Irish Arts & Entertainment May 2015

E May/June 2015 E

& Entertainment

Vo l u m e 2 3 - I s s u e 5

Stellar Line Up of Celtic Bands to Appear at the...

Scottish Fest USA

INSIDE this issue

Ed O’Neill New York & Acclaim on Broadway

Special coverage starts on page 8

page 3

Hell on Wheels

eric rigler

highland way

with...

TV Series Review

by Laura Crockett

page 4

Bad Haggis

Corktown ’57 Deirdre O’Kane stars in:

Opens May 8 Nationwide!

pages: 6 and 27

Photo by Lewis Kan, Arts & Entertainment

Family...memories and loyalties explored in this “World premiere drama”

page 24

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Irish Arts & Entertainment

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Modern Family Star's

Ed O’Neill

A profile and conversation

By Jim McDonough

Part III: To New York and Fame & Acclaim

Ed O’Neill

A

fter, the stint in Youngstown and a taste of acting and the stage, coupled with the moral victory over his dismissal at Youngstown State, O’Neill decided to ratchet up his career and take on the big time on Broadway. It was not a decision without some reservations but one that he knew he had to do as O’Neill explained in our last segment.

Now, settled in New York, Ed O'Neill, was working at O'Neal's Balloon (a well known bar in Manhattan which was right across the street from Lincoln Center.)

He was living in a Resident Hotel with no phone, he used an answering service.

O'Neill took this challenge of becoming a professional actor very seriously.

He quickly learned which of the hundreds of theaters, from the off Broadway houses to the off, off companies, that had a reputation for attracting agents or casting directors who might actually be able to "see" a good actor in a part. He was diligent and landed a part in Requiem For A Heavyweight, in the very first production of that now famous masterpiece.

Ed O'Neill was about to get his shot at an exciting career as a professional ac-

tor. Because of his part in Rod Serling's "Requiem For A Heavyweight, O'Neill had landed a job as an understudy in KNOCKOUT with Danny Aiello.

Now as O'Neill recounted the experience to IA&E, the plot thickened!

“I was referred to the role of the understudy for the character Paddy Klonski for this play on Broadway, KNOCKOUT* directed by Frank Corsaro, at the time, a very well known figure on Broadway. It was with Danny Aiello, then a Broadway star. Danny was playing the good guy and Paddy was the bad guy.

I walked outside and thought, "I'm on Broadway, I'M ON BROADWAY!!

O'Neill recollected the moment with great happy nostalgia; it was obvious, he was recalling a pivotal, peak experience with us. "I was on Broadway!' O'Neil continued, I walk out of the theater and "I see Ma Bells, (another well known Broadway area bar and eatery of New York at the time) and I go into. Ma Bells at about three in the afternoon and I see all the waiters and waitresses gathered around Charles Nelson Riley, remember him?" He was directing Bell of Amherst at the time. So I walk up and he sees me; he was gay and I'm a nice young guy and he buys me a drink and we start talking. He asks me what I'm doing and I tell him, I just got this part!

"Oh my God, this young man just got a Broadway part!" Riley yells. O'Neill recalled that Riley was really happy for him and that they all had a few drinks in celebration. After the great afternoon at Ma Bell's, O'Neill went back to his job at O'Neal's Balloon and told his Continued to page 7

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Volume 23, Issue 5

Hell on Wheels

Irish Arts & Entertainment

Review by Laura Crockett

T

here is no nice way to say it, but life in the post Civil War United States sucked. The war was no glorious time either.

At the end of this little disagreement between citizens, Union soldiers were known to inflict certain atrocities on their enemies, who were, technically American citizens. Though schooled out of us, the information is Yankee soldiers were capable of, and did commit rape and pillage with a murder thrown in. Yes, Lincoln was stern about this detail that Union soldiers were not to even think about those things, and yes, compared to other nations during times of war, the Yankee soldier was pretty well behaved.

Nevertheless, in the South, rape and murder happened.

It is such an event, the rape

and murder of a Southern woman by Union soldiers, that is the background story of the TV series Hell on Wheels. The murdered woman had a husband, a Confederate soldier, who found her hanging from his porch when he returned home after the war. His son and servant were also murdered. This grieving man’s name is Cullen Bohannon, (Anson Mount).

