It’s a dinner party and theater experience to remember. Staged in a gorgeous townhouse on 5th Avenue.
Sit with the actors during the dinner scene for a once-in-a-lifetime theatrical experience, dinner and all wine and
spirits included .
THE DEAD, 1904
Adapted By
Pulitzer Prize Winner PAUL MULDOON
AND JEAN HANFF KORELITZ
Directed By
CIARÁN O’REILLY
STARRING
GOLDEN GLOBE-NOMINEE
MELISSA GILBERT
AS “GRETTA”
AND
RUFUS COLLINS
AS “GABRIEL”
WITH
KIMBERLY DOREEN BURNS, PETER CORMICAN,
TERRY DONNELLY, JOHN TREACY EGAN,
PATRICIA KILGARIFF, MEGAN LOOMIS,
AEDIN MOLONEY, CLARE O’MALLEY,
PATTI PERKINS, AND JAMES RUSSELL
PREVIEWS BEGIN NOVEMBER 18, 2017
OPENING NIGHT IS NOVEMBER 30, 2017
LIMITED RUN THROUGH JANUARY 7, 2018
TICKETS ON SALE NOW AT WWW.IRISHREP.ORG
Last year many audience members said that attending a holiday party with the Morkan sisters and their guests in 1904 Dublin,
sharing food, drink, dance and song (and long-buried marital confessions!) was one of the greatest theatrical experiences of their lives.
Irish Repertory Theatre (Charlotte Moore, Artistic Director and Ciarán O’Reilly, Producing Director) and Dot Dot Productions (Nina Korelitz Matza and Jean Hanff Korelitz), in association with The American Irish Historical Society are proud to announce full casting for the return engagement of THE DEAD, 1904 – an immersive adaptation of James Joyce’s classic story, “The Dead,” 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 was one of last season’s most sought-after tickets with a fully sold-out run and will now return for seven weeks only. Previews begin November 18th, 2017, with opening night set for November 30th, for a limited run through January 7th, 2018.
The cast will be led by Golden Globe-nominee Melissa Gilbert (“Little House on the Prairie”) as “Gretta,” and will feature Kimberly Doreen Burns (Finian’s Rainbow) as “Mary Jane,” Peter Cormican (Rothschild & Sons) as “Mr. Brown,” Rufus Collins (The Royal Family) as “Gabriel,” Terry Donnelly (Crackskull Row) as “Mrs. Malins,” John Treacy Egan (Nice Work If You Can Get It) as “Bartell D’Arcy,” Patricia Kilgarriff (Steel Magnolias) as “Kate Morkan,” Megan Loomis (Woody Sez) as “Miss Daly,” Aedin Moloney (When I was a Girl I used to Scream and Shout) as “Molly Ivors,” Clare O’Malley (Creed) as “Lily,” Patti Perkins (The Full Monty) as “Aunt Julia,” and James Russell (Shining City) as “Freddy Malins.”
THE DEAD, 1904 will be 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 57 people per night. The production will travel over three floors of the building, which has been restored to period decoration. Rooms used will 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, to be served to cast and audience alike in the townhouse’s elegant dining room. Wine, stout, and spirits will be served with the meal.
The menu for THE DEAD, 1904, prepared on-site daily for each show by Great Performances, features: Roast Turkey Breast Stuffed with Sprigs of Parsley & Herbs; Beef Tenderloin with Fig & Cocoa Glaze; Mashed “Floury” Potatoes; Cranberry & Pineapple Relish; Dried Figs; Artisanal Raisins served on the vine & 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.
The production team features costume design by Leon Dobkowski (The Weir), lighting design by Michael Gottlieb (The Home Place), sound design by M. Florian Staab (Curvy Widow), properties & interior design by Deirdre Brennan (The Burial at Thebes), and hair and wigs by Robert-Charles Vallance (Jitney). Choreography is by Barry McNabb (Finian’s Rainbow), with Stephen Gabis (Present Laughter) serving as dialect consultant and Mark Hartman (Pageant – The Musical) as music consultant.
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 is 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. Exceptions: there will no performances on Saturday, November 18 at 5pm; Thursday, November 23 (Thanksgiving Day); and Sunday, December 24 (Christmas Eve). There will be additional performances on Sunday, November 19 at 5pm and Wednesday, December 20 at 5pm. The evening performance on Saturday, November 18 will be at 7pm; the evening performance on Sunday, November 19 will be at 8:30pm; and the evening performance on Wednesday, December 20 will be at 8:30pm.
Tickets to THE DEAD, 1904 begin at $150 for performance-only seating, with tickets including dinner and drinks available for $300. Four VIP premium tickets will be available at each performance, allowing audience members to be served dinner at the main table with the cast as they play the dinner scene-–a once in a lifetime experience for lovers of immersive theatre and James Joyce. Tickets 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.
In addition, tickets to THE DEAD, 1904 will be made available for $19.04 exclusively through the TodayTix mobile lottery. TodayTix lottery winners will receive general admission tickets, which include dinner and drinks.
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 producers Kathleen Begala and Laurie Eustis.
Additional sponsorship provided by the Northern Ireland Bureau, British Council Northern Ireland, and Arts Council of Northern Ireland.
For more information about Irish Repertory Theatre visit www.irishrep.org.
