New York Irish Arts

It’s a draw for Thatcher and Sands

Gwen Orel — Mon, 20 May 2013 15:00:00 +0000

How it’s New York: New York is big on naming little streets for famous people. I once worked in a building on LaGuardia Place, and had to convince a taxi driver that the street existed.

How it’s Irish: Bobby Sands was an I.R.A. hunger striker who died in 1981. I remember crying. Some cities in France already have streets named after him.

Thatcher, Bobby Sands lose out in Paris street battle (via AFP)

Margaret Thatcher and Bobby Sands fought an epic battle three decades ago that left the Irish hunger-striker dead, but in their latest — posthumous — fight, neither side came out victorious when the city of Paris on Monday rejected plans to name streets after them. An exasperated deputy mayor of…

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Love Therapy: A promising premise of theatre therapy

Suze — Mon, 20 May 2013 14:15:14 +0000

How it’s New York: Are you serious? It’s about therapy! Also, the production is currently showing at the DR2 Theatre in NYC.

Alison Fraser (left) and Margot White (right) @ Kevin Thomas Garcia

How it’s Irish: Three of the characters have Irish names, and one, Madge, is an Irish immigrant.

I received, as part of my review packet, a script that was labeled “draft”. I thought, “Well, someone forgot to revise the title page of the script.” But now that I’ve seen the show, an exploration of a therapist’s psychological and emotional journey intertwined with her couple’s therapy practice, “draft” is an accurate description.

“[We] need you to be real with [us] or it doesn’t work”

The problem is, accuracy is the absolute word here. Written by Wendy Beckett, an actual therapist as well as playwright, this is a brief, occasionally explosive piece. Her book is always interesting, but theater is not a venue for case studies: we need to connect sympathetically with the characters. Unfortunately, three of the characters – Brian Beatie (Christopher Burns) and Mary (Janet Zarish), two “clients”, and Carol (again, surprisingly, Janet Zarish!), a Case Supervisor – seemed like textbook studies: interesting and even surprising, but not fleshed out.

I DID like the show, and there was a lot to like about it: a promising premise, an ambitious book, wonderful actors operating at the top of their craft, and a great stage in an appropriately intimate theater. There was also a very cool stage convention: a revolving, framed panel of opaque glass called a Perspex door, used to reveal the twisting and turning of the therapist’s and clients’ inner thoughts. [Continue Reading]

Irish who fought with Allies in WW II pardoned last week

Gwen Orel — Mon, 20 May 2013 12:00:51 +0000

How it’s New York: As we wrote when we heard the pardon was coming, Éamon De Valera, who infamously signed Hitler’s condolence book, was born in New York City. And New Yorkers passionately identify with the Allies– think of that famous soldier kissing nurse photo.

How it’s Irish: That Irish soldiers fought with the Allies is still under-reported history.

Ireland pardons soldiers who deserted to fight Nazis (via AFP)

Thousands of Irish soldiers who deserted their neutral nation’s military to fight with the Allies in World War II will be officially pardoned under a new law set to be passed on Tuesday. About 5,000 deserters were court martialled or dismissed from the Irish defence forces in 1945, a move that left…

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“As Close As You’ll Ever Be” Is Too Close for Comfort

Gwen Orel — Mon, 20 May 2013 05:23:13 +0000

How it’s New York: Seamus Scanlon is often to be seen at the Irish American Writers & Artists salons, a New York institution that’s become an important literary fixture in the community.

How it’s Irish: Seamus is Irish, and his stories depict I.R.A. men, troubled kids, and Belfast– as well as New York.

This review was first published in Irish Examiner USA, Tuesday, April 2.

Ever wonder what it’s like to think like a killer?

Seamus Scanlon clearly has. His collection of stories, “As Close As You’ll Ever Be,” explores the minds of I.R.A. assassins, bank robbers, grown victims of child abuse out for revenge, and other damaged souls who generally kick someone in the teeth or shoot someone in the head before the story ends.

They are beautifully written little shocks of insight and cruelty. Scanlon has an elegant way around a sentence. Take, for example, this from “The Long Wet Grass”:

“The wind kept trying to tailgate us.” That story is quite short, a reverie of observation from the driver of a car holding a doomed prisoner.

Other sentences are full of zoff-bang-boom shock:

“He was pulling a shotgun from under the couch, fumbling it, sweating it, blood dripping on the dark gray barrels.”

That’s from “All in the Mind,” in which two Irish thugs in New York debate whether illness is all in the mind, just before they kill a Dominican. Like thugs in many films, Scanlon’s criminals often have philosophical streaks and interesting insights which, however, don’t stop their brutality nor slow it down. [Continue Reading]

A St. Yves Concert at Irish Arts Center this Tuesday!

Gwen Orel — Sun, 19 May 2013 18:12:21 +0000

How it’s New York: BZH-New York Is a New York-based organization that promotes Breton events in the city. How many other cities have a Breton society! Charles Kergaravat, the leading light of the organization, compares St. Yves to St. Patrick’s Day.

How it’s Irish: The May 21 concert at Irish Arts Center combines Breton and Irish cultures. Not to be missed!

A St. Yves Concert

A Fête de la Bretagne / St. Yves’s Day celebration bringing together Breton and Irish cultures by featuring live Breton-Irish music from Samuel Le Henanff Quartet with a Breton whisky and Irish cheese tasting

The Breton dancers and musicians that were the finale of Mick Moloney’s Celtic Appalachia in March were unforgettable. I wrote:

The evening came to a close with a colorful, and loud, performance from several Breton ensembles, presented by BZH New York (The Breton Society of New York).

In overlapping French they sang to each other, and then were joined onstage by musicians who played the bombard – like a medieval oboe – and the biniou cult, which is a kind of bagpipe. They just kept. Coming. There were over 40 people on stage. Then the lights came on and we saw dancers, costumed in some kind of period peasant attire, joined hands and coming down the aisle – 40 or more of them. They began pulling people from seats to dance with them, too.

