'A Midsummer Night's Dream' Plays Final Performances

Final chance to see A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM, the highlight of Dog Run Rep's 2008 Seaport Theatre Festival.  The mission of the Festival, in its 2nd year, is to bring cultural revitalization to Lower Manhattan.  A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM will begin performances on June 26 and runs Thursdays at 8pm, Fridays at 7pm, Saturdays at 8pm and Sundays at 5pm, through July 20, at the @ Seaport! Venue, 210 Front  Street in the South Street Seaport.  

Dog Run Rep Artistic Director Jeff Cohen demonstrated his commitment to the recovery of Lower Manhattan in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks with his internationally acclaimed and Drama Desk Award winning series Tribeca Playhouse Stage Door Canteen.  A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM will be performed at the former Liz Claiborne Boutique that General Growth Properties is generously donating to the arts, to be known as @ Seaport!  Dog Run Rep's Seaport Theatre Festival pioneered this beautiful arts venue last summer with its inaugural production of Twelfth Night.  

Mr. Cohen's production of A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM was first presented at Princeton, New Jersey's Pettoranello Gardens in 2000. Daily Variety called it "refreshingly original… a woodland romp with scrappy vitality and spirit." The Star-Ledger's Peter Filichia said: "A dream come true! A lusty production… hilarious… and great fun!"  Set in a small American town in the 1950's on the 4th of July, the production is led by Stephen Largay as Bottom the Weaver, Robyn Payne as Titania, Hillel Meltzer as Puck, and Eric Loscheider as Oberon,.  Mr. Largay, who played Sir Toby Belch in last summer's Twelfth Night, originated the role of Peachy Weil in the Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Award-winning play The Last Night of Ballyhoo by Alfred Uhry.  He is a recipient of the Elliott Norton "Best Actor" Award for Equus.  Mr. Largay also starred in the 1998 CBS Drama series To Have and To Hold.  Robyn Payne's Broadway credits include The Lion King, Encores' Kismet, and the 1st national tour of Thoroughly Modern Millie.  Hillel Meltzer appeared on Broadway in Tom Stoppard's acclaimed Jumpers.  He has toured internationally in Stomp! and his Off Broadway credits include The Public Theater's A Dybbuk, Classic Stage Company's The Alchemist, and Worth Street Theater Company's revival of the late Wendy Wasserstein's Isn't It Romantoc directed by Mr. Cohen.  Eric Loscheider has appeared Off Broadway in Cycling Past the Matterhorn on Theatre Row and his regional credits include Papermill, Berkshire Theatre festival, Florida Studio Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse and St. Louis Rep. Also featured in the principal cast are David Beck, Hilary Bettis, Charles Browning, Matthew-Lee Erlbach, Adam Hirsch, Jonathon Judge-Russo, Mallory Portnoy, Scott Price and Neil Patrick Stewart.

Jeff Cohen's extensive credits as producer and/or director include the recent world premiere of Hilary Bettis' American Girls, The Tribeca Playhouse Stage Door Canteen (Drama Desk Award), Larry Kramer's The Normal Heart (Public Theater with Raul Esparza, Drama Desk nomination), Christopher Shinn's Four (Manhattan Theater Club, Drama Desk nomination, Lortel Award), Tristine Skyler's The Moonlight Room (Lortel and Outer Critics nominations), Marlene Meyer's The Mystery of Attraction (Obie Award), and Move It and It's Yours by Weeden, Finkle & Fay (Passage Theatre, Best of Jersey Award).  His play Men Of Clay was selected Best New Play of 2005 by the Baltimore City Paper, and his adaptation of Chekhov, Uncle Jack, was published in the anthology Playing With Canons, and excerpts were published in The Best Men's and The Best Women's Stage Monologues, 2007.  

Remaining performances will be

Thursday July 17th at 8 PM
Friday July 18th at 7 pm
Saturday July 19th at 8 pm
Sunday July 20th at 5 pm

Tickets to A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM are $18 and can be purchased by calling SMARTTIX at (212) 868-4444 or online at www.smarttix.com.

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