Dreamcatcher Receives Grant For Senior Programs From Wallerstein Foundation

Dreamcatcher Repertory Theatre, professional Theatre in Residence at Oakes Center in Summit, has received a grant from the Wallerstein Foundation for Geriatric Life Improvement that will enable them to present eight free performances of their touring cabaret for area seniors.

Dreamcatcher has been bringing seniors original programming for decades, from music to poetry to dramatic performances. Dreamcatcher's performers provide entertainment for seniors to residences, facilities and public venues throughout the year, and this support allows them to do so at no cost to the venues themselves. One interactive feature of the cabaret is that the theatre provides lyric sheets to the hosts so that audience members can either follow or sing along throughout the show.

Dreamcatcher singers Laura Ekstrand (Livingston), Vanessa Parvin (Maplewood) and Daaimah Talley (Plainfield) will be accompanied by Dan Crisci (Maplewood) on piano in a cabaret of songs from the Great American Songbook that include such favorites as Somewhere Over the Rainbow, Accentuate the Positive and It Had to be You.

Upcoming public performances are Friday, July 19 at 1:00 pm at the Summit YMCA, 67 Maple Street in Summit and Monday, July 29 at 1:00 pm at the Elizabeth Public Library, 11 South Broad Street. The cabaret will also be performed at Cranford Senior Housing, the Daughters of Israel in West Orange, The Village Apartments in South Orange, the Jewish Federation Plaza in West Orange, and the YM-YWHA in Union, among other locations.

For information on any of Dreamcatcher Repertory Theatre's programs, please visit www.dreamcatcherrep.org or contact Dreamcatcher Repertory Theatre at Oakes Center, 120 Morris Avenue, Summit, NJ 07901, 908-514-9654.

Dreamcatcher was founded in 1994, and is a non-profit professional ensemble of actors who build community with the audience by sharing contemporary, life-affirming stories that challenge, energize and entertain. Our work has at its heart a belief in the essential goodness of people and the power of live performance to connect people through our shared humanity. We expose theatregoers to ideas and lives like and unlike their own with the intention of awakening their imaginations and creating empathy for others. We deepen the experience of all our patrons with personal contact through receptions, talkbacks, and interactive programs.

The company's activities include mainstage productions, improvisational comedy and cabarets, new play readings and a variety of educational and senior outreach programs.