I’ll get the whole review up later today (long overdue!). But if you missed that, here’s your chance to have some fun with Breton music and singing, this week at Irish Arts Center:

St. Yves is celebrated worldwide by Bretons, similarly to the Irish celebration of St Patrick’s Day. From Brest to Vitré, from Pornic to Dol-de-Bretagne, and including Paris, Le Havre, New York and Beijing, St. Yves is celebrated for 11 days worldwide with a thousand different facets. Join BZH New York and Irish Arts Center for an unforgettable festive evening of Breton-Irish music, featuring a Breton whisky tasting of the “best European single malt whisky” Armorik Single Malt, and Warenghem whisky served with Irish cheese. A unique experience to (re)discover Brittany and Ireland’s Celtic traditions!

May 21
Tasting from 7:30 pm – 8 pm
Music 8 pm – 9 pm

Farewell to Vincent Dowling

Gwen Orel — Sun, 19 May 2013 18:00:29 +0000

How it’s New York: Vincent Dowling often directed and appeared in New York. He died on Friday, May 10. He directed Norman Corwin’s “The Rivalry” at Irish Rep in 2009. I wrote then: “Dowling’s sensitive and seamless direction delivers a simple and appealing drama.”

How it’s Irish: Dowling was from Ireland, and appeared at the Abbey Theatre.

Vincent Dowling, Irish director and actor who led Great Lakes Theater Festival, dies at 83 (via Cleveland.com)

Kathleen Murphy Colan Vincent Dowling, the renowned Irish actor and director who spent nine years as artistic director of the Great Lakes Theater Festival, leading its move from Lakewood to downtown Cleveland in 1982, died on Friday at Massachusetts General Hospital. He was 83. The cause was complications…

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Synge’s “Playboy” comes to Shakespeare Theatre, NJ

Gwen Orel — Sun, 19 May 2013 17:52:20 +0000

How it’s (New Jersey) New York: The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey is one of the tri-state’s most accomplished. Critics and actors from New York are often seen here.

How it’s Irish: “Playboy of the Western World” is J.M. Synge’s most famous play, and captures Irish rural characteristics, including the tall tale. It caused a riot at the Abbey when it was first produced because of the reference to women in their shifts… stay tuned for more on this upcoming production! Paul Mullins directs.

‘The Playboy of the Western World’ launches new season at Shakespeare Theatre in Madison (via Cranford Chronicle)

The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey in Madison will launch its 51st season with J.M. Synge’s classic “The Playboy of the Western World.” Performances begin May 29 and continue through June 23 at the F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre, 36 Madison Ave. (at Lancaster Road) in…

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Growing Pains: Who’s Your Daddy” at Irish Rep

Gwen Orel — Sat, 18 May 2013 19:23:29 +0000

How it’s New York: Johnny O’Callaghan tells a story from the POV of an out-of-work actor. While it takes place in Los Angeles before moving to Uganda, a

Johnny O’Callaghan, @Carol Rosegg

lot of t he details are very familiar to the New York scene too.

How it’s Irish: O’Callaghan is Irish, and he also hilariously describes his Irish parents and childhood.

This review originally appeared in Irish Examiner USA, Tuesday, May 7.

There’s nothing like looking outside of yourself to find yourself.

That’s part of the message of Johnny O’Callaghan’s touching one-man show, “Who’s Your Daddy?,” extended at Irish Rep through May 26. O’Callaghan adopted a Ugandan orphan and, in the process, grew up.

The play premiered at the Little Victory Theatre in California, and since then has been to the Edinburgh Fringe, among others. It is O’Callaghan’s playwriting debut.

A good looking, rather buff, blonde guy, O’Callaghan was an aimless actor getting nowhere fast in Los Angeles in 2006, teaching road safety to schoolchildren and appearing on cable television shows, when his life changed.

He didn’t intend it to change; he caught his boyfriend cheating and lost his home. Shortly afterwards, he lost his job. And shortly after that, he bumped into an actress friend going to Uganda to make a documentary, who invited him along to help film. With nothing to lose, he went.

O’Callaghan has some funny observations about his life in LA and his childhood in Ireland – my favorite was his thinking he was giving “money for Jews” on the collection plate, not realizing it was “dues” until he made it to America.

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A NIght on the Town With AWoW member Tara O’Grady: “A Celt in the Cotton Club” CD LAUNCH

Charles R. Hale — Sat, 18 May 2013 12:54:40 +0000

How it’s New York: Artists Without Walls (AWoW) produces multicultural showcases in and around New York City

How it’s Irish:Founded by two Irish-Americans who are proud of their heritage, but who also believe that art comes alive when all cultures interact .

Come join AWoW member, Tara O’Grady, for her A Celt in the Cotton Club CD Launch Party – Thursday, May 23 at Mary O’s, 32 Avenue A at 7:00pm. This is the third album from the New York singer-songwriter whose voice can only be described as “a Celt in the Cotton Club.” Tara O’Grady swings original songs as well as some traditional Irish tunes and re-baptizes them to sound like Billie Holiday is back!

The title of Tara’s third album comes from a bass player in Nashville who upon hearing her sing in the Tennessee recording studio, tweeted the current title to describe her voice. Her original songs were inspired by Irish people she met from Belfast to Butte, and everywhere in between.

And she throws in a few favorite Irish traditional tunes for good measure – a swinging rendition of ‘Go Lassie Go,’ a smoky version of ‘Black is the Color,’ bossa nova style, and a blues inspired ‘Too Ra Loo Ra,’ the famous Irish lullaby that in no way lulls the listener to sleep. [Continue Reading]

These Halcyon Days: Maybe you can go home again

Gwen Orel — Thu, 16 May 2013 19:52:13 +0000

How it’s New York: Irish Arts Center is a New York fixture, and this is the third play of Deirdre Kinahan’s that they’ve presented. In addition, “aging in place” is a universal issue– New York as much as Ireland.

How it’s Irish: Deirdre Kinahan is an Irish playwright

A version of this review was published in Irish Examiner USA, Tuesday, May 14.

When you’re sick and old, you spend a lot of time sitting around.

