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.)”
“It was a privilege to read for a packed house at the Artists Without Walls’ Showcase at The Cell Theatre. It feels like home to be in the midst of such talent and support. Artists Without Walls is a family that I’m extremely grateful to be a part of.” Author Colin Broderick spoke those words before he read from the opening of his memoir That’s That, which, beginning May 7th, will be on sale everywhere books are sold. Colin’s reading opened a small window into the life of a Northern Irish family in the1970’s, a time of great strife. A great work by an extraordinary talent.
The crowd was called to order on Tuesday night in a slightly different way. Niamh Hyland walked to center staged and began the evening with a stirring rendition of the opening to Brendan Connellan’s play Pompa Pompa. “It was a fun experiment to open our ‘Showcase’ in a different way,” Niamh said. “Having another opportunity to relive moments from Pompa Pompa and being accompanied by Moley ‘O Suilleabhain and Anthony Minto on beatbox was a treat.”
Jim Rodgers
Brothers from Ireland, Owen and Moley Ó Súilleabháin teamed up once again with the dynamic spoken word poet from Nigeria, Koro Koroye. They performed a new work that brings together sacred song from ancient Ireland, Latin Gregorian chant and rap, with poems in Koro’s ancient tribal language and her contemporary themes of identity and individual expression. Ideas of family, home, migration, self-discovery and transformation were seamlessly presented in a dynamic performance that honors tradition and rejoices in innovation.
Jim Rodgers read his short story, “The Green Hills of Jamaica,” a sailor’s tale of Sam Brown, who, in the embraces of a loving Jamaican woman and the warmth of the “ska” music, finds a home–one he never had growing up–in the rugged highlands of Scotland. Later, as his ship founders in a storm and the rushing sea envelops him, his thoughts return to the green hills, the loving woman, and the ska music of Jamaica. A compelling work and beautifully read.
Hannah Dahm
Kate McLeod’s monologue, “End of Times” was given a brilliant reading by Hannah Dahm, a vocal major at New York’s LaGuardia High School for the Visual Arts. The world has just ended and fifteen-year old Kate hates the dress she bought yesterday and is looking for the mall so she can return it. But she can’t find the mall where she’s to meet her friends. Where are her friends? Her iPod is running down. Where is her mom? She would keep the dress if only she could find her Mom. Sheri Bauer Mayorga composed and sang music for Kate’s spellbinding monologue.
Violinist Annette Homann began the second half of the program with a choreographed version of Adele’s “Skyfall.” Annette mesmerized the audience with her dance movements while mixing improvisational sections into the popular tune. Annette employed her athletic skills as well, impressing the audience with a far back bend at the end of the performance. One of the members of the audience commented,
Annette Homan
“You know you have a great performer when you get the feeling that he or she is looking only at you and then you realize that everybody in the room feels that way.” Annette has that rare quality.
Cherie Ann Turpin’s essay “The Naked Self” captured the audience with her real-life story of her inner battle to dismantle internalized perceptions of the gendered and racialized body while struggling with body weight issues. Her story encourages women of all colors and body types to embrace their sensuality and to refute sexist and racist practices of body size shaming, all too common in popular media.
Honor Finnegan sang three new songs: Movie Star, Roses and Victory, and Sweet Something, while accompanying herself on ukulele. Her newer material is poetic and more serious thematically, while retaining the word play and strong melodic sensibility of her songs from her CD, The Tiny Life. Plus, the girl can sing. Might there be a possible collaboration between Koro Koroye and Honor in the future? Stay tuned…
Vince Nauheimer
Writer and poet, Vinnie Nauheimer, made his debut reading two poems from opposite ends of the emotional spectrum. The first, “Morning Glory”, a tribute to a glorious sunrise, of which an audience member commented, “I’ve seen a thousand sunrises, but never one as beautiful as that!” The second reading was the debut of his poem “Marathon Day”, which was an emotionally charged encapsulation of the tragedy at the Boston Marathon.
Closing out the evening and in celebration of International Jazz Day, singer/songwriter Tara O’Grady spoke of spending the day at Louis Armstrong’s house in Queens, and shared stories of the jazz legend. Tara ended with “What a Wonderful World,” a song Armstrong said reminded him of the kids in Corona who used to sit on his
Tzila Levy, Mary Ann Pierce and Tara O’Grady
front steps while he played his trumpet. Tara’s CD launch party for her new release, A Celt in the Cotton Club, is Thursday, May 23 at 7:00pm at Mary O’s, 32 Avenue A. If you haven’t heard her with a live band, this is the night.
