A TERRIBLE BEAUTY combines Behrens’ narration, Paul Sullivan on piano, the young prodigy soprano Rose Upton singing emigrant ballads and songs, and an actor portraying the book’s protagonist, set against a back drop of striking visual imagery inspired by the Famine.
This elegiac tribute to coming of age during the Famine has been called “an event of uncommon depth and artistry….stunning music, evocative reading and incomparable songs…” by the Ellsworth American, following its original performance in Maine.
The inspiration for the performance, Mr. Behrens’ novel The Law of Dreams, was called "absorbing, unsparing and beautifully written . . . a masterly novel” by The New York Times, and the New Yorker praised “Behrens's language also has a visceral rhythm, and his similes meld the humble with the lyrical.”
Featuring
Peter Behrens - narrator
Paul Sullivan - piano
Rosie Uption - soprano
Based on a true story of a daring rescue of six Irish prisoners in 1875, CATALPA is a "rip-roaring theatrical adventure" (Washington Post) in the great seafaring epic tradition of Moby Dick. CATALPA tells the true story of sea captain George Anthony who set out in the whaling ship Catalpa to rescue six Irish Fenian prisoners from Fremantle Colony in Australia.
From the whaling town of New Bedford, Massachusetts to a penal colony in Fremantle, Australia, to the scene of New York's first ever ticker-tape parade, CATALPA is about heroes and visionaries, political intrigue and personal loyalty, with hot romance and battles at sea. It's an epic adventure story that challenges the nature of heroism.
CATALPA has thrilled audiences and dazzled critics all over the world, premiering in Dublin and touring to Melbourne, London, Chicago, Toronto, Paris, Copenhagen, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Geneva. It finally sails into New York harbor and makes port at the Irish Arts Center for a strictly limited engagement.
with Brendan Bradley, Bryce Gill, Beth Jastroch, DH Johnson, Steve Lavner*, Shashanah Newman, Heidi Niedermeyer, Rose O'Hara*, Brian Smallwood, Justin Swain, asst. director . . . Jamie Klassel, set design . . . Rachel Gordon, costume design . . . Kara Harmon, lighting design . . . George Gountas, sound design . . . Ryan Dowd, script consultant . . . James Carter, fight director . . . Qui Nguyen, asst. set design . . . Janene Husband, video editing . . . Andrew Gaines, technical director . . . Sam Narrison, stage manager . . . Nancy Vallada res, asst. stage manager . . . Mana Fujikatsu, props mistress . . . Amanda Haley, artistic director . . . James David Jackson, managing director . . . Josh Sherman, production manager . . . Joe Powell,
* Equity Approved Showcase
Douglas Taurel & Foster Davis switch the leading roles on alternate nights.
Directed by acclaimed Off-Broadway director, Tim Philips.