CenterStage NY 'Dreams of Home' Focuses on Homeless Crisis

By: Oct. 19, 2007
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Monarch Theatre Company's US premiere production of Dreams of Home opens Wednesday October 24, 2007. The debut of Migdalia Cruz's provocative and poignant play comes on a wave of tragic relevance, as New York City mourns the horrific murder of Felix Najera, a homeless construction worker burned to death on a Spanish Harlem sidewalk earlier this month, and continues to struggle with the mounting crisis of record homelessness. 

"In what NYPD called one of the most severe and senseless attacks on a homeless victim in recent memory, Najera, 49, was doused with lighter fluid and set afire early on the morning of October 5, as he slept outside the Bethany Christian Church on East 103rd Street in Harlem. Najera suffered serious burns over 75 percent of his body and died four days later. Israel Torres, 29, from the Bronx – and, in a terrible twist, the son of a homeless man himself – was charged with attempted murder, with more serious charges due to follow," explain press notes.

Inspired by Cruz's recurring observations of homelessness in Spanish Harlem, Dreams of Home dives deep into the bleak and ever-challenging world of the New York City homeless, focusing on drug addict Pedro (Juan F. Villa) and ruined beauty Sandra (Stacey Jensen), as they revisit their hardscrabble pasts and tentatively explore an unexpected final romance, on the 6-train subway platform at 103rd and Lexington. With unblinking honesty and heart-wrenching emotion, Cruz offers a truly rare and unforgettable meditation on the struggles of the homeless to find humanity and peace.

Dreams of Home performances are Wednesday October 24 – Sunday November 11.  Show times are Wednesdays – Saturdays at 8PM (except Wed. Oct 31); and Sundays & Wed Oct 31 (special matinee) at 3PM.

Dreams of Home performs at CenterStage NY, (48 West 21st St, 4th FL, btwn 5th & 6th Aves)

Tickets are $16 general; $14 (with valid student ID). Get $1 off with each canned food good donated to the Dreams of Home Food Drive, supporting New York City Coalition Against Hunger (down to $10 ticket). Tickets can be purchased Online: www.TheaterMania.com; or by Telephone: 212-352-3101



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