by Keith Huff

Directed by Laura Margolis

Featuring Miller Lide (Broadway: The Royal Family, Ivanov, 84 Charing Cross Road), Pauline Boyd, Frank Liiotti, David Smilow and Maggie Surovell.

Ira is at a loss of what to do…his wife has just passed away and now Sebastian, his dog, is diagnosed with a life threatening illness!

When the “thought for the day” in Hallmark’s The Little Book of Hope inspires Ira to rekindle the joy now lacking in his life, he sets out with Sebastian on a cross country adventure to reach “the happiest place on earth” – America’s modern-day mecca, Disneyland.

An award-winning twist on man and man’s best friend, Dog Stories is a touching and hilarious exploration of life’s true meaning – seen through the eyes of two companions…and the cavalcade of characters they encounter, each with an extraordinary canine story of their own!

Reviews

“Lide, who made his Broadway debut in Checkov’s Ivanov with Sir John Gielgud and Vivien Leigh, followed by numerous roles off and on Broadway, plays Ira with extraordinary warmth and sensitivity. Lide makes Ira so endearing that we are always rooting for him, hoping that this humble, compassionate man will eventually find the happiness he seeks”.

–Rebecca Daniels, Theater section, Woodstock Times, September 7, 2006

“Lide assumes the sad clown-like attitude of a W.C. Fields character as he plays Ira as a detached man who is numb to life and unable to find the words to comfort himself or others. Smilow works with expression and sad eyes to convey the joy of being alive while suggesting the sorrow of someone who knows he is dying. His strength is to always be invested in what is happening around him”.

–Bob Goepfort, The Troy Record

“Ira, played by Miller Lide, like his pet, never speaks a word. It is a conceit that emphasizes human nature’s affinity to whose among us who do not have a voice. Lide’s is a charming Chaplinesque performance, full of innocence and grace”.

–Carol King, The Daily Gazette, August 28, 2006

“Laura Margolis creates the singular stage pictures and brisk pace that are her benchmarks. Margolis also get the singular acting out of her two leads, the one holding the lead, Lide as widow Cadwalader, and the one wearing the lead, Smilow’s Sebastian.

Master and dog create the through line this play needs, and the silent Ira is full of meanings, emotions, and insights. Lide’s Ira is the audience surrogate, and the actor’s focus, commitment, and empathy save Dog Stories. Lide has the expressive power and focus of a silent-movie actor–he has the innocence of one of Chaplin’s child performances–and when Ira and Sebastian, having been refused entrance into Disneyland, sit at the beach to share an orange in the glow of the setting sun, you can taste the citrus and sadness in the silence”.

–James Yeara