“The Gallery Players continue to present some of the most consistently high-quality Off-Off Broadway theatre in the city….Director Heather Siobhan Curran makes good use of David Ogle’s well designed, multi-level set. Costumes, lights and sound (Amy Elizabeth Bravo, G. Benjamin Swope, and Megan Henninger, respectively) are all up to The Gallery Players’ usual high standards.” Off-Off Broadway Review

The Gallery Players honors a long-time friend, four-time Tony Award winning author Terrence McNally, by mounting the First New York City Revival of his powerful play Dedication or The Stuff of Dreams from January 13-28, 2007. Equal parts comedy and drama, Dedication explores how far one will go for one’s love of the theater. In a small upstate New York town, Lou, a speech and drama teacher, and Jessie, a dog groomer at The Dapper Dog, bring joy to their community through running an amateur theater company. They become obsessed with buying a derelict movie theater and turning it into Captain Lou and Miss Jessie’s Magic Theater for Children of All Ages. The only obstacle in reaching their dream is Annabelle Willard — a terminally ill and manipulative widow who owns half the town. Will these naive dreamers be able to grasp the brass ring, and at what cost?

When discussing Dedication with Time Out New York prior to the opening of the original Off-Broadway production of the play at Primary Stages in 2005, Terrence McNally mentioned The Gallery Players’ production of his musical The Full Monty as an example of the kind of theater that inspired Dedication: “What a need [The Gallery Players] fills in the community! People loved [The Full Monty] and said they couldn’t afford to see it when it was on Broadway. Big business has ***ed up the arts pretty good in this country. It’s getting harder to say: ‘This is just a play. We’re going to do it for a couple months. We believe in it.’” The Gallery Players has been believing in it for 40 seasons! Read the full Time Out New York article.

Performances take place Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 8PM, and Sundays at 3PM. Matt Schicker is Producer; Heather Siobhan Curran is Director; Ernesto Espinoza is Production Stage Manager; Angela Allen is Assistant Stage Manager; David Ogle is Set Designer; G. Benjamin Swope is Lighting Designer; Amy Elizabeth Bravo is Costume Designer; Megan Henninger is Sound Designer. The cast includes: Burke Adams*, John Blaylock*, Brian Michael Flanagan*, Hanna Hayes, Dennis Keefe, Jessica Krueger, and Beth E. Smith.

Located in Park Slope, but beloved on both sides of the Brooklyn Bridge, The Gallery Players have been called “local heroes” by Time Out New York and past productions have earned the praise of respected theater artists such as Terrence McNally, Rupert Holmes, James Rado, André De Shields, Annie Golden, Lorraine Serabian, and others. An Equity Showcase House celebrating its 40th season, The Gallery Players’ exciting productions and nurturing atmosphere have attracted the best actors, directors, designers, and musicians in New York. Among the well-known alumni of The Gallery Players are Harvey Fierstein (Fiddler On the Roof, Hairspray, Torch Song Trilogy), Jennifer Barnhart (Avenue Q), Manoel Felciano (Sweeney Todd), Diedre Goodwin (A Chorus Line, Chicago), Garrett Long (The Spitfire Grill), John Rando (director of Broadway’s Urinetown and The Wedding Singer), Brian Charles Rooney (The Threepenny Opera), Fred Rose (Company), and many other artists.

Further information can be found at www.galleryplayers.com. Individual tickets for each performance are $18 for Adults and $14 for Children 12 and under and Senior Citizens. Individual tickets can be purchased at www.galleryplayers.com or by calling (212) 352-3101.

The Gallery Players is located at 199 14th Street, between 4th and 5th Avenues in Park Slope, Brooklyn. Take the F Train to 4th Avenue or the R Train to 9th Street. By car, take the BQE to Hamilton Avenue, and Hamilton Avenue to 14th Street.

* Member, Actors’ Equity Association