He knows about the men who committed the outrage against his family. He is a man who vows vengeance. Scene one of Episode One gives us a taste of that vengeance. It is 1865, Washington DC, after Lincoln’s death. Inside a church, a Union soldier sits in a confessional. He tells the confessor that he did immoral things during the war.

There is no absolution for that

The Hare and The Hounds

The opinions expressed by our columnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Irish Arts & Entertainment or its Editor and staff.

Hell on Wheels cast. soldier. His punishment is swift.

Bohannon sends the soldier to hell.

As Bohannon plays executioner, Thomas ‘Doc’ Durant (Colm Meaney) is busy manipulating a United States senator.

Durant, a historical person, is the CEO of the Union Pacific Railroad, one of two major players in the building of the great transcontinental railroad. The other is the Central Pacific Railroad.

Durant needs money for his road. America needs the rail-

road. A tie in with a United States senator makes sense. It is a rough scene, reminding us of our own dependence on crony capitalism. Durant gets what he needs. He then makes his way west, to Iowa. Bohannon makes the same journey.

In Council Bluffs, we find the town of Hell on Wheels.

Hell is a cluster of tents that house men, women and businesses. As the railroad extends, Hell moves, thus the name, Continued on page 27

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Irish Arts & Entertainment

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Jim Sheridan to Receive Lifetime Achievement Award at the IFTA Awards The Irish Film & Television Academy is delighted to announce that acclaimed director/ writer/producer Jim Sheridan will be honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 12th annual IFTA Awards taking place in the Round Room at the Mansion House, Dublin on Sunday 24th May 2015.

Jim Sheridan follows in the Sheridan, Jim Sheridan’s illustrifootsteps of IFTA Academy Life- ous and highly decorated film time recipients such as Maureen career has revealed him to be a O’Hara, David Kelly, George master storyteller with an innate Morrison, Morgan O’Sullivan, knack for unearthing the finJohn Boorman, Gay Byrne, Neil est possible performances from Jordan, Fionnula Flanagan and his actors. With a penchant for President Michel D. Higgins. making films with deeply comBorn in Dublin on February, 6th 1949 to Anna and Peter Continued on page 26

Jim Sheridan

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Newly Released Irish Film:

NOBLE

A fearless live. A reckless love.

Irish Arts & Entertainment

The true story of an Irish woman's determination and vision is in theaters now! Pictured here is Deirdre O'Kane who plays Christina Noble in Vietnam.

T

his Irish Film written and directed by Stephen Bradley is based on the incomparable true story of Christina Noble and her triumphant life’s journey so far.

Today Christina Noble is known throughout Ireland and the UK, Vietnam, Cambodia and in philanthropic circles throughout the world as a well respected author* and founder of the Christina Noble Children’s Foundation which operates facilities throughout Vietnam and Mongolia.

It was not always so, Noble was born into poverty in Ireland in 1944 to a drunken father who abused her mother who died when she was young. Her mother’s death led to the breakup of the family and to her harsh experiences in church run orphanages and homes in Ireland.

Christina Noble’s young years are depicted in riveting flashback scenes throughout NOBLE and from them we understand how Noble herself identifies with the castoff street children of Vietnam and dedicates herself to helping them.

NOBLE, the film portrays the heroine in three distinct phases of her life, as a child, young woman and as an adult. At all ages her character is strong, stubborn and determined against all odds. Through all of the film, Noble has a relentless personal spirit and a deep, nebulous faith that allows her to talk to God in a sometimes darkly amusing, yet always sincere and personal manner. Three perfectly cast actors play Christina Noble; the most enduring and most pivotal in the movie is the adult Noble portrayed flawlessly by Deirdre O’Kane.

After viewing the film last week, we had the good fortune to get an interview with the Noble’s director, Stephen Bradley. Bradley is married to Deirdre O’Kane who stars in the film. The couple resides in London with their two children.

Irish Arts & Entertainment (IA&E): Thank you for taking the time to speak with us today. We are absolutely enthralled by your film and the story of Christina Noble. How and when did this amazing confluence start to happen?