We first meet Patricia (Anita Reeves) in Deirdre Kinahan’s play “These Halcyon Days,” which is set in a nursing home in Dublin, as she wrestles with a sticky door in the conservatory.

Kinahan’s play runs at the Irish Arts Center through Sunday, June 2.

Stephen Brennan and Anita Reeves, photo by Erin Baiano

Patricia would rather not just sit around, but unable to get outside, that’s what she does. Soon her attention is drawn to Seán (Stephen Brennan), sitting quietly in a wheelchair. Bored, sharp and somewhat shrill, she draws him out almost against her better judgment, muttering derogatory comments about him when he takes too long to answer. He offers her tea, though the nurse hasn’t brought it yet. “What are you in for?” she says, which gets a laugh.

Once he quotes Shakespeare at her, though, in a gentle, breathy way, she realizes he was once an actor, a film actor even, an actor who even worked with Michael Caine, and is thrilled. Patricia was a schoolteacher and lived with her sister, to whom she expects soon to return, although, it’s a given in plays like this, that she’s sicker than she thinks and probably can’t go home. She has a liver condition, and has had strokes, which keep her hand from working properly. One of the play’s funnier moments is when she insists that her liver condition is not brought on by drinking, which is what everyone always assumes. Illness does have a funny side. [Continue Reading]

MARY McPARTLAN and BERTHA HOPE at ZirZamin, NYC, MAY 24, 7:30pm

Charles R. Hale — Wed, 15 May 2013 14:22:23 +0000

How it’s New York: Artists Without Walls (AWOW) produces multicultural showcases in and around New York City

How It’s Irish: Founded by two Irish-Americans who are proud of their heritage, but who also believe that art comes alive when all cultures interact .

Mary McPartlan

A special and unique collaboration has begun between the Irish Folk singer Mary McPartlan (who is in New York on a Fulbright Scholarship) and Jazz pianist Bertha Hope, one of the great exponents of the jazz idiom. Mary and Bertha, who both embrace AWoW’s multicultural approach to the arts, met when they each performed at an AWoW Showcase earlier in the year. The two women quickly hit it off and embarked on a new collaborative effort, which combines Mary’s Irish folk style and Bertha’s jazz piano.

Mary McPartlan has a high profile in Ireland as a tradional and contemporary folk singer with extensive rave reviews for two recent award winning albums The Holland Handkerchief and Petticoat Loose. Mary recently recorded a song with a poem from the now President of Ireland Michael D Higgins dedicated to the Chilean poet Victor Yara. Mary McPartlan Website

Bertha Hope

Bertha Hope has led an all american women’s ensemble JASSBERRY JAM for 15 years and is prominent on the jazz scene in the tri-state area. Bertha Hope Website

The collaboration and the making of this exciting piece of art will take place at ZirZamin, 90 West Houston, Friday, May 24 2013, 8pm. The doors will open at 7.30pm promptly and early arrival is clearly recommended.

Click here for further details.

AWoW MEMBER COLIN BRODERICK to be INTRODUCED TONIGHT by JOSH BROLIN at BOOK LAUNCH for “THAT’S THAT.”

Charles R. Hale — Tue, 14 May 2013 18:08:52 +0000

How it’s New York: Artists Without Walls (AWOW) produces multicultural showcases in and around New York City

How It’s Irish: Founded by two Irish-Americans who are proud of their heritage, but who also believe that art comes alive when all cultures interact .

‘THAT’S THAT” Official Book Trailer

Colin Broderick and Josh Brolin

Join us tonight at Barnes and Noble’s Tribeca Store, 97 Warren Street, 7pm, for the official launch of Colin Broderick’s That’s That. AWoW member Broderick will be introduced and interviewed by his friend, actor Josh Brolin. The event is also being filmed for what will be the final scene of the long awaited biographical feature documentary based on Colin’s first book Orangutan. Following the launch, everyone is invited to the after party at Scratcher’s, 209 E. 5th St, in the East Village. It’s sure to be a great night!

Here’s a short excerpt from That’s That:

“Seen from the window of a plane Ireland is a patchwork quilt, little square fields of green stitched together by thin rows of thorns; spring green, fern green, forest green, pine, sea and shamrock green. From above, she is clean, mystical, magical to behold. That is her first great act of deceit, her lush, rolling beauty the first betrayal of her truth, for on the ground, and deeper still, buried beneath that verdant lawn is her pain; underneath, there is blood.

Colin Broderick

I assume you’ve heard bits and pieces of the history of Ireland already, some of the landmark atrocities that have made international news over the years, or perhaps you’ve heard snippets grumbled over small glasses of amber in the dim light of a smoky tavern in the Bronx, stories of the long and bitter hatred between the English and the Irish, of heroic young men in balaclavas, petrol bombs being hurled into the dark night, monuments of flame on the claustrophobic streets of Belfast, the ghosts of skeletal boys, naked and excrement-smeared, starving themselves to death in the cold cells of the H-Block. And if you did receive your Irish history lesson in a bar from some furtive creature with a brogue, then as the night wore on, you surely heard about his mother also, for every drink poured in an Irish bar leads back to the mother. As you may well know, there is no mother like the Irish mother, and there is no love more wounded and fierce than the love between an Irish mother and her son.

In honor of that age-old tradition I, too, will start with the history. (The mother I will get to in just a little bit.)”

Written by AWoW cofounder, Charles R. Hale

Talking about love: Love Therapy

Suze — Mon, 13 May 2013 03:15:36 +0000

How it’s New York: Love Therapy, a play by Wendy Beckett, opened at the DR2 Theatre in NYC on April 29^{and runs through Saturday, May 25.}.

Alison Fraser (left) and Janet Zarish (right), @Kevin Thomas Garcia

How it’s Irish: Alison Fraser, whose family roots are firmly planted in Ireland, plays Madge, an Irish waitress in the play.

As a reviewer, I watch plays for future audiences. It’s my job to meet the characters as developed by the playwright, and review the production. But sometimes, if I’m very lucky, I get to meet a living human being and find out who s/he is.

