Dedication or The Stuff of Dreams

by Terrence McNally
First NYC Revival

January 13-28, 2007
The Gallery Players, Brooklyn, NY

Photo by G. Benjamin Swope.

Producer: Matt Schicker
Director: Heather Siobhan Curran
Set Designer: David Ogle
Lighting Designer: G. Benjamin Swope
Costume Designer: Amy Elizabeth Bravo
Sound Designer: Megan Henninger
Production Stage Manager: Ernesto Espinoza

Cast: Burke Adams*, John Blaylock*, Brian Michael Flanagan*, Hanna Hayes, Dennis Michael Keefe, Jessica Krueger, and Beth E. Williams.
*Member, Actors’ Equity Association

Photo by G. Benjamin Swope.

What I’m Most Proud Of: On paper, Dedication or The Stuff of Dreams is a show that a theater with limited resources in a basement shouldn’t be able to produce well. The play requires a trap door, various authentic-looking antique set-pieces, and the dialogue refers to 1…2…3 (!) balconies. However, director Heather Curran and our design team had ingenious ideas about how to overcome any of these limitations, and in the process, as always happens, I think we ended up with something better than we ever could have imagined!

Burke Adams as Lou Nuncle and Beth E. Smith as Jessie.

Reviews and Quotes:
“The Gallery Players continue to present some of the most consistently high-quality Off-Off Broadway theatre in the city.” Off-Off Broadway Review

Beth E. Smith as Jessie and John Blaylock as Arnold uncover an old-fashioned wind machine.

Dennis Michael Keefe as Edward and Hanna Hayes as Mrs. Willard. Photo by G. Benjamin Swope.

Brian Michael Flanagan as Toby and Jessica Krueger as Ida.

A scene from Dedication or The Stuff of Dreams.

Hanna Hayes as Mrs. Willard.

Hanna Hayes as Mrs. Willard and Burke Adams as Lou Nuncle. Photo by G. Benjamin Swope.

Hanna Hayes as Mrs. Willard and Burke Adams as Lou Nuncle.

Dedication has some very interesting things to say about people who give everything they have to make theater, even if it doesn’t pay. Hits a little close to home…