Stephen Bradley: In 2008, my wife who plays Christina in NOBLE first brought it up! Deirdre was MC at a benefit, involved with fundraising and involved with the foundation set up to raise money for Christina Nobles work going back to 2005 and she told me she wanted to make a film about her. Around 2008, we were starting talking to other people. I read Noble’s book, and spoke about it with associates who had experience in this kind of project. We met and spoke with Christina Noble over a period of a couple years and then in 2010, she gave us permission and the film rights to both of her books and she stepped back and turned the concept over to me.

IA&E: You have an outstanding reputation as a director, how have you achieved this? Love of craft, a philosophy or…

You seem to have that wonderful ability to bring out the best in people and situations.

Stephen Bradley: It’s a combination of factors but the most important is simply choosing well the people that you are going to work with you.

IA&E: During, the filming, what was a peak experience?

Stephen Bradley: The first day of filming! On location at the Colonial era hotel! Finally, we were actually starting to film after all the preparation and effort.

It was an exciting day!

[Bradley detailed this day in a press release too.]

“We began filming at one of my favourite locations - which was one of the few that we had to completely recreate,” the director recalls. “It was in one of those old style wood-paneled lobbies at a French colonial hotel. All of those hotels have been changed and modernised but our designer Christina Casali did a great job transforming the lobby of the renovated Saigon Grand to more closely resemble one that our protagonist might have walked through the doors of when she first arrived here in 1989.”

IA&E: What was the biggest hurdle in the project?

Stephen Bradley: That’s a good question, there were many. Probably, figuring out what parts to use. I had a whole incident in Beirut in an early draft, very tense situation that is in Noble’s book. Ended up not using it. To decide what part of this amazing story to us was a challenge.

IA&E: You were up to it, the balance you struck works incredibly well. Do you think there will be a sequel?

Stephen Bradley: If this film gets the attention, we’ll see. Might be different though, we could concentrate on one incident, such as Beirut and make it an intense thriller! *Christina Noble has written several books over the years, her two best known are: A Bridge Across My Sorrows and Momma Tina Continued to page 27

Irish Arts & Entertainment

Ed O’Neill Continued from page 3 boss Ryan Riley what had happened and another celebration ensued.

Clairvoyance O'Neill continued explaining this memorable day, "I had a girlfriend at the time and after all this during that day, we go out that night. We walking, "Maybe one night, you'll get to go on", she said. I replied, "Oh, I'll get on." She continued, Well, the understudy rarely gets on, I replied, "I'm going to get the part, I'm going to be on." Now, my friend told this story for years, sadly she died recently, about how I was positive that I would get the part. I remarked, a little Irish clairvoyance. O'Neill said, "I'm not sure, maybe it was all the drinks, but I wasn't drunk but I knew."

O'Neill explained further, "What happened was this, Joey Cortise, who had the lead role with Danny and who had recruited me as the understudy, the guy I had shown a few moves to at O'Neal's Balloon. He was filming a movie called Windows with Talia Shire. (A thriller released in 1980) The parts overlapped, so he was missing a lot of rehearsals and I was filling in. I knew the role backwards and forwards. I also knew how to box, I knew how to throw a punch and miss and I was making Danny look good and he knew. Joey on the other hand was not coordinated, he had two left feet. I was better so Joey got fired and I got the role."

"By now, I had an apartment in New York, a real shit hole but I had a phone, by then too, so I get a call from Michael Black, Joey's agent."

"Ed?, Michael Black (in a

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E May/June 2015 E high pitched, kind of whiney voice), he was gay, all the agents were gay, O'Neill said. "Are you sitting down?" says Black. "I don't need to sit down, I said.

--I knew what had happened --.

"Joey got fired", Black tells me.

They are going to offer the part to you, would you like me to represent you?" IA&E: He was eager to pick up a new client. Ed had a funny opinion on that too, explaining that the agents were all like that but that he took a pass. He said I thanked him and said "No, not just now", and hung up and went over to the theater.

O'Neill laughed, "This situation was ludicrous, it was Danny that got him fired but they were all there crying and upset." IA&E: To save face, theater people, huh.

Ed went on, " Joey gave me a dirty look but said nothing.

I didn't blame him, but what was I going to do. By the way, KNOCKOUT got bad reviews but I got good reviews."

O’Neill took a thoughtful pause and said, not boasting in any way, but speaking with gratitude from the heart, "From there, I never stopped working.

