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Cellino & Barnes public feud selling out comedy crowds coast-to-coast

Posted at 4:51 PM, May 23, 2019
and last updated 2019-05-23 18:09:40-04

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — It was the talk of the town when playwright Michael Breen was home from Los Angeles to visit family.

Cellino and Barnes, the famous personal injury attorneys were splitting up.

“I was like…none of us really know who they are at all, we just see their billboards everywhere, and we’re really affected by them.”

Breen had been looking for new material to work on, and this fit the bill for his next comedy.

“I really wanted to work on something where it’s just two people on stage talking for a long time,” said Breen.

Together with his creative partner David Rafailedes, the play was written in two weeks.

It actually opened in Buffalo last July.

Rafalides, who is a Cleveland native, lives in NYC while Breen resides in LA…and they are the entire cast of the play…so, it can only be performed when their schedules allow them to be together in one place for a few days.

It is being performed in Brooklyn in June, but it’s played from Buffalo to LA already selling out crowds on both coasts.

So, how does the duo sell a play about a “celebrity attorney team” that’s mostly known on the East coast?

“I was jus like, ‘they’re two injury attorneys that are suing each other’, and people are like, ‘that’s enough’”.

If you missed the sold out peformance of the play here in Buffalo last year, Breen tells 7EWN he has plans to bring it back home to the stage in the fall.
We'll bring you updates on dates and venue once released.