By Paddy McCarthy
It’s here at last yes! That is the sunshine that we all have been waiting for, so let’s enjoy it and dip our toes in the ocean and have some fun.
Look what is happening, New York Governor, Kathy Hochul has appointed Brian O’Dwyer as Chairman, New York State Gaming Commission. Brian is a partner in O’Dwyer & Bernstein, which was founded by his father, Paul O’Dwyer. As a partner, he focuses on personal injury, construction accidents, immigration rights, and labor relations. In June 2011, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton appointed him as Commissioner of the United States National Commission for UNESCO. He has a BA from George Washington, a MA from Middlebury, and a JD from Georgetown.
The NY State Gaming board oversees and regulates all aspects of wagering, including racetracks, casinos, NY lottery and online gambling activities.
A prominent Irish American attorney, Brian, the 2019 Grand Marshal, NYC St. Patrick’s Day Parade, has been a leader of civil rights and immigration reform and served as founder and chairman of the Emerald Isle Immigration Center. We here at The Irish Examiner USA would like to congratulate Brian as he has been a great leader for the Irish community and we thank him for all he has done down thru the years.
The Irish Repertory Theatre (Charlotte Moore, Artistic Director and Ciarán O’Reilly, Producing Director) is presenting a brand-new production of “Yes! Reflections of Molly Bloom”, adapted for the stage by Aedín Moloney (The Dead, 1904) and Colum McCann (Let the Great World Spin), with an opening night set for June 15 and a limited run through July 17 on the W. Scott McLucas Studio Stage. The production features new direction by John Keating
, new additional music by Paddy Moloney.It is Ireland in the early hours of June 17th, 1904. Molly Bloom’s husband – the philandering Leopold “Poldy” Bloom – has just come home and fallen asleep in their Dublin row house. Molly – a daughter, a mother, a lover and a long- suffering wife – patrols the pathways of her wild and leaping consciousness. She is lustful. Scared. Exuberant. Heartbreakingly lonely. Vivaciously reckless. And profoundly funny. With an empty nest, an unfulfilling affair and a marriage long past its prime, Molly contemplates the love that she and Bloom once shared. Her unsentimental stream of consciousness is a song of songs that reaches backwards and forwards across the centuries. Molly seeks to reanimate that love of Bloom, and ends up discovering herself – as a woman seeking purpose and a desire to be relevant, even after that love is over and her children are gone. Through reflection, Dublin becomes Gibraltar, age becomes youth, and a small room in Ireland becomes the world.
Aedín Moloney’s one woman performance is a tribute to the enduring mysteries of loss and love – and the affirmation found, yes, in between. It also considers, as Joyce does, a time in which a woman’s life and choices in Dublin were shaped more fully by a man. After its world premiere at Irish Rep in the summer of 2019, “Yes! Reflections of Molly Bloom” was produced for Irish Rep Online during the COVID-19 shutdown as a Performance on Screen.
After reading Ulysses as a young girl, Aedín Moloney spent close to 30 years developing and shaping her interpretation of James Joyce’s Penelope chapter. In 2003, renowned author and fellow Joyce enthusiast, Colum McCann, invited her to perform passages from the soliloquy at his annual Bloomsday celebration. With McCann’s encouragement, Moloney recorded “Reflections of Molly Bloom” in 2017, an audio recording of the unabridged text, accompanied with music by Paddy Moloney.
Tickets to Yes! begin at $50 ($45 for preview performances) and are available at IrishRep.org.
As I am talking about The Irish Repertory Theatre this is one of their biggest events of the year that you should not miss. The 2022 Gala: A celebration of the musicals of Harold Prince will be held at The Town Hall on Monday June 13. Directed and arranged by Charlotte Moore the gala will feature a full orchestra and chorus under the direction of John Bell and performances by Michel Bell, Len Cariou, Glenn Close, Joel Grey, Donna Kane, Chita Rivera, Ciaran Sheehan, Max Von Essen, Kaley Ann Voorhees, DeLaney Westfall and more! Buy tickets from their Box Office by calling (212) 727-2737 or online at irishrep.org.
You have to tune into Andy Cooney’s Podcast it’s just brilliant. Every week he updates us on unbelievable talent from Ireland so please listen in, you will love it.
On his 34th New York Irish Hour he featured another track from Ciara Fox. “She’s just angelic,” he said. “Last weekend was 45th East Durham Irish Festival and it was a blast. One of the bands that really lit the place up was Get Up Jack from Albany NY. I played a lively track from them. I also played a track from my dear friend from Galway, Carmel Dempsey. I will also be featuring a new artist to the program, Paul McCahill. This week’s Seamus Pick will feature a group from Galway called We Banjo 3. Just fabulous! Our comedy relief will come from the very funny George Casey. Enjoy… Andy.”
Now isn’t that nice from one of New York’s finest entertainers, the man himself Andy Cooney. When you read my Out&About, I will be on the Celtic Cruise around New York harbor with a lot of friends that I might have not seen for a long time because of the pandemic. It will be one of the major events in the New York Irish community’s calendar, hosted by AOH Division 7 and the Emerald Isle Immigration Center, so all aboard!
Hope to see you all again next week when I am Out&About.