I worked with Al Pacino, Christopher Walkin, Tom Berringer, a lot of great actors, In films and on stage." IA&E: So, in reading up on you for this interview, I read that you were seen in Of Mice And Men and you were offered an audition for Al Bundy, is that the way it happened?

"I was Lenny in Of Mice And Men. I did not really even want that part, but luckily J R Horn, my buddy referred me, I was his best man and he called me to the producer who was his friend. I wasn't working and I needed something so I read for the part of Lenny. I was awful. I remember thinking that this was terrible. About a week later, she calls

me, and offered me the role. She explained that she wanted me for the part because she just had a feeling that I was a fit."

IA&E: From what we've read, she was right. Your reviews were phenomenal.

"I decided to take the part in Hartford. I go up there on the train. We did not have the the-

ater yet, we started to work in a rehearsal room, No set, just chalk outlines on the floor of the stage set. The cast was great by the way, I knew some of them.

Really good people." I'm sitting there in rehearsal and somehow, some way, it started (the role of Lenny) coming to me. *Ed O'Neills first Broadway

role was in KNOCKOUT, which was written by Playwright Play Louis LaRusso II. It premiered at the Helen Hayes Theater on May 6, 1979. The play ran for 154 performances (plus 10 previews) and closed on September 16, 1979. Next time triumph in Hartford and stardom with Married With Children

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Scottish Fest USA

Music LineUp The Ploughboys

Highland Way Always a crowd favorite, So. California based Highland Way will take the stage both days at this year’s Annual Scottish Highland Games and Celtic Music Festival in Costa Mesa!

Rich Cashman, (bass) Jesse Olema, (fiddle) Mark Romano, (accordion) and Peter Romano, (guitar.)

Highland Way features: David Burns banjo, mandolin, vocals, fiddler Michael Kelly, and world-renowned bassist Olivier Prud'homme, Jonathan Baer (percussion).

Playing everything from High Energy Festivals to Performing Arts Theaters, from Scotland to Nova Scotia, Ireland to California, Highland Way are uncompromising professionals. These seasoned studio session musicians bring that same polished energy to stages around the world. With their huge repertoire they know how to tailor their performance to the audience. A native Scot with his Glasgow accent, Brian Caldwell is well known for his wonderful ability to charm any crowd while his energetic and driving rhythm guitar blends flawlessly with the rest of the band. Joining Brian are Paul Graham Castellanos - on fiddle, mandolin, guitar, banjo, Sharon Whyte - on accordion and keyboards, Bob Sale - on percussion and drums, Glen Fisher - on bass, and master of guitars Jim Soldi. Highlighting Celtic music from Scotland and Ireland, with originals and the occasional popular cover, Highland Way truly creates the ultimate Celtic Music experience! www.highlandway.us

Another, popular band that will be back at this year’s Scottish Fest and Celtic Music Festival was founded in 1994 by Mark Romano, LA’s beloved Ploughboys! The Ploughboys are a Los Angeles Celtic Institution. The Brothers Romano, Mark and Peter, breathe life and energy into old standards, and new classics. The rhythms, delicate or driving, are handled by Rich Cashman on the bass, and Rik Shannon, on the drums. Fueled by the virtuoso twin fiddles of Vito and Jesse, the Ploughboys bring an energy and fun-filled vigor to Celtic music that is matched by few bands, in any genre, today. Says Mark Romano of their upcoming booking at Scottish Fest USA, “We are honored to be one of the anchor bands at one of the most exciting Scottish Festivals in the US held over Memorial Day weekendat the Orange County Fairgrounds! It is always one of our favorite gigs; great location, terrific people, quality sound, and beautiful weather. Most of all, we're ready to rock ScotsFest, USA with new tunes and even more daring kilts, in 2015!” www.ploughboys.net

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Irish Arts & Entertainment

Scottish Fest USA

Music LineUp Eric Rigler and Bad Haggis Bad Haggis

One of the best known professional musicians in Los Angeles and a favorite among those who work in LA’s fabled music industry just happens to be one of the favorites in Celtic Music circles too! We are referring to Eric Rigler is best known as an American who has mastered three traditional Celtic musical instruments, the Uilleann pipes, the Highland Bagpipes and for good measure the tin whistle. Rigler is also one of the most prolific studio musicians on the planet and has been featured on a number of movie soundtracks including BRAVEHEART and The Titanic. Rigler plays on his own and with the band Bad Haggis.

