Dreamcatcher Announces Its Winter/Spring Season

Dreamcatcher Repertory Theatre, in residence at Oakes Center at 120 Morris Avenue in Summit, is announcing productions and programs for the winter and spring of its 26th season, spanning January through May. This professional company will continue to provide its programming virtually through the end of the season, with the health and safety of its audiences and artists as its first priority. Within these constraints, Dreamcatcher is producing a variety of performances that will continue to connect the community with stories that reflect our shared experiences. As always, the Dreamcatcher Resident Acting Company and their guests will challenge, energize and entertain audiences, using the paradoxically intimate medium of the internet.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, Dreamcatcher audiences have enjoyed productions, play readings, improv performances, solo shows and classes online, providing a bridge between the past and the future, when we will be able to gather safely again. Not only have these presentations allowed New Jersey patrons to stay connected, but they have also drawn viewers from over 15 states and 6 countries, something that would have been impossible under normal circumstances. As we expand what it means to create theatre, we welcome new audiences and investigate the best ways to tell stories in the current reality.

On January 10, Dreamcatcher will hold a virtual gala, which will be a live event entitled "In with the New." It will feature performances and interactive activities for its guests, and each local participant will receive a stemless wine glass filled with cookies. Also this month, a new Improv Class for Adults and Teens will begin, providing training for students of all levels over eight virtual sessions.

February will feature a cabaret entitled "Kindred Spirits" in time for Valentine's Day on February 11. A cast of eight singers will perform songs on the theme of love, from Broadway to standards to pop and novelty songs. Tickets will be available for this online event on the Dreamcatcher website. In collaboration with the Summit non-profit Empowering Kids organization, Dreamcatcher will be holding a bilingual improv class for teens, with dates TBA.

In March, Dreamcatcher will create its first web series, "Together Apart," written by Dave Maulbeck, our improv director, and David Lee White, a NJ playwright who has been a frequent collaborator. It will feature all 11 of The Acting Company

members, and will be shot entirely remotely. These episodes will be released this March and April over social media.

On April 22, "Everything is Super Great" by Stephen Brown will make its New Jersey premiere as a live online production. Everything is Super Great is a comedy that premiered in 2019 at 59E59 Theater in New York, and at Florida's Theatre Lab. The play tells the story of a typical day in the life of 19-year-old Tommy, that involves triple shot lattes, lightsaber battles, and arson at Applebee's. Such distractions are therapeutic when your older brother has been missing for months, but when a well meaning, if somewhat misguided, therapist shows up on his doorstep, Tommy must finally face his loss.

Each Wednesday in May will feature a "Meet the Artist" new play reading, special events in the NJ Theatre Alliance's Stages Festival. Four new plays will be read live, with the playwright, director and actors holding a talkback afterward to aid in the script's development. Audience members are invited to share their feedback in these conversations.

These presentations will be supplemented by performances of Dreamcatcher's improv comedy group The Flip Side, and new episodes of our podcast, LOCAL with Laura Ekstrand. The podcast, chosen as one of the Top Ten Local Podcasts of 2019 by Podcast Business Journal, features members of the arts and culture ecosystem of the Garden State.

In addition, the theatre provides a menu of virtual outreach and training programs for individuals, non-profit organizations and corporations. All of Dreamcatcher's activities center on the collaborative nature of theatre and creating a comfortable environment for artists and audiences of all ages to explore and grow together. The company's work is supported by grants from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, and several other corporate and individual donors that believe in the power of the arts to bring people together and promote understanding between them.

Prices for all events will be kept low to ensure that participation is comfortable and accessible. Registration for all programs, along with information about upcoming events, can be found at www.DreamcatcherRep.org. Dreamcatcher is based at The Oakes Center, 120 Morris Avenue, Summit, NJ 07901. For more information or assistance, please call 908-514-9654, and sign up for the email list at www.DreamcatcherRep.org.

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