What they came up with was “Shakespeare’s 14th: The Dream.”
Angstrom and his friends didn’t know exactly how they’d manage to pull it off, but they turned to Kickstarter to raise the money. Some of the first donations stemmed from people in and around New Paltz, family and friends who remembered Angstrom from his high school days.
The actor said he was touched by that gesture.
So $12,000 later and “The Dream” is a reality. They’re performing a limited run of the show at The Producers’ Club’s Crown Theater from Jan. 23-26.
“All space — rehearsal space — in New York City is a premium. So we have enough time to get the group together for a week and a half. That’s what we can afford,” he said. “So we’re going to rehearse for a week and a half.”
Many times younger actors do free theater to get exposure and build a brand name when they’re starting out. Despite the shoestring budget, Angstrom said part of the Kickstarter money — about $5,000 — will serve as a stipend for the actors.
But the success of renting the space, getting the rehearsals going and actually being able to play “The Dream” has handed the Bottoms Dream company some new challenges.
“We’re in the process of what our legal team is calling ‘managing our upsides.’ Before it was: ‘Well, do we do the play, or do we not do the play?’ To be, or not to be,” he said.
If “Shakespeare’s 14th: The Dream” thrives, Bottoms Dream will become a permanent thing — a collaborative vehicle for young Shakespearean actors in New York City to adapt and make the Elizabethan-era plays their own.
“We’re beginning the process now of applying for New York State non-profit status — as sort of a precursor to federal 501(c)3.”
Obviously, the group would love to see “The Dream” go well enough to continue to be staged. They’d also like to adapt other Shakespearean plays with Bard Rock’s music.
Angstrom is hopeful that people from New Paltz — especially people associated with or supportive of theater and the arts — will come down to New York City to see the production.
As a NPHS alumnus, he’s still a little shell-shocked by the near end of the high school’s Drama Club back in late 2012. Donors ended up saving the club, but it was a close call.
So for Angstrom, the message he wants to send to local drama students in high school is simple and clear: If you’re dedicated, you can make it too.
“It’d be nice, I think, for people to see that somebody went to New Paltz High School, got interested in theater and went and became a professional actor — and makes their living doing that now,” he said.
Angstrom will co-direct the play with his partner White.
Tickets for “Shakespeare’s 14th: The Dream” cost $20, but people who donated on Kickstarter get a discount.
For more information, check out www.bottomsdream.org. The Crown Theater at The Producers’ Club is at 358 W. 44th St., in Manhattan. Aside from its five theaters, The Producers’ Club also has a bar and lounge. People who come out for the show can expect to mingle with the cast at the bar after the final curtain.
While fundraising has ceased, the Kickstarter page for “The Dream” also has more information about the production and a video from the cast. Check it out at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/972835397/shakespeares-14th-the-dream.