According to Wikipedia, Rigler has been has been described as "the most recorded bagpiper of all time". He has been playing all forms of bagpipes and tin whistles since he was a child, (Took up the bagpipes at 7) performing solo, with bagpipe bands and other musical groups. It has been said that if one hears bagpipes in a movie, a commercial or TV show, it is most likely to be Eric Rigler.

Bad Haggis was founded by Rigler over ten years ago and the band has garnered a fine reputation as a solid Celtic Rock group with traditional musical elements melding into the modern mix; they have become a Celtic fusion band far better than most.

Always on top of their game and eager to deliver a rousing fast paced, energy packed set; Bad Haggis are a must see group Eric Rigler at this years Celtic Music Extravaganza in Costa Mesa, AKA Scottish Fest USA! www.badhaggis.com “BAD HAGGIS fuses cutting-edge Celtic with influences of rock, alternative, jazz, pop, world beat, African and Latin influences. Driven by the dual leads of the “bagtar” by Eric and guitarist Mike Hoffmann, to the deeply grooving rhythms by bassist/vocalist Mick Linden and drummer Ryan Krieger, BAD HAGGIS produces a hearing-is-believing sonic experience.”

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art! e H h is Ir e th h it w ts Pub r o p S e h t is ’s n O’Brie

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Drop by, listen to some grand trad tunes!

CBS TV (Ch 2) has recently named O’Brien’s Irish Pub on Wilshire one of the best places in all of L.A. to get an authentic Irish Coffee!

“This trendy spot is where many A-listers hang out to savor its expertly-crafted Irish Coffee... (How O’Brien’s)... beverage chefs are able to blend a fevered stimulant with a regulated spirit so skillfully remains one of its upper draws.”

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Scottish Fest USA

Music LineUp Wicker Tinkers

Cask Strength Tribal Celtic Music!

The final extraordinary Celtic Band being presented by Scottish Fest USA and the Celtic Music Festival for 2015 is the invincible Wicked Tinkers. The band and their fans are legends in their own time. They are Wicked Good and been an essential part of the entertainment at Scottish Games and Celtic Festivals around the U.S. almost since their inception in L.A. in 1995!

Prepare yourself for a wild ride with WICKED TINKERS! Pioneers of the growing Tribal Celtic movement, the Tinkers have been playing haunting, heart-pounding bagpipes and irresistible tribal drums as a professional touring band since 1995.

With the addition, several years back, of the mesmerizing drone of the Australian didgeridoo and Bronze Age Irish horn, the magic was complete. Sit back and be

{

“An explosion of Celtic Tribal Drums and Music!”

}

transported to an earlier time in Scotland and Ireland, when battle cries filled the air and strange, unheard-of creatures roamed the night. Or better yet, get on your feet and let your body move to ancient rhythms and forgotten sounds.

In 1995, bagpiper Aaron Shaw met bass drum player Warren Casey at The Celtic Arts Center in Los Angeles, CA. Playing together, they discovered the simple beauty and power of the music created by these two instruments.

“The combination seemed to tap the very soul of Gaelic Music,” says Shaw.

Over the years, the band has evolved. Keith Jones joined in on snare drum and hand percussion in 2000, followed by CJ Henderson on didgeridoo and the recently discovered Bronze-Age Irish Horn – a sound that was lost for over three thousand years. Most recently in 2013, Tiki King replaced Warren Casey on the big drum. This strange and unlikely combination of instruments seems to access our deepest connection to a primal place that is both ancient and hauntingly familiar. It is the music of our Celtic ancestors, re-imagined for today. www.wickedtinkers.com

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Whisky Tavern Entertainment Celtic Performance Artist, Neil O'Neill and Those Manning Bhoys will also be performing on and near the very popular Whisky Tavern and Stage!

The Manning Brothers, Mike and Sean, friends and guests always deliver great shows and they are the O'fficial Irish Contingent at ScottishFest USA. When not on stage, you can find them at their MY IRISH PRIDE Booth conveniently located near the Whisky Tavern!

