{"id":21152,"date":"2021-04-28T11:58:18","date_gmt":"2021-04-28T15:58:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/?p=21152"},"modified":"2021-04-30T12:01:50","modified_gmt":"2021-04-30T16:01:50","slug":"outabout-118","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/?p=21152","title":{"rendered":"Out&About"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"By Paddy McCarthy<\/em><\/p>\n

I was Out&About on Sunday last and visited the Irish American Center in Mineola<\/strong>, Long Island for a benefit for the Boylan family<\/strong> all the way from County Monaghan, living in one of my favorite places Williston Park<\/strong>. Brendan Boylan<\/strong>, husband of Amanda <\/strong>who is currently suffering with breast cancer reached out to the Irish community as the family has incurred some very major medical expenses. Now, the best part of this beautiful story is that people came out in droves from all over to support this cause. I have been to a lot of different events in my life and never saw such appreciation from the Irish community as I did last Sunday. The donations for the family were just fabulous I might tell yea and again the turnout was super. <\/p>\n

I\u2019ve never seen so many prizes that were laid out from one side of the hall to the other and it seems that just everybody bought tickets for both the admission and for the raffle tickets. Great people and it was so nice to see how we support each other in bad times and good with most of the audience from all parts of Ireland and of course Irish Americans who came together to help each other, now where would yea get it? <\/p>\n

I met with lots of people that I know very well who I haven\u2019t seen for over a year because of the Covid-19 pandemic and you could see everybody was carefully with masks and distancing. I had the pleasure speaking to Brendan Boylan and the poor man was just overwhelmed with what was accomplished to support his wife and family. It was nice to see some Irish personalities like the one and only Eileen Cronin<\/strong> and another radio disc jockey Tony Jackson<\/strong> and of course the painter herself, Noelle Clancy<\/strong> and her partner Bill Russo. <\/p>\n

The woman that does everything to make every event at the Irish American Society Center<\/strong> successful is Betty McLoughlin<\/strong> who together with all her volunteers made this event a GREAT success. Look when we all work together no one can stop us, remember what I said no one because I was personally so proud of all of them. As we say, you can\u2019t beat the Irish.<\/p>\n

There is no stopping Michael Mellamphy<\/strong> as he takes over as the new Artistic Director of the Origin Theatre Company<\/strong>. He has big shoes to jump into, no less than those of the great George C. Heslin<\/strong> who I might say is a hard act to follow but I know that Michael will be capable to do it as we are all pulling for him. <\/p>\n

Mellamphy, who co-curated (with the actor\u00a0Sarah Street<\/strong>) the 13th\u00a0Annual Origin 1st\u00a0Irish Theatre Festival<\/strong> in January, takes over the artistic leadership of the New York-based company, now in its 18th\u00a0consecutive season, with a strong mandate from the board to continue to develop Origin\u2019s unique mix of shows and events that introduce consequential contemporary voices from Europe to New York audiences.<\/p>\n

Mellamphy\u2019s first moves will be to produce three events and productions taking place in May and June which are familiar components of Origin\u2019s seasonal programming, but which will bear his unique stamp as a New York-based actor, theatre producer, and business owner. <\/p>\n

\u201cHaving worked with the Origin team on an all-virtual 1st\u00a0Irish Festival, which far-exceeded expectations and reached a significantly wider audience than past festivals, I am confident we can produce powerful theatre under these very unique and changing pandemic circumstances,\u201d Mellamphy reports. <\/p>\n

Starting May 9, Origin will produce a scaled-down version\u00a0the 3rd\u00a0annual European Month of Culture<\/strong> in partnership with the Delegation of the European Union\u00a0to the United States<\/strong>; on Sunday June 13, an innovative live-and-virtual version of Origin\u2019s immersive\u00a0Bloomsday Breakfast<\/strong> celebration will be produced with\u00a0Blooms Tavern<\/strong>\u00a0(the 7th\u00a0annual edition did take place last year in a virtual format); and later in June a thoughtful and highly relevant new play from the Netherlands about racial profiling,\u00a0\u201cA Kid Like Rishi\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0– that was scheduled to premiere last fall – will be brought to life for its American premiere as a radio play production cast and produced in New York. <\/p>\n

\u201cMichael Mellamphy\u2019s expert curation – with Sarah Street – of this year\u2019s Origin 1st\u00a0Irish, proved beyond a shadow of a doubt what a masterful producer, instigator and team builder he is,\u201d commented\u00a0Carletta Downs<\/strong>, Origin\u2019s board chair. \u201cWe know from first-hand experience of his commitment to Origin, to our community and of his always good-natured approach to his fellow artists and collaborators.\u00a0\u00a0We couldn\u2019t be happier to have convinced Mick to lead Origin and to continue the incredible legacy of the company\u2019s founder George C. Heslin.\u201d <\/p>\n

A native of Cork Ireland, Mellamphy is a busy New York actor who is a member of the Irish Repertory Theatre<\/strong> and a founder of The Pigeon Theatre Company<\/strong>, as well as a former owner of the Irish bar Ryan\u2019s Daughter<\/strong> where he produced a number of immersive theatre productions.\u00a0\u00a0Before helming (with Street) the 13th\u00a0annual Origin 1st\u00a0Irish, which hosted 20 virtual events and showcased the work of 34 contemporary Irish playwrights, Mellamphy had already become a familiar 1st\u00a0Irish presence, winning two Best Actor awards in previous years.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

In addition to making numerous television appearances over the years he is also the performance capture artist of the cheeky Irish gunslinger Sean MacGuire from Rockstar\u2019s hugely popular video game \u201cRed Dead Redemption 2\u201d<\/strong>. <\/p>\n

\u201cUsing technology in theatre production is at the forefront of my thinking now,\u201d says Mellamphy. \u201cCovid 19 has thrown many challenges at our community and many of us, including Origin, have responded creatively. I feel strongly we must get back to in-person productions but in the meantime, we can use everything we\u2019ve learned over the last 12 months to create new paradigms, mix live and recorded elements, even mix formats like social media with live theatre.\u201d <\/p>\n

See you all again next week when I am out and about\u2026.<\/p>\n

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