Phillip Glass opera Satyagraha is extraordinary

On Saturday I enjoyed one of the highlights of my opera going life at the flawless production of the Phillip Glass opera Satyagraha, directed by Phelim McDermott.

Based on the life of Ghandi, with illuminating reference to the lifelong struggle of fellow titan Martin Luther King, the performance achieved moments of extraordinary beauty.

This being a Phillip Glass work it was also ponderous, aching, celebratory, stirring and at times - yes - seriously dull.

Glass reminds you what is unique about the opera's capacity to transport, because it's at once sublime and physical, heard and seen, and no other medium marries the elusive magic of music to the spectacles of the physical world with the same capacity for rapture.

Which is just a highfalutin way of saying I loved it.

Meanwhile we're at an unusual moment in the history of this nation, where the gulf between - to borrow a little opera parlance - standing room and orchestra prime have become dangerously pronounced.

After last night's performance of Satyagraha Phillip Glass himself came out to address the Occupy Wall Street protestors who had arrived at Lincoln Center to highlight what they called the 'certain disparity between its lofty moral message and the machinery of corporate arts funding.'

Lincoln Center was recently remodeled after a $100M gift from oil baron and Tea Party funder David Koch. But it's doubtful he ever envisaged it beging the scene of an impassioned discussion between audience members and protestors, as they debated issues of exploitation and civil rights (which, marvellously, are also the subject of Satyagraha itself) on the opera house steps.

If you can get tickets to see Satyagraha I can assure you you'll be glad you did.

Veteran's Day - World War Two veterans photographed - PHOTOS

Photographer Tom Sanders photographed World War II veterans for his book, 'The Last Good War: The Faces and Voices of WW2.'

'I wanted to make people more aware of our veterans’ sacrifices and help put people’s lives into perspective,' Sanders told CNN.

Photographed above is James Tobin, who fought in the Pacific.

CLICK HERE to view these remarkable images.

An Irishman's view of the Wall Street shenanigans

Here's an Irishman's view of the Wall Street shenanigans. The language is colorful and probably not safe for work - you have been warned!

Apple's iPhone Siri app is baffled by Scottish people

Asking Apple's iPhone Siri app to 'create a reminder' is a bit of a challenge in Scotland:

Irish Writers Take Manhattan

The Stinging Fly is the name of the premiere Dublin literary magazine founded in 1997 to create a forum for emerging Irish writers. Now the magazine and its increasingly famous writers are coming to New York for the first ever Stinging Fly reading and interview series and the plan is to make as big a splash as possible (a series of lively discussions, reading and talkbacks will be held on October 25 through 27 at various locations throughout the city).

'The writers we’re bringing over are Irish writers we’ve been associated with for a few years,' says Stinging Fly editor Declan Meade. 'It’s work that we want to showcase. And we’ve also asked Irish writers who live here in New York to contribute to the event as well. So the works will be from the perspective of people who live here and from the people we’re bringing over from Ireland.'

Not only a magazine, but now also a publishing press, in recent years The Stinging Fly has become the recognized launch pad for a new generation of Irish talent. Created as the Celtic Tiger economy was taking flight, since that time it has helped launch the careers of writers like Emma Donoghue, Eamon Grennan, Kerry Hardie, Michael Harding, Claire Keegan and James Kelman.

'At the time we set it up back in the late 1990’s I had just come to Dublin and I was meeting young writers and the common complaint was there was nowhere to publish their work,' says Meade.  'I decided to set up the magazine with my friend Aoife Kavanagh. Neither of us knew anything about what we were doing, we really just wanted to see if the work was out there. Well it turns out it was out there and so we began to publish it. We started up very small and it’s built up over time.”

Early on they found themselves facing the dilemma of what to do when a short story writer deserved to have an entire collection published? The response was to set up their own publishing press. 'Everything we’ve done has grown organically from the question what is missing for new Irish writers? Our main focus has always been new writers coming up and the new writing that’s out there.'

