Playwright Ralph Pezzullo ponders the differences between art and life, all while perched on top Gauguin's Shoulder , playing at NY's Theatre for the New City through Jan. 17, 1998.

After being hit on the head with a pair of boots, Mario, an artist and shoe salesman, begins to see the world from a new vantage point -- as if he was a parrot on the shoulder of the painter Gauguin. Mario then moves into a loft above a Chinese restaurant and battles to strike a balance between his art and his life.

Formerly a story editor on the television show "Miami Vice," Pezzullo has numerous credits to his name, including two non-fiction books and the award-winning screenplay, "An Unacceptable Person." Stage plays by Pezzullo include: Dear Friends, On That Day, Eating the Shadow, The Education of One Miss February, From Behind the Moon, Ghosts in the Dining Room, Bad Moon Rising, and Asylum.

Gauguin's Parrot, written and directed by Ralph Pezzullo, plays at NY's Theater for the New City Dec. 10-Jan. 17, 1999. For tickets ($10) or more information, call (212) 254-1109.

-- By Sean McGrath