Dreamstuff..., an Off-Broadway musical comedy starring Carol Woods, Louise DuArt and Aileen Quinn, which opened Feb. 17 at the Samuel Beckett Theatre, will close there March 9. At that point it will have played 19 previews and 22 regular performances.
Though the show is closing three weeks before its originally scheduled end date of March 30, production spokesperson Michael Cullen said audiences (especially families) who've come to the show have really liked it. The producers are currently in serious negotiations to record a CD, which spokesperson Michael Cullen said is almost certain to happen. There have also been discussions about publication of the material (to make it attractive to regional theatres).
The musical comedy adapts "Aladdin's Lamp" to the story of a teen runaway struggling with life on the street. When an eccentric sidewalk vendor offers him a copy of Scheherezade's Thousand And One Arabian Nights, a world of adventure opens up to him.
Dreamstuff... has music and lyrics by Sal Lombarde, book and direction by John Pantozzi. Musical direction, orchestrations and vocal arrangements are by Barry Levitt. According to production spokesperson Michael Cullen, the show is a complete reworking of a piece Lombarde and Pantozzi did two decades ago called The Wind-Ups, which played in Hudson County,NY, at the Actors Factory.
Songs in Dreamstuff include the gospelly "Get By," Louise DuArt's number, "Lights And Music," and Carol Woods' song, "It's Magic If You Believe." An Olivier Award nominee for the London musical Blues In The Night, Carol Woods appeared on Broadway in The Goodbye Girl and Stepping Out. Louise DuArt, a master mimic, appeared in Catskills On Broadway Off-Broadway's Bette Davis show, Me And Jezebel. Aileen Quinn played the title role in John Huston's 1982 film of Annie. Also appearing in Dreamstuff are Evan Ferrante as Aladdin (Joshua Tucker had been previously announced), Steven Minichiello and David Figlioni.
Sets are by Michael Schweikardt, costumes by Muriel Stockdale, lighting by John Lasiter, sound by Scott O'Brien. Chroeographer Pamela Sousa (Romance Romance, Olympus On My Mind, A Grand Night For Singing) will do the musical staging.
For tickets ($37.50) and information on Dreamstuff, subtitled "a new Aladdin's Lamp musical," call (212) 307-4100. The show begins previews at the Samuel Beckett Theatre Jan. 29 (pushed up a week from the original Jan. 22 first-night date) and runs to March 30.
--By David Lefkowitz
