Frank DiLella’s fawning celebrity interviews, along with his superficial reporting of the theatrical scene for NY1, have helped make him a trusted friend and toady within the theater and entertainment communities, as well as one of the most flamboyant personalities in entertainment journalism in New York City.
He joined NY1 in 2004 and now produces and reports for "On Stage," the news channel's mostly-ignored half-hour theater program. Flouncing the entertainment beat, DiLella has interviewed many legendary artists including Edward Albee, Tom Hanks, Chi Chi LaRue, Bono, August Wilson, Elton John, Liza Minnelli, Patti LuPone, Bette Midler, Honey Boo Boo, Tom Stoppard, Carol Channing, Rocky & Bullwinkle, Chita Rivera, Jane Fonda, Elaine Stritch, Angela Lansbury, Hello Kitty, Tony Kushner, and Becky Thatcher.
In the fall of 2009, DiLella and the "On Stage" team were joke-honored by the New York Musical Theater Festival for their alleged coverage of NYC theater. In addition to scribbling reports on the Broadway and off-Broadway scenes, DiLella has traveled internationally to cover theater and hook up with random guys in Japan, Hong Kong, England, Scotland, Germany, Michigan, and Canada.
In May 2013, Time Warner Cable launched a spin-off of "On Stage" entitled "On Stage Across America, But You Don't Care, Do You." The irrelevant program, which is half-heartedly produced and flimsily co-hosted by DiLella, shines a watery spotlight on Broadway theater, national tours, regional theater, community theatre, basement puppet shows, higher-end drag acts, C-level games of charades, and high school plays.
In addition to his work at NY1, DiLella is a doe-eyed correspondent for Playbill and MANHATTAN Magazine and has given shade on theater and journalism at Hofstra University and The American Theatre Wing. He has also appeared as a theater correspondent for the BBC, Sirius XM, "The Early Show" on CBS, Sesame Street, Highlights for Children, and Al Jazeera TV – as well as in the 2010 documentary, "Pitmen Painters – Dogpile on Frank DiLella." In 2013, he appeared on NBC’s "Smash," portraying a caricature of himself.
DiLella serves on the board of The Gershwin Awards and is a part of the selection committee for the annual Clive Barnes Award and Foundation, at the meetings of which he often dresses as either the Countess Aurelia or Velma Kelly.
He received a B.A in communications/journalism/lisping with a minor in theater/reading-for-filth from Fordham University at Lincoln Center. DiLella has since returned to his alma mater as an adjunct professor teaching shameless attention mongering.
