Review Fix Exclusive Planet Connections Theatre Festivity: Jim Kierstead Talks ‘Dead Brains’

July 6, 2018 Patrick Hickey Jr. Theatre 0

Review Fix chats with Dead Brains co-producer Jim Kierstead, who discusses his new role with the production and what’s like to be a part of the 10th anniversary season of Planet Connections Theatre Festivity at the Theaters at the Clemente.

Show Times:

Thursday 7/12 @9:30pm-11:00pm
Saturday 7/14 @9:15pm-10:45pm
Sunday 7/15 @1:45pm-3:15pm
Tuesday 7/17 @5:45pm-7:15pm
Thursday 7/19 @9:45pm-11:15pm
Sunday 7/22 7:30pm-9:00pm
About Dead Brains:

DEAD BRAINS concerns the relationship of Henry and Philly, who have gotten a little caught up in their fantasy. No truth. No regret. No boundaries. Artist and muse, they are idols in their own minds. Enter Corey – vulnerable and real. Now a decision must be made about his role in their game. It’s time to change the rules. Again, and again and again. In Erik Champney’s dark and often hilarious thriller, art is dangerous, and nothing is sacred.

Review Fix: What makes this different or special?

Jim Kierstead: For me, every project I do is different or special in its own way. Each has a unique flavor and personality.  Everyone who knows me well knows that my two loves are musical theatre and horror films!  So I’m excited to be working on DEAD BRAINS because it’s my first theatrical “thriller” since I began working on THRILL ME – THE LEOPOLD & LOEB STORY fifteen years ago.  DEAD BRAINS is NOT for the faint of heart…  be warned. I don’t mind working on controversial and “difficult” subject matter as long as it’s well constructed and well done.  I expect that DEAD BRAINS will have the audience sitting on the edge of their seats and will get their hearts racing.  Anyone who enjoys watching shows like BLACK MIRROR, AMERICAN CRIME STORY, and AMERICAN HORROR STORY is in for a treat.  Oh…did I mention it’s extremely sexy?

Review Fix: What did you learn about yourself through this process?

Kierstead: I’m relatively new to this project, although I had seen a reading of DEAD BRAINS about a year ago.  Erik Champney is a friend and collaborator of mine and I strongly believe in and support his work as a playwright.  So it was a perfect fit when he asked me to come on board this project.  I have a feeling I’ll learn a lot about myself by the time this project is over, but it feels right to be a part of it at the Planet Connections Festivity.  I love their mission and very much enjoy presenting shows in theatre festivals as I learn about them.  It’s a good way to “test drive” a project as festivals usually bring in supportive and diverse audiences.

Review Fix: What are your ultimate goals for this production and for the future?

Kierstead: My goal is to learn a lot about this piece.  How audiences respond, how critics respond, and how I respond to it myself.  Based on what we learn, that will help decide the best course of action to take in its future development.

Review Fix: What’s next?

Kierstead: I have several exciting theatre, film, and TV projects in the works.  Looking forward to sharing them with everyone.

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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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