On Saturday night, I got very lucky indeed: I interviewed Alison Fraser on the set of a new play by Wendy Beckett: Love Therapy. Fraser plays a down-on-her-luck, big-hearted Irish waitress – a possible stereotype that, with Fraser’s deft handling, was anything but.

Fraser’s character of “Madge” seemed to have been written for her. A singer and actress of amazing depth and range, as recognized by the Tony committee for nominating Fraser twice for theater’s highest honor, her previous roles have run the gamut from Martha in the adaptation of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden, to Arsinoë in David Ives’ The School for Lies, to creating the role of The Matron in Tennessee Williams’ last play In Masks Outrageous and Austere. [Continue Reading]

Polishing Rare Gems: J.M. Barrie at The Pearl Theatre

Gwen Orel — Sun, 12 May 2013 13:16:42 +0000

How it’s New York: The Pearl Theatre is one of New York’s few theatres with a resident company, and a gem itself.

How it’s (Scottish) Irish: Author J.M. Barrie first wrote in Scots dialect. Did you know that? Yes the very English “Peter Pan” was conceived by a Celt.

When we met with director J.R. Sullivan, artistic director of The Pearl Theatre, the set was being painted for the production of “This Side of Neverland,” a pair of one-acts by J.M. Barrie. The red velvet curtain is a painted drop, as are the backdrops, and there are working footlights.

“It’s part of the conceit,” Sullivan said. The idea is that the artificiality suggests the kind of turn of the century playhouse Scottish playwright Barrie himself would have used. The production replaces the world premiere of Terrence McNally’s play, written for the company, “And Away We Go,” which has been postponed until next season to be part of The Pearl’s 30th-year anniversary.

The plays run from April 19 through May 19 (with the official opening on May 5) at The Pearl in its new home, as of this past October, at 555 W. 42nd Street.

Literary manager and artistic assistant Kate Farrington brought “The Twelve Pound Look” and “Rosalind” to Sullivan’s attention.

Barrie’s play “Mary Rose” was produced by The Vineyard theatre in 2007, and Red Bull Theatre recently presented a reading of “Admiral Crichton,” but he hasn’t had a true revival in a long time.

Most people are familiar with Barrie as the author of “Peter Pan.” Fewer people know that Barrie, who lived from 1860 to 1937, wrote his first works in Scottish dialect. Those who haven’t read his plays and novels miss the wry, sweet insight of his prose: see this in Chapter 1 of “Peter Pan,” for example:

“The way Mr. Darling won her was this: the many gentlemen who had been boys when she was a girl discovered simultaneously that they loved her, and they all ran to her house to propose to her except Mr. Darling, who took a cab and nipped in first, and so he got her.”

Sean McNall, @Al Foote III

For a much better prequel to “Peter Pan” than “Peter and the Starcatcher,” see Barrie’s own “The Little White Bird.”

To put some of that wit onstage at The Pearl, these productions feature Barrie introducing the plays, reading from stage directions. Director Tina Landau also had stage directions read aloud at the Vineyard. In “Rosalind,” a young man discovers a surprise about the woman he’s courting. In “The Twelve Pound Look,” a man about to be knighted discovers the temp who comes to do typing is his ex-wife. Both plays, Sullivan said, explore the imaginative vitality of youth and its value is not something to trade off for material gain and success which may “lend comfort but limit the fullness of life.” Barrie says in “Rosalind,” and it’s also on the show poster, “Everything is real – except middle age.”

These themes, of course, also inform “Peter Pan.” [Continue Reading]

The Teetotallers: Not Frankenstein

catandfiddle — Thu, 09 May 2013 21:34:08 +0000

How it’s New York: Not only is it New York, it’s in one of hippest Manhattan nightclubs. How cool is that?

How it’s Irish: All of The Teetotallers are Irish or of Irish heritage (Kevin Crawford was born and grew up in Birmingham where he first lit up the music scene in the 1980s)

It seemed pretty much the entire Irish traditional music community of New York was in attendance for The Teetotallers’ appearance at the Highline Ballroom for what their genial host Kevin Crawford referred to as their “own little brand of music”. This term caught my attention as there is always a dilemma for thinking traditional musicians in how far to go in putting their own stamp on their music, particularly when as is the case of Crawford and fiddler Martin Hayes they hail from regions of Clare where the tradition is so strong that playing styles are defined (and disputed) if not quite by the street, certainly by the parish
All three of The Teetotallers have pushed at this invisible boundary in their own way: Kevin Crawford (with Lúnasa) has explored the rhythmic underpinning of traditional music; Martin Hayes (with Dennis Cahill) has likewise delved into harmonic variations and the emotional center of the tunes; John Doyle’s U.S.-based Solas have experimented with instrumentation and repertoire. While these innovations have (dare I say it?) advanced the music, the question is what do you get it if you put all three together?

Would it be some Frankenstein (an over-agitated, over-emotional Irish-American, perhaps?) to send beleaguered purists into a tailspin, or some of the finest traditional music you are likely to have heard in years?

Fortunately of course, the evidence of the tunes at the Highline pointed very much to the latter. [Continue Reading]

What’s in a name: Paddy Wagon

Gwen Orel — Thu, 02 May 2013 18:13:11 +0000

How it’s New York: With so many different cultures descending on New York, language pretty much fascinates everybody here.

How it’s Irish: This interesting column from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel began with the use of the term “paddy wagon,” around St. Patrick’s Day.

Some familiar TV news phrases are offensive, or lazy – or both (via Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

Reporter’s use of ‘paddy wagon’ riles reader For me, St. Patrick’s Day is an excuse to cook for and drink with friends. This year, I downloaded Irish music onto my iPhone to play during our gathering. Which is how the Irish Rovers’ song “The Unicorn” got on my phone in the first place. Why it – of…

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Roddy Doyle’s “The Commitments” finally made into musical

Gwen Orel — Thu, 02 May 2013 17:41:08 +0000

Roddy Doyle's "The Commitments" finally made into musical (via http://ejumo.com)

“Himself and Nora” — Irish Literary Genius in 5-Part Harmony

L.E. McCullough — Wed, 01 May 2013 17:48:38 +0000

How it’s New York: A New York Music Theatre Festival award winner has a gala world premiere.