And this from Jim Rodgers, “I’m always amazed at the talent AWoW gathers, and I’m honored to share the same stage with such talented artists. Once again AWoW proved they are the United Nations of the NYC cultural scene. The performers and audience included folks from Germany, Israel, Egypt, Nigeria, Puerto Rico, Ireland and the United States. Great night!“
All photos except Colin Broderick’s are by Cat Dwyer
Join us tonight at The Cell Theatre, 338 W. 23rd St. in NYC for an Artists Without Walls’ Showcase, a great evening of music, theater and readings. A number of the presenters who appeared at AWoW’s Showcase at Lehman College last week, including, singer/songwriter Honor Finnegan, violinist/fiddler Annette Homann, and the trio of Koro, Owen and Moley will be on hand and presenting their work.
Kate McLeod
Best selling author Colin Broderick, whose highly anticipated book That’s That, a Random House publication that will be released in May, will also be on hand and reading a short excerpt from his book, a memoir, which details his growing up in Northern Ireland. His first book, Orangutan details his first twenty years living in Manhattan, drinking, working in construction and attempting to formulate his life as a writer.
Jim Rodgers
And there will be more. Playwright Kate McLeod’s monologue, “The End of Time” will be performed by Hannah Dahm a vocal major at LaGuardia High School for the Arts here in NYC. Hannah’s worked several times in session at The Actors Studio and read the lead in a new play that she helped to develop (also at The Actors Studio), Trinity. Hannah’s also a writer, having won a New York city-wide playwriting contest through Stephen Sondheim’s Young Playwrights Institute.
Cherie Ann Turpin
Jim Rodgers, who has participated a number of Showcases, both as an actor and a reader, will be reading from his novel in progress, Long Night’s End; Professor Cherie Ann Turpin, who has extensively written and researched the African Diaspora, Gender and Sexuality Studies, and Multicultural American Literature, will be reading and discussing body image and how women see their own bodies, and poet Vince Nauheimer will be reading from his work while making his first appearance with AWoW.
And finally, we’ve learned that AWoW co-founder Niamh Hyland may have a surprise or two up her sleeve.
Join us for a great evening of entertainment, a glass of wine, and some of the nicest folks you’ll ever meet.
That really depends on who you’re talking to. To some I’m a carpenter, to others, a writer, to a small handful I’m an ex husband, to others, I’m that crazy Northern Irish guy who drank a lot and now writes and makes movies, and to my four year old, Erica, I’m just daddy.
What are you working on at the moment?
At the moment I’m in that rare terrain where it’s all about publicity and selling my new memoir That’s That, which was published by Crown Publishing Group.
Do you have upcoming events you’d like people to attend?
Tuesday night, April 30th, 7pm I’ll be reading from That’s That at the Artists Without Walls’ Showcase at The Cell Theater, 338 W. 23rd Street.
Everyone should come to my book launch at Barnes & Noble, Warren street in Tribeca, May 14th at seven pm. The actor Josh Brolin will be there to introduce me, so that should be fun. I believe he is going to interview me about the process of writing this memoir which Random House are billing as “The first book to paint a detailed depiction of Northern Ireland’s Troubles.” There will be an afterparty at the Scratcher Bar all are welcome to come along with us after the reading.
Who are the writers, past and present, you admire?
Philip Roth, Hemmingway, Graham Greene, Fitzgerald, Jonathan Franzen, Bukowski, Adrienne Rich, and Woody Allen, to name just a few.
What are three of your favorite literary works?
A Moveable Feast; Hemmingway
The Great Gatsby; Fitzgerald
The End of The Affair; Graham Greene
Who is your greatest inspiration and why?
My daughter because she brings me into the moment and reminds me that innocence is still attainable.
Name five things you’d like to do or accomplish in the next five years.
Buy a little house in the country.
Write a novel.
Direct this feature movie that I’ve written and complete another.
Win both an Oscar and a Pulitzer.
Stop worrying so much.
If you could dream of trying something in the arts you haven’t tried, but would like to, what would that be?
I’m going to start playing the Bodhran shortly.
What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?
I don’t have much of that at the moment, but if I do get a few hours I love to watch movies. I’m addicted to the screen; aren’t we all.