Neil O'Neill Celtic Performance Artist Neil O'Neill offers a deep range of Celtic and Irish Music! O’Neill is a gifted musician, educator and makar who was born in Johnstone, Scotland, about a mile from the William Wallace, BRAVEHEART monument in Elderslie.

A fine tenor, and multi-instrumentalist, he has been featured globally for the last three decades at many concertfestival venues around the world! One of the most notable, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Dunstaffnage Music Festival (Oban, Scotland) and of course many times at the Scottish Fest USA in Costa Mesa, CA! www.neiloneill.us

Nancy Lennon, Mike & Sean Manning and Bill Lomas at the recent Irish Spotlight in Newport Beach. The Mannings performed at the After Party at Muldoon's Irish Pub for the 16th Annual Newport Beach Film Festival!

Coming in June Our New Digital Magazine

www.brewsandpubs.com

Those Manning Bhoys

Those Manning Bhoys

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Scottish Fest USA

Music LineUp Sligo Rags

(From left) Michael Kelly (fiddle); Eli Marcus (bass); Jonathan Baer (percussion); David Burns (guitar, banjo)

Folkworks Magazine has praised Sligo Rags as one of the top acoustic bands today! They are also two-time winners of the Orange County Music Award for Best Folk Band! This dynamic ensemble presents Celtic Folk with a decidedly bluegrass attitude. Sligo Rags is taking the local and not-so-local Folk and Celtic music scenes by storm with a unique blend of eclectic musical influences. Dan Miller of Flatpicking Guitar Magazine says “These guys have it all--great vocals, lots of energy, captivating songs, well executed arrangements, and tasteful solos.” Their debut studio recording, “The Night Before the Morning After”, was called “the best I’ve heard from a stateside band” by Celtic Beat Magazine.

Award-winning flatpicking and fingerstyle guitarist David Burns who was recently featured in Flatpicking Guitar Magazine has the ability to weave musical styles together and it helps create their unique sound and style. The sum total of the talents of these four very individual and talented music makers are guaranteed to fill the room and your lives with electricity. They may give you a good laugh or two along the way as well.

Dave Burns also commented about the upcoming Scottish Fest USA Memorial Weekend event and festivals gone by, “We’re looking greatly forward to taking time out from our busy Disneyland schedule to participate in one of our favorite annual events, the ScottishFest at the OC Fairgrounds. We will continue to be missing the presence of Alex Beaton, but hope to pull off a performance that will make him proud.” www.sligorags.com

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California - Irish Community Calendar - By Date Concerts • Musical Events • Classes • Irish Dance • Socials • Special Events • Theatre

MAY Waterboys In Concert

Wednesday, May 13 @ 8:00pm Irish Legendary Rockers & Blues band.

Fonda Theater in Hollywood

www.mikescottwaterboys.com

Dublin native Keith Roberts and a host of multi talented musicians! Since their inception in Santa Monica in 1980, the DUBS have been on the forefront of the fusion of Irish traditional instruments and music with modern rock.

Belly Up Tavern Solana Beach, CA.

http://bellyup.com

The American Wake Friday, May 15

@ 9:00pm These Long Beach Celtic rockers have a fabulous reputation in Southern California and it’s easy to see why with their full throttle Irish tunes mixed with Bluegrass, country and a whole eclectic array of Celtic tunes.

The American Wake will be performing on the Saturday of the three day Get Shamrocked festival.

The Shamrock Irish Pub 39252 Winchester Rd. #145 Murrieta, CA. 951-696-5252

www.theshamrockirishpub andeatery.com

May 15 & 16 The Young Dubliners

TWO SoCal Concerts!

Celtic Rock at it’s finest with

Sligo Rags

Saturday, May 16 Sligo Rags is taking the

Folk and Celtic music scenes by storm with a unique blend of eclectic musical influences from Irish Traditional and ballads, Jazz, Bluegrass and even elements of country, gypsy and swing manage to crop up!

The Living Tradition Downtown Anaheim Community Center Anaheim, CA

www.sligorags.com

The Whooligans

their sleeves. Avoid disappointment and make a reservation, as it will be a packed pub for their second appearance! No cover.

