ARTIST WITHOUT WALLS' SHOWCASE WRAP UP, MARCH 5, 2014

“What an honor to perform for Artists Without Walls – truly. The audience – everyone was so warm and welcoming.” Actress and playwright, Erin Layton

 

Connie Roberts
Connie Roberts

Connie Roberts began the evening with a reading of two poems from her Patrick Kavanagh Award winning poetry collection, Not the Delft School.  The first poem, The “Potato Picker,” which draws its inspiration from Jean Francois Millet’s iconic painting “The Gleaners,” depicts the stoicism of a poor farmer (her father) in 1970s Ireland, who continues to pick potatoes as the TV rental man repossesses the unpaid black and white television.  Her second poem, “Wounds,” is a darker portrait of her father, a violent alcoholic, who perpetrates a heinous act against her mother.

 

 

Honor Finnegan followed, Connie, belting out a soulful, “Down So Long” by Bobby Darin. She also sang a piece of her own called “Swimming,” which, as Honor said, “Is Irishy and therefore tragic and beautiful.” The perfect “Honorism.” 

 

 

 

Erin Layton
Erin Layton

Playwright/performer Erin Layton performed a riveting and emotional scene from her award-winning one person, multi-character drama, MAGDALEN based upon the true stories of the women and children who labored in Irish Catholic workhouses operated by nuns in the mid-twentieth century. Erin seamlessly embodied and transitioned between four of the eight characters in her solo play, introducing us to a pair of nuns and two of the child laborers one of whom is severely crippled and cannot manage the labors demanded of her.  

 

 

 

Karl Scully
Karl Scully

 

Karl Scully, former member of the Irish Tenors, who has performed in Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and hundred of venues internationally, wowed the audience with two songs.  The first song “McBreens Heifer” was written by Percy French, the second “Knocknashee” a modern day Sean Nos creation written by Brendan Graham and Neil Martin. 

 

 

 

The Catahoula Cajun Band
The Catahoula Cajun Band

The Catahoula Cajun Band, with Julie Winterbottom on accordion, fiddler Deborah Monlux, Frank Luschinsky on bass and vocalist and guitarist Michel Henry provided the entertainment during intermission.  The group performed Allons a Lafayette, Lacassine Special and more. The root and spirit of their music stems from Cajuns whom played at home gatherings, clearing out all the furniture and bringing in musicians who would play until early in the morning in celebration of life, or “la joie de vivre.” The music was uplifting and spirited and a had a few of the audience “clearing out the furniture” and dancing across the floor. 

 

 

Jack O'Connell and Joseph Goodrich
Jack O’Connell and Joseph Goodrich

The second half of the evening began with the opening pages of Joseph Goodrich’s short story “The Ghost of Brooklyn Past,” which was expertly read by Jack O’Connell. Jack found all the warmth and pathos of Goodrich’s story and proved once again what a superlative actor he is.

 

 

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Bernard Smith closed out the evening with an original song called “Sandy” named for  devastating 2012 storm.  In one short day (the day after the storm) Bernard woke up displaced as well as losing his car to the salty sea. All over the Rockaway

Bernard Smith
Bernard Smith

Peninsula and Long Beach he saw devastation and thus he was inspired to write a song about it, bearing witness to what he’d lived through. The second song he sang was “The May Morning Dew,” a story about the Irish diaspora. The song is a lament from a man in the winter of his life, remembering vividly the old homestead, a place and a people he will never see again. 

 

The next Artists Without Walls’ Showcase will be at The Cell Theatre, 338 W 23rd St., March 26, 7pm. For more info about Artists Without Walls and becoming a member contact info@artistswithoutwalls.com

  

 

AMAZING TALENT READY to PERFORM TONIGHT: AWoW's SHOWCASE at THE CELL THEATRE

Karl Scully
Karl Scully

Tonight promises to be an incredible Artists Without Walls’ Showcase at The Cell Theatre. A few performers were not available due to the change in date from Monday night to tonight but we have been able to schedule some wonderful replacements.  Karl Scully, born in Ireland and brought up internationally, was for six years a member of the famous international group The Irish Tenors and performed with them as a soloist in over a hundred venues in Europe and the USA as well as hosting the 10 part TV show The Irish Tenors and Friends. As a soloist, Karl has performed in hundreds of venues all over the world including Carnegie Hall and the Avery Fischer Hall, Lincoln Centre New York; Wolftrap Mainstage, Virginia; Teatro Carlo Felice, Genoa, Italy; and The National Concert Hall, Ireland. He also starred as Count John McCormack in the cinematic film Nora starring Ewan McGregor. His operatic roles include: Don José in “Carmen” by Bizet; Pinkerton in “Madama Butterfly”; The Duke in “Rigoletto” and many other leading tenor roles.  You wont want to miss this great talent. 

 

The Cajuns
The Cajuns

We often say we have the best intermission in town…well grab yourself a drink, and get ready for the sounds of old-time Louisiana style porch music…practical comfortable and simple in design; songs with nostalgic finishing touches that provide a comfortable respite and opportunity to dance during AWoW’s intermission. Come hear and dance to the Cajun Trio of Julie Winterbottom, accordion, Deborah Monlux, fiddle and Michel Henry, guitar.   

 

Erin Layton
Erin Layton

And the rest of the lineup?  Simply great. Erin Layton will be performing a scene from her one woman play, Magdalen, a play about finding one’s voice in the void. The void being the place where identity and beauty and language are stripped away. This void is what the Magdalene Laundries in Ireland were to the young girls and women who labored in the commercial workhouses operated by religious orders of nuns in Ireland from the 19th – 20th century. Erin’s Magdalen won the Best Documentary Script at the Fourth Annual United Sol0 Festival Awards Ceremony. 

 

Ann Klein
Ann Klein

Guitarist Ann Klein has toured in Europe consistently for 10 years, played house concerts in the US and has written music for a number of documentaries. As a guitarist, Ann was a featured soloist with Ani DiFranco on several shows; she has had the honor of playing, writing and recording with Kate Pierson of the B-52s, Joan Osborne, Dana Fuchs, Darden Smith, PM Dawn, Randall Woolf & Maurice Sendak (for a ballet of “Where the Wild Things Are”), Keri Noble,  Of Ann, Billboard magazine said, “.…a dynamo guitarist and writer.”

 

Joseph Goodrich
Joseph Goodrich

Joseph Goodrich is an award-winning playwright and the editor of Blood Relations: The Selected Letters of Ellery Queen, 1947-1950.  His nonfiction appears frequently in Mystery Scene Magazine.Tonight the masterful actor Jack O’Connell is going to read the opening pages of Joe’s short story “Ghost of Brooklyn Past”.

 

Jack O'Connell
Jack O’Connell

 

 

 

Rounding out the evening will be another outstanding talent, singer, Bernard Smith. Bernard hales from Dublin, Ireland and arrived in NYC in the summer of 1996. He in an actor who has inhabited various characters on numerous stages throughout New York and he has been singing songs and playing his 

Bernard Smith
Bernard Smith

guitar ever since he arrived.  Maybe he’ll do his great version of “Georgia.”  And maybe there’ll be a few more surprises as well..perhaps a great poem or two or a short film clip, anything’s possible. This will be a great evening. Join us at The Cell, 338 W 23rd St. NYC, 7pm. This a free event courtesy of Artists Without Walls.