Celebrate New Year's Eve at Irish Rep's Immersive THE DEAD, 1904

Ring in 2017 in 1904 Dublin! Irish Repertory Theatre and Dot Dot Productions, in association with The American Irish Historical Society, have announced a special New Year's Eve celebration following the 8:30pm performance of The Dead, 1904.

After the evening performance on December 31, guests are invited to join a festive and intimate celebration of Irish music and dancing with the cast and some of the best Irish musicians in New York City. Tickets to this special event are $600 and include the performance, dinner, full open bar, dancing, after-dinner treats and champagne. Festivities will conclude at 12:45am. Performers include: Heather Martin Bixler, Gabriel Donohue, Eamon O'Leary and Kevin Crawford.

The world premiere of The Dead, 1904, an immersive adaptation of James Joyce's classic story, "The Dead," is adapted by the Pulitzer Prize winning Irish poet Paul Muldoon (Moy Sand and Gravel) and novelist Jean Hanff Korelitz (Admission, You Should Have Known). Directed by Irish Rep co-founder Ciarán O'Reilly, The Dead, 1904 will run for seven weeks only. Previews began November 19th, 2016, with opening night set for December 8th, for a limited run through January 7th, 2017.

The cast of The Dead, 1904 features three-time Emmy and Tony Award nominee Kate Burton (The Elephant Man, "Scandal," "Grey's Anatomy"), four-time Tony Award winner Boyd Gaines (Gypsy, Contact), Peter Cormican (Rothschild & Sons), Terry Donnelly (Transport), Patricia Kilgarriff (Steel Magnolias), Barrie Kreinik (39 Steps), Heather Martin Bixler, Aedin Moloney (When I was a Girl I used to Scream and Shout), Clare O'Malley (Creed), Patti Perkins (The Full Monty), James Russell (Shining City), and Karl Scully (The Irish Tenors).

THE DEAD, 1904 is staged in the c. 1900 townhouse of The American Irish Historical Society (991 Fifth Avenue, New York) on the Upper East Side for an audience of just 42 people per night. The production travels over three floors of the building, which has been restored to period decoration. Rooms used include the lobby, parlor, dining room and upstairs library.

A holiday meal, inspired by descriptions of the feast in Joyce's story, has been created by Great Performances, one of the city's most celebrated caterers, and served to cast and audience alike in the townhouse's elegant dining room. Wine, stout, and spirits are served with the meal, including Writer' Tears Irish Whiskey, which was generously donated by Walsh Whiskey Distillery in County Carlow, Ireland.

The full menu for The Dead, 1904 includes: Roast Turkey Breast Stuffed with Sprigs of Parsley & Herbs; Honey-Glazed Smoked Ham; Beef Tenderloin; Fig & Cocoa Glaze; Spicy & Sweet Fig Sauce; Mashed "Floury" Potatoes; Cranberry & Pineapple Relish; Dried Figs; Raisins & Smoked Almonds; and Bread & Butter Pudding with Vanilla Custard.

THE DEAD, 1904 was adapted from the final novella in James Joyce's 1914 short story collection, Dubliners, and tells of a disillusioned man named Gabriel Conroy, who, along with his wife Gretta, attends a holiday party in 1904 Dublin, thrown at the home of his two elderly aunts. Throughout the evening guests sing, dance, eat and drink while outside snow gently falls, and Gabriel and his wife contemplate their pasts, futures, happiness, life and ultimately, death.

One of the most acclaimed short stories of all time, "The Dead" was previously adapted as a film by John Huston (The Dead, 1987) and as a 1999 Broadway Musical (James Joyce's THE DEAD) which won the 1999 Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical. This will be the first immersive adaptation.

The performance schedule for The Dead, 1904 is as follows: Tuesday at 7:00PM; Wednesday at 8:00PM; Thursday at 7:00PM; Friday at 8:00PM; Saturday at 5:00PM & 8:30PM; Sunday at 7:00PM. Holiday exceptions: there will no performances Saturday, December 24 (Christmas Eve); Sunday, December 25 (Christmas Day); and Sunday, January 1 (New Year's Day). There will be additional performances on Monday, December 19 at 7pm; Wednesday, December 21 at 5pm; Monday, December 26 at 7pm; and Monday, January 2 at 7pm.