Early in its operation the magazine also started interviewing more established writers on their way to international fame like Colum McCann and Emma Donoghue and giving them a forum too. For the first time The Stinging Fly was creating a real community of new Irish writers, albeit with a particular interest in promoting the short story form.

Writers need readers of course; it’s what publishing is all about. The Stinging Fly has succeeded in Ireland because it has successfully developed an audience and now they feel it’s time for it to grow, by introducing a new American dimension.

'It’s a great opportunity for our writers and hopefully it’ll be a great opportunity for the magazine in terms of new readers as well,' says Meade with characteristic understatement (the fact is that the Stinging Fly reading series has been slated as one of the top cultural events of the autumn so expect standing room only crowds).
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Irish writers slated to attend include Aifric Mac Aodha, Emer Martin, Sean O’Reilly and Keith Ridgway. All the events are free and everyone is welcome to attend. 'We believe that there is a need for a magazine that, first and foremost, gives new and emerging writers an opportunity to get their work out into the world,' says Meade.

In the spirit of openness and inclusivity Meade and the Stinging Fly organizers (which include Imagine Ireland) have also opened a space on their website for debut writers to write up their New York stories and experiences.

'Even if you have never been there yourself, chances are you know someone who has ended up calling New York their home,' says Meade. 'So you’re welcome to share your story there - or to just read other peoples.'

On Tuesday, October 25 at 7:00 PM at the Center For Fiction at 17 East 47 Street Nick Laird, Emer Martin, Sean O’Reilly and Keith Ridgway discuss the literary and cultural connections between Dublin and New York, and share their experiences of writing at home and away.

On Wednesday October 26 at 8:00 PM Aifric Mac Aodha, Sean O’Reilly and Keith Ridgway and Max McGuinness will read at Colombia University at 116 Street and Broadway. And finally on October 27 at 7:00PM Ciaran Berry, Tim Dwyer, Martin Espada, Emer Martin, David McLoghlin, Idra Novey, Jana Prikryl, Mark SaFranko and others will read at the Swift Hibernian Lounge at 34 East 4 Street. For further information and tickets visit www. http://www.stingingfly.org

Get your Halloween Princess Beatrice hat here - straight from Kate and William's wedding

Halloween Prince Hat

This is the fashion must for Halloween 2011 - and for once no one will think it's a played-out cliche.

Irish hat designer Phillip Treacy's bizarre but oddly brilliant Princess Beatrice hat was (and still is) an international sensation.

We think you'll be seeing it everywhere but it still won't be a yawn. Go gets.

For your $39 hat CLICK HERE

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‘A Tribute to Harrigan & Hart’ at Symphony Space in NYC

Next Thursday, October 13 at Symphony Space on 95 Street on the Upper West Side, The Irish Arts Center will present an absolutely unmissable tribute to the original kings of Broadway Harrigan and Hart.

An all-star concert, the once in a decade night will remind us that before there was George M. Cohan the songs of his hero Edward 'Ned' Harrigan, the Irish American songwriter and playwright, were the toast of Broadway.

The concert takes place on the hundred year anniversary of Harriagn's passing and through story, song and dance you'll see the artists of the calibre of Athena Tergis and Susan McKeown take to the stage to recreate numbers that will live in your memory.

For tickets CLICK HERE
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Tip Sheet recommends: Bogboy at The Irish Arts Center

In Bogboy, playing tonight and throughout the weekend at The Irish Arts Center in Manhattan, Irish actress Sorcha Fox plays Brigit the drug addicted young Dublin woman hanging to the edge of her own life by her fingernails.

Charismatic, focused, instinctive and pitch perfect, Fox’s performance is the key to the success of Deirdre Kinahan’s tender and accomplished new play.

Book your tickets HERE

Noctu Irish Dance at The Irish Repertory Theatre: Kill for a ticket

With his new show Noctu, Irish dance director and choreographer Breandan de Galli has created arguably the most challenging Irish dance work ever seen on a New York stage.

Noctu, which means stripped or laid bare in Irish, sweeps away everything before it in a work that breaks all the rules.

