Under the direction of Dev Bondarin, the 1971 Queens-set family drama will play a limited run through Sept. 27. Producers are Neal J. Freeman and Brian Michael Flanagan.
Burke Adams (Dedication, or the Stuff of Dreams) stars as Artie Shaughnessy opposite Victoria Bundonis (Grease!) as Bananas Shaughnessy. Additional cast members include Tom Cleary (Church), Alex Herrald (The Reckoning of Kit & Little Boots), Sharon Hunter, David Ojala, Stacey Scotte (Eat The Runt), Emilie Soffe, Nora Vetter and Elizabeth Wood.
Press notes read: "Artie Shaugnessy is a songwriter with visions of glory. Toiling by day as a zookeeper, he suffers in seedy lounges by night, plying his wares at piano bars in Queens, New York where he lives with his wife, Bananas. This is much to the chagrin of Artie’s downstairs mistress, Bunny Flingus, who’ll sleep with him anytime but refuses to cook until they are married. On the day the Pope is making his first visit to the city, Artie’s son Ronny goes AWOL from Fort Dix stowing a home made-bomb intended to blow up the Pope in Yankee Stadium. Also arriving are Artie’s old school chum and now a successful Hollywood producer, Billy Einhorn, with his starlet girlfriend in tow. Billy holds the key to Artie’s dreams of getting out of Queens and away from the life he so despises. But like many dreams, this promise of glory evaporates amid the chaos of ordinary lives."
The production team includes set designer Ann Bartek, costume designer Brad Scoggins, lighting designer Ryan Bauer, sound designer Chris Rummel and props master Virginia C. Monte.
For tickets call (718) 595-0547 or visit galleryplayers.com The Gallery Players is located in Park Slope, Brooklyn, at 199 14th Street. Those in Manhattan can reach the theatre by taking the F train to 4th Avenue or the R train to 9th Street.
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The Gallery Players, a Brooklyn theatrical institution, boasts numerous Broadway folk among its alumni, including Harvey Fierstein (A Catered Affair, Hairspray, Torch Song Trilogy), Jennifer Barnhart (Avenue Q), Manoel Felciano (Sweeney Todd), Diedre Goodwin (A Chorus Line, Chicago), Seth Rudetsky (Seth’s Broadway Chatterbox), Garrett Long (The Spitfire Grill) and John Rando (director of Broadway's Urinetown and The Wedding Singer).