Tickets to The Dead, 1904 are priced at $300 and include dinner and drinks, and are on sale now through Irish Rep's box office by calling 212-727-2737, or online at www.irishrep.org. The Dead, 1904 is also available for group bookings. A minimum of 35 pairs of tickets to The Dead, 1904 are available for $19.04 through exclusively through the TodayTix mobile lottery. TodayTix lottery winners will be given VIP premium seats at the main table alongside the cast.

TodayTix allows you to enter the mobile lottery via the app, available in the App Store or Google Play Store. The entry period will begin each day at 12:01am, and will continue until winners are notified via email and push notification between noon-3pm on the day of performance. Winners will be offered the opportunity to purchase $19.04 tickets, after which their names will be added to the 'guest list' for that evening's performance. Winners should check in with the staff at the American Irish Historical Society 30 minutes before show time to claim their seats. Lottery tickets are subject to availability.

THE DEAD, 1904 will be produced by Irish Repertory Theatre and Dot Dot Productions in association with the American Irish Historical Society, along with producer Kathleen Begala and associate producer Laurie Eustis.

For more information about Irish Repertory Theatre visit www.irishrep.org.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

Heather Martin Bixler When she is not playing Miss Daly in The Dead,1904, Heather is a classical violinist and Irish fiddler. She has appeared on the videos of Maria Carey, Shania Twain, Jewel, and Donna Summer. New York: The New York Philharmonic, New York City Ballet, and many Broadway show orchestras. As a performer of traditional Irish music, Bixler won a senior bronze medal at the All-Ireland Fleadh Cheoil in 2006, and has recorded and performed with Grammy winner Arturo O'Farrill and his Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra, and with Grammy nominated jazz guitarist Mike Stern. Degrees from Indiana University, The Juilliard School, Doctorate from The University of Memphis.

GABRIEL DONOHUE Irish born multi-instrumentalist Gabriel Donohue is a singer songwriter based in Philadelphia. His main instruments are guitar and piano, but he also performs on bouzouki, mandolin, and Irish percussion instruments. Gabriel toured for three years with the GRAMMY Award winning group, The Chieftains. In addition, he has performed and recorded with the Boston Pops, Eileen Ivers, Joanie Madden, and James Keane, to name a few, and continues to perform all over the United States and Ireland both as a soloist and in collaboration with other prominent musicians. Gabriel appeared with Michael Flatley at the National Heritage Award in Washington D.C., and at the Whitehouse during the Clinton administration to honor the American dignitaries and signers of the Good Friday peace accords. He was also chosen by Tom Waits for his final performance on the David Letterman show. Gabriel is the founder and engineer of Cove Island Productions in Philadelphia, a recording studio that produces recordings for most of the recording artists of traditional Irish music on the east coast. Gabriel is married to singer Marian Makins.

EAMON O'LEARY From Dublin, Eamon has lived in New York City for the last twenty years. He has toured extensively throughout North America and Europe, performing and recording with many of Irish music's great players. Among recent recordings are 'The Murphy Beds' with Jefferson Hamer, and 'The Alt' with John Doyle and Nuala Kennedy.

Kevin Crawford Born in Birmingham - UK, Kevin's early life was one long journey into Irish music and Co. Clare, to where he eventually moved while in his 20's. He was a member of Moving Cloud, the Clare-based band who recorded such critically-acclaimed albums as Moving Cloud and Foxglove, and he also recorded with Grianán, Raise The Rafters, Joe Derrane and Sean Tyrrell and appears on the 1994 recording 'The Sanctuary Sessions'. A virtuoso flute player, Kevin has recorded two solo albums, ''D'Flute Album' and 'In Good Company' and 'On Common Ground' with bandmate Cillian Vallely. Kevin also tours with Martin Hayes and John Doyle as The Teetotallers.