Kate Burton to Star In Immersive THE DEAD Production

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 9/29/16 at 12:34pm

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Kate-Burton-to-Star-in-Irish-Reps-Immersive-THE-DEAD-1904-20160929

i can't think of any single thing I'm more excited for than this production. 

[Theater_Nerd]

Posted: 9/29/16 at 12:41pm

This sounds really, really cool. Unfortunately I can't part with $300 at the moment. I am all tapped out, but boy I would love to participate in this! 

[smidge]

Posted: 9/29/16 at 12:47pm

I'll be all over the lottery for this one

[Theater_Nerd]

Posted: 9/29/16 at 12:50pm

Unfortunately my busy schedule and responsibilities prohibit me from attending show lotteries. I can howver participate in online lotteries for those shows that do provide them. 

[AC126748]

Posted: 9/29/16 at 1:09pm

I hope the lottery for this will be digital. I can understand the need for a higher ticket price -- you're getting a full meal plus drinks, and they can only accommodate a small number of people per performance -- but I just can't bring myself to drop $300, even if this would be a more unique way to spend it than on a premium ticket to your average Broadway show.

[BakerWilliams]

Posted: 9/29/16 at 1:55pm

Bummer it isn't the musical, but I'll probably see this.

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 9/29/16 at 2:04pm

Is that 35 per performance or for the whole run? 

[AC126748]

Posted: 9/29/16 at 2:07pm

No, it's 35 total. Each performance can only accommodate 42 people.

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 9/29/16 at 2:29pm

AC126748 said: "No, it's 35 total. Each performance can only accommodate 42 people.

 

"

Thanks, I don't know how I missed that :) 

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 9/29/16 at 3:02pm

It's actually 35 pairs of tickets, which I guess is at least one pair per performance?

[Liza's Headband]

Posted: 9/29/16 at 5:02pm

If you do the math, $300 is the same amount you'd probably spend on a normal night out between drinks, dinner and good theatre tickets. So that price point is not at all unreasonable; this theatrical experience includes full dinner and wine, which is impressive. 

[Liza's Headband]

Posted: 9/29/16 at 5:02pm

If you do the math, $300 is the same amount you'd probably spend on a normal night out between drinks, dinner and good theatre tickets. So that price point is not at all unreasonable; this theatrical experience includes full dinner and wine, which is impressive. 

[AC126748]

Posted: 9/29/16 at 5:21pm

Liza's Headband said: "If you do the math, $300 is the same amount you'd probably spend on a normal night out between drinks, dinner and good theatre tickets. So that price point is not at all unreasonable; this theatrical experience includes full dinner and wine, which is impressive. 

 

"

Maybe if you go to theater twice a year. For many people around here, an average night of theater is TDF tickets and a Metrocard swipe. I'm not saying that $300 ($600 for a pair) isn't unreasonable for an immersive production that includes food and drink, but it's ridiculous to assume that it would represent an "average" evening out for most.

Updated On: 9/29/16 at 05:21 PM

[Olivia11]

Posted: 9/30/16 at 12:25am

Just found out about this here, and it is smack in the middle of our early December trip, so I just bought tickets (yep, the $300 hurt a bit but hey, there is dinner and wine?)!   I passed on the $1,000 premium tickets.  Quite a few performances were already sold out, though.


This is going to be a great trip - along with The Dead, we are seeing Color Purple (2nd time for me but first for bestie) and Les Liaisons. Also taking 9 year old to CATS (love it or hate it, it made a theatre lover out of him when it was his very first show in August and begged to see it again...it's a "gateway drug" to the theatre world!)


Only thing hurting is the credit card but we likely won't be back to NYC for awhile (famous last words!). 

Updated On: 9/30/16 at 12:25 AM

[Olivia11]

Posted: 12/3/16 at 2:59pm

Has anyone attended this?  We are going next weekend and I was curious. 

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 12/3/16 at 3:12pm

I enter the lottery every day with no luck so far.

[Olivia11]

Posted: 12/3/16 at 3:52pm

Jordan Catalano said: "I enter the lottery every day with no luck so far.

 

"

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you!

[Harriet Craig]

Posted: 12/3/16 at 5:40pm

I saw it last Sunday night, and thought it was terrific -- one of the most extraordinary evenings of theater I have had in a long time. I'm not ordinarily a big fan of immersive theater, but I loved the way the audience was made to feel like we really were guests at a dinner party. The performances are all good, and the final scene, with Kate Burton and Boyd Gaines, was breathtaking. (Dinner wasn't bad, either, and the drink flowed plentifully.)