In tomorrow's Irish Voice Cahir O'Doherty talks to the show’s choreographer and has one piece of advice for you: kill for a ticket.

Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney to read at 92nd Street Y

In a very special evening to open the 92nd Street Y Unterberg Poetry Center’s 2011-2012 season, Ireland’s Nobel Laureate (and arguably the world's finest living poet) Seamus Heaney will read from his poetry. 

It's Heaney's only public engagement in New York this year and is certain to be a sell out. 

Tickets to this event will be available for purchase through 92nd Street Y Unterberg Poetry Center’s website click here for details.

The best iPad keyboard on the market

Apple's iPads offer unmatchable portability and function - that's why they've been such a hit. You can pop one in your shoulder bag and have room in their for the rest of your life too.

But all that portability comes at a cost: no keyboard! If you write a little (or a lot) you're going to need some typing options.

To date wifi key boards have been marketed with varying degrees of success. One thing seems to untie them - the Bluetooth cursor half second lag that drives professional wordsmiths nuts.

But finally it seems some enterprising companies are offering function and form.

Still on the way to market, which means you can get in now as an investor or an early consumer, the Leviatr keyboard has it all: form, function and fun.

Expect these babies to fly off the shelves.

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8 on Broadway already hottest ticket in town

The hot ticket on Broadway this month is Dustin Lance Black's new play '8' about the bitter court battle (still ongoing) over California's Proposition 8.

The show will be performed as a fundraiser at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre on Sept. 19. Casting already includes Anthony Edwards, Morgan Freeman, Cheyenne Jackson, Christine Lahti, Rob Reiner, Yeardley Smith and Marisa Tomei.

Lance Black, the screenwriter for the Harvey Milk biopic starring Sean Prenn, spent months pouring over the trial transcripts and interviews, and the one night only show will be directed by Tony Award-winning actor and director Joe Mantello.

Naturally the religious right are already girding for a public relations battle: 'Obviously, if the radical homosexual activists are encouraging people to watch this play that they and their side of the issue have put together, it's not going to be kind to those of us who hold traditional family values,' wrote Jerry Cox, president of the Arkansas Family Council. 'I just couldn't imagine that it would cast any of us on this side of the debate in any kind of positive light.'

Calling gay people who advocate for their own equality by the intentionally scary term 'homosexual activists' rather than 'family' makes clear that Jerry Cox is reluctant to cast gay people in a positive light himself.

Expect the show to be sold out already - it looks like this is a debate that has lost none of its power.

New & Improved Texas Conservatives

C.S. Lewis and Sigmund Freud Off Broadway

It comes as a surprise to many that author C.S. Lewis considered himself an Irishman, but he was in no doubt himself. 'The Irish are the only people,' he wrote to a friend, 'with all their faults I would not gladly live or die among another folk.'

Describing a meeting with a fellow Irishman in England he wrote: 'Like all Irish people who meet in England we ended by criticisms on the invincible flippancy and dullness of the Anglo-Saxon race…'

This week Lewis is portrayed in Freud's Last Session, the new play where Lewis visits the office of the world's most famous psychoanalyst. Questions over the meaning of life, the existence of God, the nature of love - and a battle of wits ensue.

For more details and tickets click here.

Careless sticker placements

Third grader bait, courtesy of the internets - click here for more.

Recommended: Cary Fukunaga's "Jane Eyre" - VIDEO

Michael Fassbender and Mia Wasikowska in 'Jane Eyre'

Let's face it, remakes of Jane Eyre are have been a cottage industry for decades. But the new one directed by Cary Fukunaga is hugely worth your time this week because his visual flair is remarkable, as is his insistence that the tale be told at all times through the vulnerable but courageous spirit of the title character herself.

Fukunaga's film succeeds because he insists on the primacy of human interaction and he is never seduced by the period or the admittedly ravishing costumes and settings.

It's a quiet and immensely thoughtful film that works its magic on you discreetly, until you realize somewhere near the end its had a cumulative and revelatory power that sends you reeling into the street.