How it’s Irish: When a critic commented to James Joyce that it would take a reader an entire lifetime to read his novels, Joyce famously replied: “It took my entire life to write them.”

FOR READERS WITH a hectic, multitasking lifestyle, here’s a concise Insta-Review of American Theater Group’s production of Himself and Nora:

Liked: Everything.

Disliked: Too short. Could’ve listened to the incredible singing for another three-four-ten hours.

Photo: Seth Walters

Or this from #Limericks_R_Us:

There was once a writer named Joyce
Whose story was given a voice
In a musical play
Exploring the way
His wife was his true muse of choice

Is leor sin! Let’s get serious.

Himself and Nora grabs your attention from the first word and holds it till the final curtain. See it and be spiritually uplifted and culturally enriched.

The brilliant new musical by Jonathan Brielle vividly (and poignantly) illustrates Thomas Mann’s definition of a Writer as “someone for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people.”

Throughout most of his not-quite 59 years on the planet, James Joyce grappled with a host of personal and professional obstacles — conflicts with his father and the Catholic Church, the petty provincialism of Irish social mores, his own sexual obsessions and alcohol intake, an endless series of eye operations to forestall blindness and a prideful reluctance to compromise how his work should be presented.

Opening Night: (l-r) Cole Burden, David Arthur, Michael Bush, Matt Bogart, Jessica Burrows, Lianne Marie Dobbs. Photo: Christina L. Wilson

These impediments might have permanently stymied other authors; Joyce used them as fodder for a host of unforgettable characters and fuel for his incessant drive toward literary innovation.

The play also posits that many trademark items of Joycean wordplay may well have originated with mate Nora, artfully culled by her husband from their 37 years of domestic discourse and frequent exchange of erotic letters.

Himself and Nora succeeds in conquering the chief difficulty faced by historical theatre — making long-ago, faraway people come to credible onstage life in our Here and Now.

The reserved, bespectacled Joyce and dour, dowdy-hatted Nora we’ve known only from faded photos have been transformed into vigorous, flawed, passionate humans by Matt Bogart and Jessica Burrows.

Bogart and Burrows are sensational actors and singers and display a sincere intimacy in the romantic moments that form the heart of the narrative. Within the first minute of their entrance, you forget they are anything but Joyce and Nora in the flesh.

Jessica Burrows, Matt Bogart. Photo: Seth Walters

It’s a bit misleading to list David Arthur, Cole Burden and Lianne Marie Dobbs as mere supporting actors inhabiting the play’s 12 additional characters — Joyce’s mother, father and deathbed doctor, publisher Sylvia Beach, patron Harriet Weaver, author Ezra Pound, three Italian language students, Joyce and Nora’s children Lucia and Giorgio and an imaginary Irish priest who, as Joyce’s internal censor, appears in nearly every scene as a smirking nemesis.

Misleading because Himself and Nora is a well-structured ensemble piece that uses the versatile trio to keep the action moving at a real-time pace while imparting relevant facts needed to shape the story. Director Michael Bush earns special commendation for deftly integrating these satellite characters in a naturalistic manner that enhances the script’s dramatic highpoints throughout.

Jonathan Brielle’s score uses a broad musical style palette to capture the thematic nuance of each scene … artful storytelling through song that lets us immediately grasp who these characters are, how they view themselves and why we should care about them. [Continue Reading]

The dream team The Teetotallers returns!

Gwen Orel — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 04:29:29 +0000

How it’s New York: In New York you can stay put and the musicians come to you. This is one of the best examples. Catch this trio at Highline Ballroom on Monday, April 29 (or check their dates below).

How it’s Irish: All three musicians, Kevin Crawford, Martin Hayes, and John Doyle are Irish. Together The Teetotallers are an incredible Irish supergroup.

They are an Irish dream team: the best Irish fiddler in the world, in my opinion, Martin Hayes, with the virtuoso flute of Kevin Crawford, and the rhythmic, muscular guitar playing of John Doyle. John also sings, and Kevin sings with him. The Teetotallers have it all.

They’ve yet to release their first album, but you can hear some of what will be on it at Highline Ballroom on Monday, April 29. The electricity of these musicians playing together is like an amazing seisun; virtuosic playing as they top each other and support one another.

Kevin Crawford, Martin Hayes, John Doyle

John Doyle: guitarist who was originally in Solas, grammy-nominated with Liz Carroll, toured with Joan Baez.
Kevin Crawford: flutist with legendary group Lúnasa
Martin Hayes: six-time All Ireland fiddle champion.
Considered even better than De Dannan’s Frankie Gavin. Irish Consul General Noel Kilkenny is a big fan.

They are all stars in their own right, come together to play– only their second year together, and are in the process of recording

Last year, I interviewed them before their gigs, and also reviewed them…and reviewed them. I also had Kevin and Martin on the New York Irish Arts podcast (John was driving).
You can hear the podcast here.
I reviewed the concert as well, and wrote: “It was musical enchantment at an almost supernatural level.” [Continue Reading]

Karan and Aoife collaborate and strike gold at Irish Arts Center

Gwen Orel — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 00:42:41 +0000

How it’s New York: Karan Casey zoomed to success with the group Solas, which began in NYC. And this event took place at Irish Arts Center.

Aoife O’Donovan, Jacob Silver, Karan Casey, @Erin Baiano

How it’s Irish: Karan Casey is Irish, and Aoife O’Donovan is Irish-American.

My expectations for the collaboration between Irish chanteuse Karan Casey (Solas, A Prairie Home Companion) and Aoife O’Donovan (Crooked Still, Childsplay) were not low.

But they weren’t high enough.

The Irish Arts Center really knows what they are doing with these events, the brainchild of Mick Moloney who launched the series in 2008 with Paul Brady and Sarah Siskind.

Masters in Collaboration projects since then have included Andy Irvine/John Doyle, Bill Whelan/Athena Tergis, Martin Hayes and Dennis Cahill/Gregory Harrington, Iarla Ó Lionaáird/Ivan Goff and Seamus Begley/Joanie Madden.

