By Paddy McCarthy
Hi everybody, the good news is I have been Out&About; that happened last Thursday as I was in Manhattan after a very long time. How was it? Very quiet I might tell yea. I am not going to spend the whole column telling you the bad news, every news channel will tell you that every day. But I am going to tell you that New York is not the same as it was over a year ago. I walked around and you could see that for yourself and I ask what the hell happened and the real answer is POLITICS and not the Coronavirus. The reason I am telling you this because it is the truth as it seems that every politician has a different opinion and most of them are wrong. They just shut down everything with out thinking of ways to correct it as they now are and that they could have done over a year ago.
It was a disgrace to close one of the greatest cities in the world and I do mean the greatest. They sat in front of TV cameras every day telling people how they are going to control their lives and that they did. It took them almost a year to come up with the idea of staying your distance now you don’t have a politician come along tell you that every day because you already knew that from the experts in the medical field. Here is something that we all knew as well: wash your hands, wear a mask, make sure that the work place is getting priority hygiene treatment at all times and stay your distance. That is what workers need to do so that this Covid-19 pandemic will not spread at work and to help them determine appropriate control measures to implement.
I also know a lot of people died because of this pandemic but it was not in pubs or restaurants, it was mostly in the houses that most are very confined to. I am not supporting something that might be dangerous, that I can tell you right now. I am not. What I think is that you had healthy people coming into a person’s house where somebody had the disease and it was not treated as they probably did not know they had and passed it on the healthy people.
The reason I’m talking about this is because the hospitality business in New York City is dead, even though everywhere outside of Manhattan is open and doing well with no problem, now how does that work? Did the expert health make that call, no it was the politicians with their egos?
We want our city back to where it was and the only people who can guide us to that are the health experts and the professionals in the hospitality business along with the workers abiding by the advice from the people that know how it should be really done. From day one I said I would not get in to any political proper gander and I am not, just only giving you the facts.
Now to give you a little something on the lighter side of my Out&About to tell you this little bit of enjoyment and that is that The Irish Repertory Theatre has another GEM. They just announced today that their next Performance on Screen digital production is Little Gem by Elaine Murphy (Shush) and directed by Marc Atkinson Borrull (Beginning). Reprising their roles from Irish Rep’s 2019 production are Brenda Meaney (Indian Ink), Lauren O’Leary (The Awkward Years) and four-time Academy Award nominee and Outer Critic’s Circle Award winner Marsha Mason (The Goodbye Girl). The virtual production of Little Gem will premiere on Tuesday April 27th at 7 pm EDT and run through Sunday May 9 in free scheduled streams. Beginning on Monday May 10, Little Gem: A Performance on Screen will be available to watch on demand from IrishRep.org.
Amber, Lorraine, and Kay, three generations of North Dublin women, find themselves suddenly facing the unexpected in this “warm slice-of-life tale.” Young Amber’s case of indigestion grows into something more, while her mother Lorraine reluctantly attempts therapist-suggested self-care, and Grandmother Kay struggles with a personal itch while adjusting to life as a caretaker for her beloved Gem.
In this hilarious and poignant award-winning work, three women find strength in one another and discover the beauty and complexity of family. Irish playwright Elaine Murphy’s debut play, Little Gem, premiered at the Dublin Fringe Festival in 2008 where it won the Fishamble New Writing Award. It then transferred to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, where it won the Carol Tambor Best of Edinburgh Award, the festival’s top prize.
This new digital production was filmed remotely at the actors’ homes in Connecticut, London, and New York. It is an adaptation of Irish Rep’s acclaimed 2019 production. Reservations are free but required to access this digital event. A donation of $25 is suggested for those who can afford to give. You can read a lot more on our Arts page in this issue on both the website and ePaper.
Here is another show from the Irish Arts Center that you might like when you are at home. A musician from Galway is been screened live who is well known, that is Declan O’Rourke who, with special guests will launch his new album Arrivals on a live stream from the Abbey Theatre in association with Irish Arts Center. The live event will take place on Wednesday, April 14th at 9 pm EDT in the US (8 pm BST in Ireland). This will be O’Rourke’s first performance in over two years. This special livestream marks the global launch of “Arrivals”, Declan’s seventh studio album, produced by the legendary Paul Weller. Tickets are available for both the main event and an after-show party with Declan and special guests. The concert will be accessible on-demand to all ticket holders for 24 hours.
For more information call (212) 757-3318. The reason I have this event in my out and about is because the music page had already gone to print as this came in late.
I hope to see you all again next week as things seem to be getting much better when I am Out&About.