By Melissa Griegel…
Photos by Melissa Griegel Photography
Additional photos by Delia Dumont
Suite 524 is running a special one-month, eight-show immersive dinner theater experience at Barlume Downstairs (900 Broadway, between 19th and 20th Streets). The production started on Sunday, November 2, and runs through November 23rd, with shows at 5 pm and 8 pm. Suite 524’s Pop Up Dinner Theater features four courses and four short plays that were custom-made for this venue. Theater Pizzazz had the pleasure of experiencing this engaging entertainment at the first show at 5 pm on Sunday, November 2nd. BUY TICKETS HERE
The evening begins in the bar area where you have time to roam around, chat with people, and order specialty cocktails while delicious canapes are being served. The $165 ticket price for the show includes four courses (three types of canapes, a four-spread sampler with toasted flat bread appetizer, a choice of chicken, pasta, or steak for your main, and tiramisu for dessert); drinks are extra. Every course was delicious and well-presented and the drinks were as beautiful as they were tasty.
The action begins right in the bar area, with the cast at high tops, having drinks and conversation. You feel as if you are eavesdropping on a loud group of customers nearby. At the conclusion of that one-act play, you are led into the dining area where there are assorted cabaret-sized tables with comfy chairs and couches. The next three plays take place at tables at the front of the room, where once again, the stories center around people at restaurants and we feel as if we are listening in on fellow diners. Each story is a separate entity, but they are weaved together by an emcee character who is dressed as a Barlume waiter/server and narrates monologues in between each play. This character, Frank, also plays a role in the last play.
The four short plays presented were “The Cowboy” by Michael Sharp, “Peekos at Barlume” by Sandi Farkas, “Fine Dining” by Eduardo Machado, and “See the Forest” by Michael Domitrovich, who also directed all of the performances. Mateo d’Amato served as emcee. The rest of the cast included Timothy Doyle, Chris Gray, Amelia Gwaltney, Ellis Charles Hoffmeister, Sarah Jordan Hupper, Michaela Lind, Brian Reese, Paulina Singer, Sharon Ullrick, Nikki Valdez, Drew Valins, and Eduardo Machado. Suite 524 is a New York–based nonprofit theater studio devoted to preserving the power of live performance in the age of AI. Eduardo Machado and Michael Domitrovich serve as founders and Co-Artistic Directors, with founder Mateo d’Amato serving as Managing Director, and founder Michael Sharp serving as Director of Finance and Administration.
It was a delightful evening from start to finish and one that I highly recommend. Being able to experience live theater, with new material, while also eating delectable bites, drinking, and having time to socialize too, made for a perfect evening. I enjoyed the mother-son interaction of “Peekos of Barlume” as most people can relate to family drama or complicated familial relationships, and I laughed out loud at the humor in the last play, “See the Forest”. Grab a friend, a spouse, or a date, and go experience this unique experience while you can.
After the show, I was able to have a chat with Mateo d’Amato about Suite 524, Pop Up Dinner Theater, and the plays:
Theater Pizzazz: How did these one-act plays come about?
d’Amato: All of the plays were written originally for this specific evening and for Barlume Downstairs. All the food, special cocktails, and other details about the restaurant in the show are from Barlume’s real menu. We actually cast the ensemble first. Then all the playwrights decided on their casts and wrote plays for the actors. They all wrote them very fast. I was impressed. One of our playwrights, and co-founder, Eduardo Machado, wrote his play “Fine Dining” about a theme that Barlume has around a bird that travels to different locations and enjoys mediterranean life. The protagonist of his play is called Paloma. “Peekos at Barlume,” featuring Peekos Oysters from Barlume’s menu, was written by Sandi Farkas, a playwright and former student of Eduardo’s. Suite 524 co-founder Michael Sharp wrote “Cowboy.” Suite 524 co-founder, Michael Domitrovich wrote “See the Forrest”, as well as all the host’s monologues. Michael Domitrovich also Directed all four plays.
Theater Pizzazz: Tell me a little more about the Suite 524’s Pop Up Dinner Theater
d’Amato: Suite 524’s Pop Up Dinner Theater is a bespoke evening of dramatic food and performance featuring four courses, and four short plays presented in restaurants or unique spaces. We create each show specifically around the restaurant we are in so it becomes a true collaboration reflecting their menu, space, and style. Pop Up Dinner Theater is produced by Suite 524’s four co-founders, including myself. In addition to producing, we all also function as playwrights, directors, and actors for the events. We joined forces with Barlume and LDV Hospitality who host us in their space, curate the menu, and provide wait staff. For now we are running this Pop Up Dinner Theater in Barlume’s Downstairs on Sundays until November 23rd.
Theater Pizzazz: How did you connect with Barlume Downstairs?
d’Amato: Ultimately I connected to Barlume through LDV Hospitalities’ Director of Guest Relations, Ro Grady. He’s the boyfriend of a dear friend of mine and has been to plays I’ve been in. So we’ve sort of just hung around each other over the years. One day I was having brunch at Barlume, with my friend, and told Ro about the idea for Pop Up Dinner Theater and how successful it had been in the past, at another friend’s restaurant, and he loved it. We kept the chat going and eventually we connected both our teams to make it happen. What started out as hanging out at brunch turned into this. I think it’s very cool that Barlume and LDV Hospitality have such open minds. LDV Hospitality is a massive business and owns many reputable restaurants in NYC and around the world. So for them to open their doors to us and let us play in their restaurant while also providing gourmet food is a dream date. I really am so grateful for their generosity and belief in us. Restaurants and theater are the last bastions of togetherness in a world separated by tech. I really want pop up dinner theater to feel like everyone is just hanging out. It’s cool to have a play with meal breaks where you can talk.