They’ve all been different degrees of Great.

Karan Casey and Aoife O’Donovan are one of the Greatest.

I would so buy this CD.

It isn’t a CD yet, but I am angling for it. Aoife is very busy getting ready to release her solo CD on Yep-Roc records in June, but let’s all begin a nagging campaign. I want to put Saturday’s concert on my iPod.

Now.

Both women have gorgeous voices. Karan’s is clear and has a small timbre, a little like Dolly Parton. Aoife has a breathier quality with gut-punching expressiveness.

Together, backed by Jacob Silver on double bass and Grant Gordy on guitar, with Aoife on guitar and sometimes Karan on piano, their sound just soared.

There was a Stevie Nicks/Christine McVie kind of blend going on, and the rhythmic drive set the voices in elegant relief. [Continue Reading]

Declan O’Rourke at Irish Arts Center. Kleenex required.

Gwen Orel — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 23:37:54 +0000

How it’s New York: The residenc was at Irish Arts Center, so by definition was a New York event.

How it’s Irish: Declan O’Rourke is an irish singer-songwriter, who lately has been embracing that identity more and more.

Damn it, Declan. You made me cry again… last year, when he played “Poor Boy’s Shoes,” a song from the Famine album that he’ll be recording last year, I couldn’t even describe the song afterwards without choking up. But, I told myself, I was kind of upset about something that time. I wouldn’t feel it so much this year. After all, I knew what was coming.

Nope. After the very first line I had a lump in my throat. And when the song, a sweet song of innocent courtship, suddenly slows down and tells us how in the poorhouse, “First God took the little boy… then the little girl…” I wept again. That’s some really great songwriting.

Aidan Connolly introduced Declan O’Rourke on the first night of his residency at Irish Arts Center, which runs through Sunday, April 28, by pointing out that the concerts blend two of IAC’s most successful programs: Masters in Collaboration, a residency of two artists, dreamed up by Mick Moloney and SongLives, a singer-songwriter program conceived by Susan McKeown.

We reviewed the last Masters in Collaboration, featuring Aoife O’Donovan and Karan Casey, two weeks ago.

Declan is a singer-songwriter, but his long residency captures a feeling of exploration too.

He’s in town with a string quartet, and he’s playing songs from his starry career, including his most recent album Mag Pai Zai (2011), Big Bad Beautiful World (2007), and Since Kyabram (2004). [Continue Reading]

Friday in Fairfield: Standing Ovation for IAW&A “Road” Salon with Gaelic American Club

John Kearns — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 22:01:30 +0000

How it’s New York: A group of New York regulars from the Irish American Writers and Artists Salon traveled to Fairfield to share the stage with their Connecticut counterparts.

How it’s Irish: The Irish American Writers and Artists Salon was organized by the Irish Consulate in New York and took place at the Gaelic American Club in Fairfield, CT.

by John Kearns

Photos by Cat Dwyer

On Friday, April 19, 2013, with the support and organization of the Irish Consul General in New York, Irish American Writers and Artists (IAW&A) hit the road for our first “away” Salon at the hospitable, friendly, and impressive Gaelic American Club (GAC) in Fairfield, CT. Connecticut musicians, writers, poets, playwrights, and actors shared their work and the stage with a group of regular Salon presenters from New York City.

It took the two cars nearly two hours to reach the GAC from Midtown East and from the Upper West Side, but we arrived on time. (A tip for anyone driving to Connecticut on a Friday evening: bring Malachy McCourt with you to provide stories and impromptu singing. You won’t mind traffic jams nor need a radio.)

Peggy O’Leary had planned to be my co-host for the evening but was unable to make it because of a family emergency. However, her play, ‘Tis Worth Remembering (An Irish-Amercan Christmas Story) was read, as planned, by Alison Flannery and Byrne White.

Breda O’Sullivan bravely took up the co-hosting duties, limping to the podium two days after an operation on her leg.

Co-Host & Trouper Breda O’Sullivan

In her opening welcome, Breda O’Sullivan quoted from writer, broadcaster, BBC host and Booker-Prize Judge, Frank Delaney:

We Irish prefer embroideries to plain cloth. To us Irish, memory is a canvas, stretched, primed, and ready for painting on. We love the “story” in “history,” and we love it trimmed out with color and drama, ribbons and bows. Listen to our tunes, observe a Celtic scroll: we always decorate with our essence.

Co-Host John Kearns [Continue Reading]

Say, Caesar, Say: Julius Caesar at BAM

Gwen Orel — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 12:30:45 +0000

How it’s New York: The Brooklyn Academy of Music is one of the most exciting places to see a performance in New York.

Paterson Joseph @Richard Termine

How it’s Irish: It’s English. The Royal Shakespeare Company is one of the premiere companies in England.

An earlier version of this review was first published in Irish Examiner USA, Tuesday, April 16.

Live music! Big statues! African dancing! A volatile mob!

Setting William Shakespeare’s conspiracy drama “Julius Caesar” in Africa sounds like a great idea.

The Royal Shakespeare Company’s artistic director Gregory Doran came up with the idea for an all-black Caesar, he’s said, when he learned that South African dissident Nelson Mandela had read the play in prison and underlined a passage in it.

That observation has made sense to English critics, but not to me. I don’t understand how you get from “educated man sees relevance in Shakespeare play to his situation” to “the whole thing should be set in Africa!” Honestly, it sounds a little condescending. If Solzhenitsyn had read it in the Gulag, would that mean the play reflects Stalin and Russia? The setting looks more like Haiti or the Congo than South Africa, which was not an unstable dictatorship. But never mind that; what matters is the execution.

And at first, when you enter the theatre at BAM’s Harvey Theater, you think it’s going to be really fresh. A band plays jaunty music, while a crowd dances, singing “Caesar!” A large bust faces upstage, against a background of corrugated tin. People carry stenciled signs with the word “Caesar” on them. The soothsayer comes on, dressed as a witch doctor in dreads and white makeup. The exuberant dancing captures a mob’s happy spirit.

