), Cher-lover Jeanette knows she’s bound for greater things. Always feeling the odd-one-out, in her family as well as in school, things take a turn for the better when she meets Katie – gum-chewing, foul-mouthed best friend. Whether taking teenage road trips to get free condoms from the health clinic or dancing their pain away, the two friends are each others’ rocks in hard times and good. Until Katie turns a shotgun on herself and everything changes. Following Jeanette’s guilt and depression and escape to LA, the play charts her ups, her downs and her realisations about life. There was equal laughter and tears from the audience – never sentimental, the play was at times gut-wrenchingly tragic or side-splittingly funny.