Desdemona, A Play About a Handkerchief

by Paula Vogel
Directed by Rachael Lindhart

In February and March of 1999, Dreamwell opened the last season of the millenium with Desdemona, A Play About a Handkerchief by Paula Vogel. The play comically examines Shakespeare’s Othello from the point of view of his long suffering wife, Desdemona. Amy Muzingo portrayed Desdemona, Meghann Foster was her maid, Emilia, and Sharon Falduto played Bianca, the lady of the evening who “educates” Desdemona.

Director Rachael Lindhart points out that Paula Vogel “makes us examine the place of women and how they see themselves, both then and now. Some of the issues reverberate in our own time and in our current struggles with our roles as women.”

This play marked the first time Dreamwell utilized an all female cast and crew.

The Cast:
* Amy Muzingo – Desdemona
* Sharon Falduto – Bianca
* Meghann Foster – Emilia

Greater Tuna

by Jaston Williams, Joe Sears, and Ed Howard
Directed by Don E. Schneider

Spring of 1999 saw Dreamwell venture to the third smallest town in Texas in Greater Tuna. Two talented actors portrayed all the denizens of Tuna in a tour de farce of quick change artistry, both of costumes and of comic characterizations. In this production, two men to played 22 roles ranging from a twelve year old boy to a thirty year old man to a seventy year old woman with everything in between!

The Cast:

* Jamie Ewing
* Jim Evans

Love Letters

by A.R. Gurney
Directed by Gerry Roe

It was a hot summer in Iowa City in 1999 and Dreamwell added to the heat with a production of Love Letters by A.R. Gurney. The show was different from anything Dreamwell had done in the past, as the actors read the letters their characters had sent to each other over the course of their lifetimes. Some letters had the audience laughing, some made them gasp and the emotional last letters left them in tears.

“It was a challenge as an actor to play the part of Andy because we couldn’t move from our chairs. Every bit of acting was in our faces and our voices. It was tight acting,” said Matthew Falduto, who acted opposite his wife Sharon in the production.

Love Letters was the second Dreamwell show directed by Gerry Roe.

The Cast:

*Sharon Falduto
*Matthew Falduto

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)

by Jess Winfield, Adam Long and Daniel Singer
Directed by Sue Gilbert

Our final show of 1999, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged), pulled the audience into the act by leading them down the hilarious paths of the Bard’s plays. Mr. Spike, Nick Hamel and Emily Brown began with a shortened and laugh-out- loud-funny version of Romeo and Juliet. Particularly memorable was Juliet’s little girl lost voice (played by Spike). After covering Titus Andronicus as a cooking show, they attacked the play Othello by demonstrating their rap talents. The second act’s production of the abridged Hamlet brought the audience into the fun. The actors pulled unsuspecting “volunteers” on stage to portray Ophelia and the various elements of her mind.

Dreamwell experimented with the show by casting a woman in one of the roles. “We did it to create a different chemistry and it worked,” said Executive Director Matthew Falduto. “It was one of the stipulations we wanted [director] Sue [Gilbert] to agree to before we did the show. She was more than excited about it.”

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) shattered single night attendance and overall attendance records ensuring this will not be the last time Dreamwell tackles the Bard’s works.

Cast:

*Nicholas Hamel as Nick
*Emily Brown as Em
*Mr. Spike as Spike