“Julius Caesar” is a brilliant play, and a difficult one. Oskar Eustis, now the artistic director of The Public Theater, directed an unforgettable version with men in suits set in the Kennedy era at California Shakespeare Theatre in 1988. But whether it uses togas or suits, a political drama has pitfalls: the characters can seem interchangeable.

It can become talky as characters plot. In short – it can quickly become boring.

At first it seems like Doran’s got that covered.

And then, not so much. [Continue Reading]

Savita Halappanavar’s death: Medical Misadventure

Gwen Orel — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 22:52:37 +0000

How it’s New York: There were rallies in NYC to protest what happened to Savita Halappanavar.

How it’s Irish: There were also rallies in Ireland when this woman died because she was refused an abortion despite medical emergency. Here’s an update courtesy of AFP.

Pregnant Indian’s death in Ireland ‘medical misadventure’ (via AFP)

A pregnant Indian woman who died in an Irish hospital after she was refused an abortion was the victim of medical misadventure, a jury at her inquest ruled Friday in a case that has focused attention on the Catholic country’s tough abortion laws. Savita Halappanavar, a 31-year-old dentist, died of…

[Continue Reading]

Hearing the voice of Mother Mary: A talk with Colm Tóibín

Gwen Orel — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 13:57:49 +0000

How it’s New York: The broadway play is produced by Scott Rudin, a well-known NY producer, and author Colm Tóibín teaches a semester at Columbia every year.

How it’s Irish:Catholic imagery is ingrained in the culture of Ireland, regardless of anybody’s religion.

I spoke to Colm Tóibín while the play “Testament of Mary” was in rehearsal. Here are his thoughts on seeing his words come alive, on New York and Ireland, and inspiration.

A version of this article was first published in Irish Examiner USA, Tuesday, April 16.

It was like a gift of God. Sometimes a story takes a long time to come together, said author Colm Toíbín, whose play “The Testament of Mary” opens at the Walter Kerr Theatre on April 22.

Sometimes an idea takes a long time to percolate. Sometimes it might start as one thing and then only find its realization in another form. Sometimes, the author said, it never comes together at all.

But with “The Testament of Mary,” Toíbín said, “the minute I thought of it I had it. I knew what form it would be in. I knew I wanted it in the theatre.”

It is only the second play he has ever done. His first, “Beauty in a Broken Place,” was for the Abbey Theatre’s Centenary in 2004. Toíbín is well known as a novelist, and has written award-winning books including “Brooklyn” and “The Master.” He’s won the E.M. Forster Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the Irish PEN Award for Literature.

Toíbín wrote “The Testament of Mary” for the wonderful Irish actress Marie Mullen, who recently was in New York as part of DruidMurphy. The one-woman show was in the Dublin Theatre Festival in 2011. In New York, the part is played by Fiona Shaw. Deborah Warner directs.

Mary, the mother of Jesus, tells her story in Ephesus where she lives, years after the Crucifixion, while two of the disciples are shaping their own.

‘A traumatized mother’

When he began, he said, “I didn’t know where it was going to take me. It was written in the first person. I followed the voice, and whatever image came to me, I went with.”

Toíbín describes himself as “a lapsed Irish Catholic,” which means, he said, that the

“imagery and language is in my blood. It can be summoned up at a moment’s notice.”

He grew up with icons and statues of Mary, he said. In 2000, he had been teaching Greek plays at the New School (he now teaches at Columbia), and

“thinking about the idea of the grieving woman, the figure who cries out. That was on my mind. The minute I thought of it I was away.”

He saw Mary, he said, as a traumatized mother. In the play she is telling the story of Jesus years later. She is not going through it, but remembering it, the author said.

“It gives the language a sort of energy. It is an unresolved experience from someone who’s been through something appalling. It’s relentless.” [Continue Reading]

New York Irish Arts

It’s a draw for Thatcher and Sands

How it’s New York: New York is big on naming little streets for famous people. I once worked in a building on LaGuardia Place, and had to convince a taxi driver that the street existed.

How it’s Irish: Bobby Sands was an I.R.A. hunger striker who died in 1981. I remember crying. Some cities in France already have streets named after him.

Love Therapy: A promising premise of theatre therapy

How it’s New York: Are you serious? It’s about therapy! Also, the production is currently showing at the DR2 Theatre in NYC.

How it’s Irish: Three of the characters have Irish names, and one, Madge, is an Irish immigrant.

Irish who fought with Allies in WW II pardoned last week

How it’s New York: As we wrote when we heard the pardon was coming, Éamon De Valera, who infamously signed Hitler’s condolence book, was born in New York City. And New Yorkers passionately identify with the Allies– think of that famous soldier kissing nurse photo.

How it’s Irish: That Irish soldiers fought with the Allies is still under-reported history.

“As Close As You’ll Ever Be” Is Too Close for Comfort

How it’s New York: Seamus Scanlon is often to be seen at the Irish American Writers & Artists salons, a New York institution that’s become an important literary fixture in the community.

How it’s Irish: Seamus is Irish, and his stories depict I.R.A. men, troubled kids, and Belfast– as well as New York.

A St. Yves Concert at Irish Arts Center this Tuesday!

How it’s New York: BZH-New York Is a New York-based organization that promotes Breton events in the city. How many other cities have a Breton society! Charles Kergaravat, the leading light of the organization, compares St. Yves to St. Patrick’s Day.

How it’s Irish: The May 21 concert at Irish Arts Center combines Breton and Irish cultures. Not to be missed!

A St. Yves Concert

A Fête de la Bretagne / St. Yves’s Day celebration bringing together Breton and Irish cultures by featuring live Breton-Irish music from Samuel Le Henanff Quartet with a Breton whisky and Irish cheese tasting

Farewell to Vincent Dowling

How it’s New York: Vincent Dowling often directed and appeared in New York. He died on Friday, May 10. He directed Norman Corwin’s “The Rivalry” at Irish Rep in 2009. I wrote then: “Dowling’s sensitive and seamless direction delivers a simple and appealing drama.”

How it’s Irish: Dowling was from Ireland, and appeared at the Abbey Theatre.

