Photo by Eric Campbell
Boca Raton resident Sharon Pfeiffer’s play, “From Brooklyn to Boca,” recently enjoyed a successful world premiere run at The Studio Theater at Mizner Park. Co-written with Deni B. Sher, the script is loosely based on Pfeiffer’s own experiences as a mob wife and girlfriend. It marks the culmination of her lifelong dream to be a writer, and Pfeiffer also has the starring role in the play.
Initially envisioned as a memoir titled “The Queen of Denial,” Pfeiffer shared her ideas with Sher, who helped transform them into a television script. Eventually, the duo converted it into a screenplay before meeting Shari Pemberton, a theatrical producer who encouraged them to adapt it into a play that she would go on to produce.
A New York transplant, Pfeiffer, 60, moved to South Florida 26 years ago, leaving behind her life as a mob wife to create a fresh start and a safer home for her daughter Danielle.
“I was a mob wife until 1998,” Pfeiffer recalls. “Then, I left New York in the middle of the night. I left everything — two nail salons, my entire life — behind. I came to South Florida with my daughter to escape that life and reinvent myself.”
From the moment you meet Pfeiffer, it’s clear she’s a born entertainer: funny, passionate and engaged with her audience. She always had a love for acting, and when Danielle left home, she pursued her dreams in earnest, earning her Screen Actors Guild (SAG) card and landing several plum roles, despite her unapologetically strong New York accent. Along the way, she discovered her knack for comedy and began doing stand-up, all the while reflecting on her improbable journey, which became the foundation of “From Brooklyn to Boca.”
“I love my play,” Pfeiffer says. “It covers a lot of ground, but the themes are timeless — love, acceptance and happiness. It’s about being happy wherever you are, as long as you’re surrounded by the people you love.”