(SUMMIT, NJ) -- Dreamcatcher Repertory Theatre, professional Theatre in Residence at Oakes Center in Summit presents the series Monologues at MONDO on Thursdays from July 7 through 28 at 8 pm at MONDO, the cultural gathering place in downtown Summit (www.mondosummit.com).
Monologues at MONDO is an annual event where Dreamcatcher’s actors perform solo works as readings in the intimate performance space at MONDO, a brownstone that houses numerous arts and culture programs in the heart of Summit. The series provides audiences with an opportunity for casual entertainment at an affordable price, while also introducing them to highly personal works performed by professional actors.
On Thursday, July 7, 2016 at 8:00 pm, Scott McGowan will perform American Fiesta by Steven Tomlinson. Originally staged at the Vineyard Theater in New York City, the play counts as its themes the current ruptures in American civic life and politics; the psychological roots of consumer choice; the neuroscience of desire; gay marriage; the greater meaning of eBay; the search for human fraternity, neighborhood, community; the perils of focus grouping; and the sorrows of family life. And, oh yes, collecting Fiestaware. It is the winner of the American Theatre Critics Association's 2006 Osborn Award for Best Play by an Emerging Playwright and Curtain Up called the play “interesting and intelligent.”
The following Thursday, July 14, 2016 at 8:00 pm, Nicole Callender will perform Bad Dates by Theresa Rebeck. “And then I realize, in this sort of strange, hallucinatory moment, that the bug guy is looking kind of good, and the things he's saying about bugs are really kind of fascinating and it is then that I realized that maybe it has been too long since I've been on a date.” So confesses a single mother and self-described restaurant idiot-savant in this thoroughly charming and slyly sweet one-woman play by the author of The Understudy and Seminar. This idiosyncratic journey of self-discovery involving the Romanian mob, a Buddhist rainstorm, a teenage daughter, shoes, and a few very bad dates enjoyed an extended run Off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons starring Julie White.
On Thursday, July 21, 2016 at 8:00 pm, Laura Ekstrand will perform I’ll Eat You Last: A Chat with Sue Mengers by John Logan. For more than 20 years, Sue Mengers' clients were the biggest names in show business: Barbra Streisand, Faye Dunaway, Burt Reynolds, Ali McGraw, Gene Hackman, Cher, Candice Bergen, Ryan O'Neal, Nick Nolte, Mike Nichols, Gore Vidal, Bob Fosse…If her clients were the talk of the town, she was the town, and her dinner parties were the envy of Hollywood. Now, you're invited into her glamorous Beverly Hills home for an evening of dish, dirty secrets and all the inside showbiz details only Sue can tell you. "A delectable soufflé of a solo show…The tightly closed doors of the Beverly Hills aerie in which Mengers held court are being thrown open, and for the price of a ticket we all get to feel a little twinkly for a night. It's a heady sensation, thanks to the buoyant, witty writing of Mr. Logan…" —NY Times.
Last in the series on Thursday, July 28, 2016 at 8:00 pm, Harriett Trangucci will perform Jenny Keeps Talking by Richard Greenberg. In three monologues, one actress plays three women. First we meet Jenny, an established left-wing columnist whose newspaper is in the throes of a takeover. In the second monologue, we meet Jenny's ne'er-do-well sister, Claudia, an Upper West Side bohemian and failed opera singer whose life has been a string of get-rich-quick schemes and disastrous sublets. In the play's last scene, the women's grandmother speaks to us about her secret plans for her granddaughters. The doorbell rings, and all three are about to get together for a bumpy evening of settling their scores. “A touching but wickedly funny one-woman show about the feud between two widely different sisters and the grandmother who has to reconcile them in the end.…a minimalist Sisters Rosensweig…vintage Greenberg." —NY Newsday.
Tickets for all Monologues at MONDO are $20 when reserved in advance and $25 at the door. All shows begin at8:00 Advance reservations are strongly encouraged because space is limited. To reserve you can email info@mondosummit.com or call 917-969-4534. MONDO is located at 426 Springfield Avenue in Summit. Parking is available in the lot behind the building. The facility is wheelchair accessible. For information on any of Dreamcatcher Repertory Theatre's programs, please visit www.dreamcatcherrep.org or contact Dreamcatcher Repertory Theatre at Oakes Center, 120 Morris Avenue, Summit, NJ 07901, 908-514-9654.
About Dreamcatcher Repertory Theatre:
Dreamcatcher was founded in 1994, and is a non-profit professional ensemble of actors who build community with the audience by sharing life-affirming stories in an intimate environment. We seek to expose theatregoers to ideas and lives like and unlike their own, to awaken their imaginations and create empathy for others. The company focuses on deepening the experience of our patrons by supplementing the performances with personal contact through receptions, talkbacks, and interactive programs.
Dreamcatcher's core company of professional local actors performs contemporary work that entertains and challenges, and has at its heart a belief in the essential goodness of people. The company’s activities include mainstage productions, improvisational comedy and cabarets, new play readings and a variety of educational and senior outreach programs.
Dreamcatcher’s programs are funded by the New Jersey State council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, Dramatist Guild Fund, The Summit Area Public Foundation, the Manley-Winser Foundation, and many other corporations, foundations and individuals. Dreamcatcher Repertory Theatre is a senior member of the New Jersey Theatre Alliance.