The Shamrock Irish Pub 39252 Winchester Rd. #145 Murrieta, CA. 951-696-5252

The Whooligans

www.theshamrockirishpub andeatery.com

Saturday, May 16

Craic Haus

@the AULD DUBLINER

Starts @ 10:00pm Always a great night Ed Bell and the gang make grand music which is a mix of timeless Irish pub songs and ballads in the tradition of The Dubliners, Tommy Makem, and The Clancy Brothers.

Auld Dubliner Irish Pub 71 South Pine St. Long Beach, CA 562-437-8300

Muldoon’s Courtyard Concert

Sunday, May 17

@2:00pm Shamrockabilly from the Guys who invented the genre!

Muldoon’s Irish Pub 202 Newport Center Dr. Newport Beach, CA 949- 640-4110

chris@neerduwels.com or call 818-389-8512.

Celtic Woman In Concert

Thursday, May 21

www.aulddubliner.com

Saturday, May 16 @ 9:00pm Live on Stage -

The Black Donnelly’s

This Dublin band is outrageously talented and they can play virtually any tune you like from traditional Irish to the latest chart sounds. Based now in Las Vegas; we are lucky to get them at The Shamrock once in a while! They perform as only the Irish can with their heart on

The official release celebration will be held at a private residence as part of the Carriage House Concert Series.

Reservations are required.

For more information and to make reservations, contact Chris Wilson at:

Sunday, May 17

CD RELEASE CONCERT IN SOUTH PASADENA

The Ne’er Duwels

(Ken O’Malley, Pat D’Arcy, Bryan Dobbs and Forrest Robinson) announce the release of their new album!

@ 7:30pm 10th Anniversary Tour The Celtic Woman have become one well know Irish groups ever thanks in part to their PBS affiliation but mostly because they deliver outstanding musical performances every time.

Terrace Theater Long Beach, CA

www.celticwoman.com

Continued to next page

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California - Irish Community Calendar - By Date Concerts • Musical Events • Classes • Irish Dance • Socials • Special Events • Theatre Scottish Group STAGG In Concert

Thursday, May 21

@ 7:30pm Original & Traditional Celtic Music from Scotland. Singer/ Songwriter/Accordionist with percussion. BYOB, Coffee & Snacks Available. Patio for Smokers The Coffee Gallery Backstage Altadena, CA

www.coffeegallery.com

Scottish Fest USA Memorial Day Weekend May 23 and 24 SATURDAY & SUNDAY Gates Open @ 10:00am Please Peruse Special Coverage this Issue Orange County Fairgrounds & Events Center Costa Mesa, CA BUY TICKETS ONLINE

www.scottishfest.com Sunday, May 31 @6:00pm

BLEU DEUX

Muldoon’s Irish Pub 202 Newport Center Dr. Newport Beach, CA 949-640-4110

www.muldoonspub.com

JUNE UEFA FINAL Championship Game Saturday, June 6 1:00pm NO COVER Auld Dubliner Irish Pub 71 South Pine St. Long Beach, CA

www.aulddubliner.com “ THE B I G ”

Irish Fair & Music Festival Father’s Day Weekend

June 21 & 22 Saturday-Sunday SoCal’s Original Irish Extravaganza!

Saturday & Sunday June 27 & 28 9:00am to 5:00pm • Both Days

42nd Annual San Diego Scottish Highland Games & Gathering of the Clans. www.sdhighlandgames.org See ad to the right.

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Irish Arts & Entertainment

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Celtic Cafe - Art Gallery - Pub 3456 Motor Ave. Los Angeles, CA Tel: 310-730-6208

• SNACKS & STARTERS • SANDWICHES & SAUSAGE • SOUP & SALADS...and more!

The McMahon Group Your Human Resources and Legal Specialists

HAPPY HOUR: All Business Days from 3pm - 7pm All Draft Beers - $5/Pint Red /White Wine of the Day - $5/Glass AFTERNOON TEA Served 2pm - 4:30pm Daily

(24-Hour Advance Reservation Required)

•Employee Handbook & Policies & Procedures •Progressive Discipline & Termination Live Music

Check our Calendar on our website

Hours of Operation: Tuesday to Sunday: 11AM to 11PM Sundays: 11AM to 7PM Closed Most Mondays (Except for the First Monday of Every Month when we host our Blue Grass Jam Session) Open at 4PM till...

