Dead Dream Machine Review: Cabaret Theater in Bushwick, Rocks

The only thing scarier than a night in the factory-laden and desolate area of Bushwick, Brooklyn is the thought of a cabaret, theatre performance in a warehouse in the area, but Jake Thomas’ “Dead Dream Machine” will quickly have you unclench your hands off your wallet pocket and put a sultry, sexy smirk across your face.

Powered by the uber charismatic Eric Schmalenberger and sexy Aurora Black, the show is essentially a “Tales From the Crypt”-styled show, with live Ballerina/aerial artists and puppetry, woven together seamlessly into a gothic showcase full of talented individuals who obviously care about their craft.

Thomas, an assistant editor at Marvel Comics, takes eight creepy and deliciously evil tales and puts them together in a way that’ll immediately connect with the average comic book fan. There are clear roles for all of the characters and while some are a bit generic, take the crazy queen in the puppetry scene for instance, the moral and essence of each story is captivating and dark.

The story is cool and relatable in the fact that it centers around a group of kids who sneak into an abandoned theatre and find out why the townspeople have told their children to stay away from it. The crude language, fourth-wall asides and pop culture references are enough to keep you in your seat, regardless of the humidity in the theatre, but it’s the attention to classic noir and horror story telling that will keep you there when the beads of sweat start to roll down your forehead.

Schmalenberger’s performance is what brings it all together. Hypnotically evil as the magician Impresario, his eyes tell of an unknown darkness the audience must watch for themselves to find out more about. His haunting smirk will send chills down your back, but will make your mind race with the thoughts of what could happen next. It also helps that dark breaks up each performance with what can only be described as some of the hottest ballet dance you’ll ever see.

Simply put, “Dead Dream Machine,” in spite of a sometimes dragging two-hour performance time, deserves a larger stage, in a more-theatre-friendly neighborhood. Considering the need for new characters and series in the comic book industry as well, this would make a finer Off-Broadway production or monthly comic book series.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14230 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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