The Gallery Players is proud to open its 43rd Season in September with John Guare's classic The House of Blue Leaves. Directed by Dev Bondarin (Prospect Theatre Company), this 1971 Obie Award winner for best play opens September 12, 2009.
Artie Shaugnessy is a songwriter with visions of glory. Toiling by day as a zookeeper, he suffers in seedy lounges by night, plying his wares at piano bars in Queens, New York where he lives with his wife, Bananas (who is). This is much to the chagrin of Artie's downstairs mistress, Bunny Flingus, who'll sleep with him anytime but refuses to cook until they are married. On the day the Pope is making his first visit to the city, Artie's son Ronny goes AWOL from Fort Dix stowing a home made-bomb intended to blow up the Pope in Yankee Stadium. Also arriving are Artie's old school chum and now a successful Hollywood producer, Billy Einhorn, with his starlet girlfriend in tow. Billy holds the key to Artie's dreams of getting out of Queens and away from the life he so despises. But like many dreams, this promise of glory evaporates amid the chaos of ordinary lives. The House of Blue Leaves was the 1971 Obie Award winner for Best American Play and called, "A brilliant play...beautifully fashioned...Wacky and sometimes sad [with]...combined hilarity, poignancy, outrageous stage aside and tragedy," by the N.Y. Daily News and an, "Enchantingly zany and original farce," by the N.Y. Times.
"I am drawn to the way John Guare blends farce, comedy and tragedy," says Director Dev Bondarin, "As a director, I am most drawn to pieces that have humor but also require investigating what is driving that humor and the pathos behind it. Although it takes place on a one specific day in 1965, the play has many relevant themes: the idealization of celebrity, war and also how people interact out of their own needs, hopes, and dreams. I want to find the madcap rhythm of the piece and all its humor, while also grounding the characters in truth."
The House of Blue Leaves features a stellar cast of veteran Off-Off Broadway, Off-Broadway and regional actors. The cast is led by Burke Adams* as Artie Shaugnessy (Dedication, or The Stuff of Dreams, The Gallery Players; The Miser, Theatre at Monmouth), and Victoria Bundonis* as Bananas Shaughnessy (Grease! National Tour; The Flood, Prospect Theater Company), and features Tom Cleary*(Church, Under The Radar Festival/Public Theater; Urinetown! the musical, The Gallery Players), Alex Herrald (The Reckoning of Kit & Little Boots, The Gallery Players), ShaRon Hunter*, David Ojala, Stacey Scotte* (Eat The Runt, American Place Theatre), Emilie Soffe, Nora Vetter and Elizabeth Wood.* *appearing courtesy of AEA
The House of Blue Leaves is directed by Dev Bondarin and produced by Neal J. Freeman and Brian Michael Flanagan for The Gallery Players. The set designer is Ann Bartek (2009 Princess Grace Award recipient), costume designer: Brad Scoggins, lighting designer: Ryan Bauer, sound designer: Chris Rummel (2009 NYITAward nomination, Twelfth Night) and Props Master: Virginia C. Monte.
The House of Blue Leaves opens Saturday, September 12, 2009 and runs Thursdays, Fridays at 8pm, Saturdays at 2pm & 8pm and Sundays at 3pm through September 27, 2009.
Tickets to The House of Blue Leaves are just $18 for adults, $14 for Seniors & Children 12 and under. Individual tickets can be purchased by calling TheaterMania at (212) 352-3101, or online at www.galleryplayers.com. The Gallery Players is located at 199 14th St., between 4th and 5th Aves. in Park Slope, Brooklyn. Take the F Train to 4th Ave. or the R Train to 9th Street. By car: BQE to Hamilton Avenue to 14th Street.
A New York institution since 1967, The Gallery Players has served actors and audiences alike for more than 4 decades by showcasing burgeoning new talent and offering a home base for theater professionals. Its eclectic programming of intimate revivals and ambitious new work in inventive productions has earned it the reputation of "New York's Best Kept Secret." The Gallery Players is the recipient of the Off-Off Broadway Review's 2000 Award for Lifetime Achievement and was the recipient of New York Innovative Theatre Award for Outstanding Production of a Musical in both 2007 & 2008 for their productions of Urinetown! the musical and Yank! A New Musical. Among its famous alumni are founding member Harvey Fierstein; Broadway regulars Nancy Anderson, Jeffry Denman and Diedre Goodwin; New York theater personality Seth Rudetsky and many others. The Gallery Players is currently up for 9 New York Innovative Theatre Awards for its 2008-2009 season.