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New York's First Irish Theatre Festival returns - celebrating Irish playwrights

Cirque Legume at this years First Irish Theatre Festival

New York’s groundbreaking First Irish Theatre Festival is still the only theater festival in the world that's dedicated entirely to Irish playwrights.

It's continuing success is thanks to the tireless efforts of its visionary founder George Heslin - the Limerick born actor and director who keeps this international festival running (at times single handedly).

Now in its third year, the festival is an annual celebration of the best of Irish theatre, helmed by Heslin’s own Origin Theatre Company. From September through early October, the festival will offer a compelling lineup of exciting new Irish plays staged at fifteen major venues throughout the city.

Alongside the new plays, there will also be lively panel discussions, special events and Irish culture-related performances and lectures across the city. And as ever with this innovative festival, among the plays being presented are six North American premieres and one New York premiere.

In recent years Ireland's successive governments have finally understood that Ireland's arts and culture, from Brian Friel to Riverdance, from The Script to U2, are the one thing that allows the country to hit far above its weight on the world's stage. We're an opinionated lot, and the world keeps giving us a bigger audience. That means bucks. This year the Arts Council of Northern Ireland has also decided to promote the country with new funding for the festival that shows Ireland in its best light.

“We’re the gateway to America for Irish playwrights writing about different issues,” Heslin tells the Irish Voice. “It’s the world's capital of theatre and we’re introducing new voices, and the next generation of Irish theatre makers. For Irish playwrights and actors, America is their dream if they’re aspiring to the heights.”

“It's he diversity of voices,” adds festival promoter Beck Lee. “For such a small country there is a remarkable diversity of backgrounds, attitudes and voices in play. New Yorkers find that completely fascinating.”

The stories the Irish tell have a unique power and this is something theatre audiences have known for decades – for centuries, in fact. In the play Temporal Powers for example, by the long neglected but now rediscovered Irish master playwright Teresa Deevy, we watch a great love straining under the weight of conflicting passions.

In the play, currently on stage at The Mint Theatre, young lovers Michel and Min are stone-broke and homeless, but the greatest threat their marriage ever faces comes when they stumble upon hidden treasure in an old ruin. Min sees a chance to start a new life; but Michael fears it’s stolen and he wants to do the right thing. What happens next turns their lives upside down.

Then, in a typical complete gear change for this remarkable festival, comes Belfast's Brassneck Theatre Company's A Night With George. A jet black comedy that opens September 5 at Times Square Arts Center, we follow Bridie Murphy (in the company of George Clooney) on the journey of her life over the course of one evening. There are terrible lows and hilarious highs and a gorgeous redemptive note as this crowd-pleaser of a show takes to the boards.

If you live in New York City then you may think you have seen it all. You have not. Buy a ticket to Cirque De Legume for 50 minutes of sheer insanity and complete carnage as two Irish performers introduce you to a circus of vegetables. This show, which opens September 6 at 59 East 59 Theatres, was the hit of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe last year and you're going to know why in the first five minutes.

The Irish Arts center will stage Deirdre Kinahan's latest play Bogboy beginning September 7, and demand for tickets will be high. The play centers around heroin addict Brigit meets farmer Hughie Dolan she entertains dreams of a happier future for the first time in years.

But nothing is what it seems and a play of deceit and murder unfolds.

The award winning Dublin Theatre company Fishamble will stage Noah and the Tower Flower beginning September 7 at The Drilling Company Theatre. A play about a bought but tender relationship between a high rise Ballymun flat girl and the equally highly strung man who adores her, it's a portrait of urban Ireland a million miles from the tourist board posters, featuring the remarkable Dublin actress Mary Murray.

Another completely fascinating new show is Lucia's Chapters of Coming Forth by Day, a new play written and directed by theatrical visionary and Mabou Mines director Sharon Fogarty.

Based on the life of James Joyce's troubled daughter Lucia, the play takes us into the dream world of her father's creations as she grapples with his legacy and his fame.

For more festival information and to learn how audience members can pick the Audience Choice Award for Best Play, visit www.1stIrish.org.