Synge’s “Playboy” comes to Shakespeare Theatre, NJ

How it’s (New Jersey) New York: The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey is one of the tri-state’s most accomplished. Critics and actors from New York are often seen here.

Growing Pains: Who’s Your Daddy” at Irish Rep

How it’s New York: Johnny O’Callaghan tells a story from the POV of an out-of-work actor. While it takes place in Los Angeles before moving to Uganda, a

lot of t he details are very familiar to the New York scene too.

How it’s Irish: O’Callaghan is Irish, and he also hilariously describes his Irish parents and childhood.

There’s nothing like looking outside of yourself to find yourself.

A NIght on the Town With AWoW member Tara O’Grady: “A Celt in the Cotton Club” CD LAUNCH

How it’s New York: Artists Without Walls (AWoW) produces multicultural showcases in and around New York City

How it’s Irish:Founded by two Irish-Americans who are proud of their heritage, but who also believe that art comes alive when all cultures interact .

These Halcyon Days: Maybe you can go home again

How it’s New York: Irish Arts Center is a New York fixture, and this is the third play of Deirdre Kinahan’s that they’ve presented. In addition, “aging in place” is a universal issue– New York as much as Ireland.

How it’s Irish: Deirdre Kinahan is an Irish playwright

When you’re sick and old, you spend a lot of time sitting around.

MARY McPARTLAN and BERTHA HOPE at ZirZamin, NYC, MAY 24, 7:30pm

How it’s New York: Artists Without Walls (AWOW) produces multicultural showcases in and around New York City

How It’s Irish: Founded by two Irish-Americans who are proud of their heritage, but who also believe that art comes alive when all cultures interact .

AWoW MEMBER COLIN BRODERICK to be INTRODUCED TONIGHT by JOSH BROLIN at BOOK LAUNCH for “THAT’S THAT.”

How it’s New York: Artists Without Walls (AWOW) produces multicultural showcases in and around New York City

How It’s Irish: Founded by two Irish-Americans who are proud of their heritage, but who also believe that art comes alive when all cultures interact .

Talking about love: Love Therapy

How it’s New York: Love Therapy, a play by Wendy Beckett, opened at the DR2 Theatre in NYC on April 29 and runs through Saturday, May 25..

How it’s Irish: Alison Fraser, whose family roots are firmly planted in Ireland, plays Madge, an Irish waitress in the play.

Polishing Rare Gems: J.M. Barrie at The Pearl Theatre

How it’s New York: The Pearl Theatre is one of New York’s few theatres with a resident company, and a gem itself.

How it’s (Scottish) Irish: Author J.M. Barrie first wrote in Scots dialect. Did you know that? Yes the very English “Peter Pan” was conceived by a Celt.

The Teetotallers: Not Frankenstein

How it’s New York: Not only is it New York, it’s in one of hippest Manhattan nightclubs. How cool is that?

How it’s Irish: All of The Teetotallers are Irish or of Irish heritage (Kevin Crawford was born and grew up in Birmingham where he first lit up the music scene in the 1980s)

Would it be some Frankenstein (an over-agitated, over-emotional Irish-American, perhaps?) to send beleaguered purists into a tailspin, or some of the finest traditional music you are likely to have heard in years?

Fortunately of course, the evidence of the tunes at the Highline pointed very much to the latter. [Continue Reading]

What’s in a name: Paddy Wagon

How it’s New York: With so many different cultures descending on New York, language pretty much fascinates everybody here.

How it’s Irish: This interesting column from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel began with the use of the term “paddy wagon,” around St. Patrick’s Day.

Roddy Doyle’s “The Commitments” finally made into musical

“Himself and Nora” — Irish Literary Genius in 5-Part Harmony

How it’s New York: A New York Music Theatre Festival award winner has a gala world premiere.

How it’s Irish: When a critic commented to James Joyce that it would take a reader an entire lifetime to read his novels, Joyce famously replied: “It took my entire life to write them.”

The dream team The Teetotallers returns!

How it’s New York: In New York you can stay put and the musicians come to you. This is one of the best examples. Catch this trio at Highline Ballroom on Monday, April 29 (or check their dates below).

How it’s Irish: All three musicians, Kevin Crawford, Martin Hayes, and John Doyle are Irish. Together The Teetotallers are an incredible Irish supergroup.

Karan and Aoife collaborate and strike gold at Irish Arts Center

How it’s New York: Karan Casey zoomed to success with the group Solas, which began in NYC. And this event took place at Irish Arts Center.

How it’s Irish: Karan Casey is Irish, and Aoife O’Donovan is Irish-American.

I would so buy this CD.

Declan O’Rourke at Irish Arts Center. Kleenex required.

How it’s New York: The residenc was at Irish Arts Center, so by definition was a New York event.

How it’s Irish: Declan O’Rourke is an irish singer-songwriter, who lately has been embracing that identity more and more.

Friday in Fairfield: Standing Ovation for IAW&A “Road” Salon with Gaelic American Club

How it’s New York: A group of New York regulars from the Irish American Writers and Artists Salon traveled to Fairfield to share the stage with their Connecticut counterparts.

How it’s Irish: The Irish American Writers and Artists Salon was organized by the Irish Consulate in New York and took place at the Gaelic American Club in Fairfield, CT.

Say, Caesar, Say: Julius Caesar at BAM

How it’s New York: The Brooklyn Academy of Music is one of the most exciting places to see a performance in New York.

How it’s Irish: It’s English. The Royal Shakespeare Company is one of the premiere companies in England.

An earlier version of this review was first published in Irish Examiner USA, Tuesday, April 16.

Savita Halappanavar’s death: Medical Misadventure

How it’s New York: There were rallies in NYC to protest what happened to Savita Halappanavar.

How it’s Irish: There were also rallies in Ireland when this woman died because she was refused an abortion despite medical emergency. Here’s an update courtesy of AFP.

Hearing the voice of Mother Mary: A talk with Colm Tóibín

How it’s New York: Love Therapy, a play by Wendy Beckett, opened at the DR2 Theatre in NYC on April 29^{and runs through Saturday, May 25.}.