Theater Pizzazz: How much input did you have on the menu?
d’Amato: We didn’t have any input on the menu. While Michael Domitrovich is a super talented chef, and we would love to have input on the menu in the future, this time it was more fun to let Barlume do their thing. We adapted creatively around what they were already serving. The beautiful aspect of this event is how flexible it can be. When we did Pop Up Dinner Theater the first time at a different restaurant, we had regular meetings with the chef and the food was even more tied into the stories, but it’s not necessary. Again that’s the beauty of this event, we can take what you serve and make it theatrical.
Theater Pizzazz: Are you planning more productions at Barlume, or looking for other spaces?
d’Amato: This is a new collaboration with Barlume and only our first show with them, so we’ve been focused on the present and getting this one off the ground. There are challenges with presenting a play in a non-traditional space because it’s not as easy to advertise. People don’t expect it, so we are all trying to figure out how to catch people’s attention and let them know that this is happening and explain that it’s a real life restaurant with real live, immersive theater for the price of one. While we’ve been focussed on the present, we’ve also enjoyed the collaboration and have already discussed the ideas of doing more in different LDV spaces. We may also continue to play in Barlume Downstairs and do seasonal plays twice a year. We’ve even discussed the idea of a musical version. Ultimately, Suite 524 does want a space of our own, and we are actively looking. Until then, you can expect more collaborative Pop Ups. Truthfully, even if we had our own theater, I don’t see why pop up restaurants would stop. They’re too fun!
Theater Pizzazz: Who created the emcee character of Frank and who wrote his script?
d’Amato: Michael Domitrovich wrote the emcee character Frank. All the monologues were scripted. They were written by him after all the other plays were written, so he used what the other playwrights created to find the themes of the character and tie the monologues as intros/ outros to each play. In a sense, it was like a meta evening featuring a play within a play. You could see Frank’s character as also existing entirely within “See the Forrest.” The idea to play the waiter in the other plays came out of the fact that they had written waiter characters. Domitrovich decided to use that and have Frank, the Emcee, also be a waiter. The first time we did Pop Up Dinner Theater, our Emcee was a standup comedian. He actually created a lot of original material and improvised jokes between the plays. That worked very effectively. Who doesn’t enjoy comedy? This time we had a friend who is a performance artist and thought about going in that direction for the host and getting funky with it. She wasn’t available, so we decided on me being the host. Originally I was just going to act in one or two of the plays and the idea of hosting scared me. I thought, “Am I going to have to do standup?” That’s how we decided to have the host be another character in the plays that was scripted. While I did get to do some improvisation, 99 % of it was on the page, and that’s a true testament to Michael Domitrovich. He also wrote those monologues really fast, and I think they are really beautiful poetry with a lot of deep meaning. It should be noted that pop up dinner theater was also Michael Domitrovich’s idea in the first place. He grew up in a restaurant family and then went into theater, so the blending of the worlds came naturally. He’s very wise, and the host part became a little of his imparted wisdom. You are not just going to eat well, and be entertained, you’re going to digest. You know what I mean?
I think Frank is a real character and also sort of symbolic or metaphorical. It’s like a love letter to the service industry and also a bit of a cosmic clown. He is asking the audience to dive in with him, in the same way his character is. It’s not supposed to be straightforward. I think that’s the point.
Theater Pizzazz: Was it hard to practice and coordinate without an audience because of the immersiveness of the show and the fact that food is being served and has to be timed accordingly?
d’Amato: The show you came to was our first of this run, so unfortunately we didn’t have previews. I think previews would be a good idea for this show, given that immersive element, but with a limited run, we are just diving in. As I told you when we met, Pop Up Dinner Theater feels like pure theater. It reminds me of those traveling bands of players from medieval times doing street theater. They pulled up wherever they could and had to get your attention using what they could. Since this takes place in a real restaurant it feels similar. People are distracted by food, drinks, waiters, and each other. We have to grab their attention somehow. For the actors, it is a lot to have the audience right there on top of you all of a sudden. It’s especially impressive given each play only had three, three-hour rehearsals. But this cast is so incredibly talented, that no one really worried about that. Everyone’s a pro and just jumped in. It’s part of the imagination. The idea is that we are all at this restaurant together. There’s a voyeuristic quality because these plays are taking place next you, as if you’re overhearing the table next to you. So I think for the actors, the audience becomes part of the cast. For the restaurant it’s not as complicated service-wise because it becomes like catering. Since menu selections are made in advance and there doesn’t need to be too much interaction with guests, it becomes a more technical event for them.
We did have a tech in the space to light it, and give the actors a chance to work in it. But the restaurant did a great job of diving in, under fire. We did have a chance to do this show once with Barlume before this run, and we discovered a lot then, as we will every night. There was a learning curve for the restaurant, but once they saw it happen once, they really understood the timing with the plays and when to fire courses. We also discovered it was appropriate for there to be service during Frank’s monologues. Since I was a waiter, leaning into the real life restaurant aspect worked and helped move things along. Before the show, the bartender asked when he could shake cocktails. I told him not to do it during the plays, so as not to distract, but that during my monologues he could go for it, and if it ever got too loud, I would just talk louder. It’s a real restaurant, not a theater, and embracing that is the key. We are given permission to not take ourselves so seriously. It’s a chance for everyone to let their hair down and relax the idea of how they think a play or a meal should be presented.
Thank you to Mateo D’Amato for this behind-the-scenes insight on Suite 524’s Pop Up Dinner Theater. I look forward to their next one. This would make a really fun date-night experience or something interesting to do with out-of-town guests. There are three more weeks to catch the dinner show. BUY TICKETS HERE
