The banker and the bootlegger: Andy Malone dramatizes odd Pittsburgh friendship

Teresa “Tree” Martuccio spent years around the dinner table with family members swapping stories about their brushes with the Steel City’s biggest figures. In her self-described boisterous Italian family, no story loomed larger than the unlikely friendship between her “Uncle Mike” Martuccio and millionaire Andrew Mellon . Now, Martuccio is bringing her family’s history to the stage with the premiere of Andy Malone at City Theatre . “My family, we have a lot of great stories. We’re a big Italian family. We’re all great storytellers, and we love keeping stories alive,” Martuccio tells Pittsburgh City Paper . For years, Martuccio says she has been captivated by the story of her uncle befriending Mellon, the former banker-turned-U.S. Secretary of the Treasury whose name graces many Pittsburgh institutions. As the family legend and upcoming production describe it, the two men forged a bond while facing incarceration: “Uncle Mike” for his involvement in bootlegging in the 1930s, Mellon for suspected tax evasion. In countless retellings of this story, Mike Martuccio consistently referred to Mellon as “Andy Malone” (pronounced Maloney). Decades after the purported meetings between the men, Frank Motz, a family friend of the Martuccios, developed the cherished tale into a one-act play, set to stage Thu., Aug. 13-Sun., Aug. 16, at City Theatre. Martuccio, a playwright herself, says she could not resist the siren call of bringing her family’s story to a wider audience. Mike Martuccio (right) Credit: Courtesy of Teresa "Tree" Martuccio “Stories from our own neighborhoods help us to continue to foster our sense of belonging and connection in our city. In a time where we’re more and more online, it’s nice to have a night out with your neighbors, meet new neighbors, and laugh together in the theater at a world premiere,” Kaitlyn Wittig Menguc, the show’s director, tells City Paper . Martuccio, a l