 

I noticed that Carole Shelley was originally listed as one of the cast members, but she has been replaced by Patricia Kilgarriff. Has anyone heard anything about the reason for the change? Patricia K. was very good, so I'm not complaining, just hoping there's no reason to be concerned about Carole Shelley's health.

 

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 12/11/16 at 9:51pm

So, I did it. I won the lottery for this. Obviously, I was beyond excited and tonight was one of the best nights I've ever had at the "theater". When the person above said the drinks flow freely, they weren't joking. I'm quite tipsy right now lol. 

 

But man, that was something. And for someone like me who knows this story inside and out, it was a more personal experience, I think. Watching all the tiny things each character did when they thought nobody was looking at them was great, knowing exactly what was going on in their heads. I felt a bit like the stage manager at the end of OUR TOWN, who went. Ack and knows what's going to happen to everybody before the night was over and interacting with them knowing that was really fascinating.

 

Oh, and having dinner with Kate Burton and Boyd Gaines is definitely something I'll never forget and a thing I can cross off my bucket list.  

[Olivia11]

Posted: 12/11/16 at 10:07pm

We were there too!  How crazy is that?  Did you sit next to Freddie? 

It was a spectacular evening!

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 12/11/16 at 10:13pm

I was near him, yes. 

 

What did you think of it??

[Olivia11]

Posted: 12/11/16 at 10:24pm

I think I saw you come in the foyer around 6:30 and sign in. Did you stand in the corner near coat check before we went upstairs?  We were sitting on one of the benches across the foyer. 

 

I thought it was a fascinating production and so different. The acting was first rate and the last scene upstairs was the most intimate piece of theatre I will likely ever experience. 

 

The building and the way they used it was also wonderful. We loved it!

Wish I had known you were there to say hello congrats on winning the lottery and how fun to sit at the table with the actors!  We were in the cheap seats behind the two sisters.  

 

[BroadwayConcierge]

Posted: 12/11/16 at 10:30pm

Jordan Catalano said: "Oh, and having dinner with Kate Burton and Boyd Gaines is definitely something I'll never forget and a thing I can cross off my bucket list."

Wow, this show wasn't even on my radar at all, and this sentence alone makes me really jealous I missed my chance!

Updated On: 12/11/16 at 10:30 PM

[belrowley]

Posted: 1/6/17 at 12:08am

I finally saw the show last week. I'd been entering the lottery and losing everyday, then I checked the ticketing site and found out that there was one single ticket left for the entirety of the run. I took it as a sign and bought it. It was more than I ever spent on a show, but it was so worth it.

The best part of the production was definitely its immersive nature. "The Dead" is one of my favorite stories of all time, and it was wonderful to see it come to life. My favorite moments were the quiet, lingering glances, the exasperated sighs, the muttered comments, etc. that made the text feel so real and alive. I really felt as though I was attending a dinner party and eavesdropping on all the conversations around me.

All the performances were rich and nuanced. I was especially impressed by the musical talent - the actor portraying Bartell D'Arcy sang "The Lass of Aughrim" beautifully and made the last scene so poignant and haunting. The food was excellent as well. I sat directly behind Boyd Gaines and Kate Burton, and had an excellent view at their interactions. Boyd stayed in character throughout the meal (nervously practicing his speech under his breath), but at one point, Kate turned and asked us how the food was, and said she can't enjoy it because she has to eat it seven times a week, haha.

My one issue was with how clunky the adaptation was. I agree with the reviews that said the exposition was delivered in a really heavy-handed way. At times, it felt like the performers were just pointing at something and going "Ah yes, this conveniently placed object reminds me of this piece of my character's backstory..." The copy-and-paste approach wasn't a huge problem for the most part, but it was nearly fatal in the last scene for me. 

 

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Kate was heartbreaking in her restraint, but I was completely taken out of the scene when Boyd started reciting the last couple of paragraphs from the story, nearly word for word. He delivered it beautifully and with such commitment, and I fully understand the impulse to preserve Joyce's prose, but it felt so dense and unnatural in this context. The film version didn't handle it perfectly either, but at least the voiceover cut it down to a manageable length.

Perhaps the last scene is just impossible to adapt, considering that it consists almost entirely of internal reflection, but this approach took me out of the scene entirely, and stood in such stark contrast to the rest of the show, which had felt so real and naturalistic.

Still, I think the immersive staging does wonders for the show, and this has become one of my favorite theatrical experiences ever. I really felt like a guest invited to these characters' homes, and I'm grateful that they allowed me to take a look at their interior lives. It was a special night, and I hope they bring it back again.