•Harassment Issues/Sexual Harassment/Training •OSHA & Worker’s Comp 6285 E. Spring Street, #252N Long Beach, California, 90808-4000 Tel: 562-493-2575 Cell: 562-879-8068 Email: themcmahongroup@aol.com Web Site: www.TheMcMahonGroup.com

Website: www.thewildethistle.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/Wildethistle?fref=ts

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May those who love us, love us.

And for those who don't love us, May God turn their hearts.

And if he cannot turn their hearts, May he turn their ankles, So we may know them by their limping.

Graphic Design & Production

805-402-0567

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Logos Business Cards Advertising E-mail marketing Posters / Banners Flyers / Newsletters Brochures Websites

Page 24

Corktown ’57 Review by Patrick Weld

Corktown ’57” written by John Fazakerley premiered at the Odyssey Theatre in West LA in late March, and ran through early May.

“My grandfather was an unrepentant Irish Republican who wouldn’t give up the fight,” the playwright continued, “In his last days, he came to live with us, and I became his caretaker.

He would regale me with stories of the family coming to America. Though I knew he was highly political, I never realized what that meant until I began

Irish Arts & Entertainment

E May/June 2015 E

to question family elders, who would entertain me with stories of Grandpop.”

“An Irish-American family is ripped apart by divided loyalties in world premiere drama.” A highlight of Spring Theater offerings in Los Angeles.

The story is a great period piece that captures Irish America of the mid fifties in a man-

ner that is both quite believable and interesting. It is a solid, not overly complex tale of an Irish immigrant family with a multitude of secrets and challenges bound together by love, tragedy and tradition.

Corktown 57 takes place in an Irish enclave in Philadelphia but it could easily be the tale of any immigrant family in any American city with shadows and secrets that might better be forgotten. But life and the stage do not work that way so we become privy to animosities, injustice, grief, redemption and the true strength of family, all in two fast paced acts! The cast were all good and some members were exceptional.

The story takes place in the remodeled basement of youngest son Frank, played by John Ruby (Touch – winner Best Actor, Studio City Film Festival) who did an exceptional job portraying a loving yet troubled husband, son and brother while showing another side filled with

{

“The play is a fiction, but it’s inspired by memories of my family,” says Fazakerley, who was motivated by a shoebox of old photographs he discovered after his father died – including a 1948 photo of his grandfather holding him as a baby. That photo is now the poster for this production.

Corktown ‘57 cast.

Photo by Lewis Kan, Irish Arts & Entertainment. to regain his status in the eyes of the Irish Republican movement.

Irish-born actors Andrew Connolly and Kevin P. Kearns (previously seen in Milam-directed productions of The Lieutenant of Inishmore and Poor Beast in the Rain) had the roles of Mike’s eldest son, John and son-in-law, Ciaran.

Son John is considered a traitor to Ireland by some of the family because he joined and then rose through the ranks of

Tonight at 8:30 with Antaeus) who plays Tim Flynn, a family cousin and the local IRA commander.

Wilson Milam did a fine job melding the story and cast into a thoroughly entertaining and thoughtful production. He previously directed The Lieutenant of Inishmore on Broadway (Tony and Outer Critics Circle Award nominations) so he has a good grasp of the Irishness of his characters.

“An Irish-American family is ripped apart by divided loyalties in world premiere drama.” A highlight of Spring Theater offerings in Los Angeles”

love, care and guidance to his young son. Eve Danzeisen, plays his firm and troubled wife who also shines with hope and love toward her husband and son. Her credits include numerous productions at The Old Globe including The Winter’s Tale, Macbeth, Uncle Vanya, Lobby Hero and more. Their son Johnny, was played convincingly by 12-year old Jonah Beres.

Corktown ’57 featured Nate Tate (Space: 1999, Sons and Daughters) as the family patriarch who, when told he has six months to live, hatches a scheme

the hated British Army. Son-inlaw, Ciaran, is an IRA activist and threat to John.

Mike’s daughters, Kaitlin, a devout sympathizer to the Irish cause, and Marie, are played respectively by Rebecca Tilney (The Dinosaur Within at The Theatre @ Boston Court) and Belen Greene (Wedding Band, The Curse of Oedipus and Peace In Our Time at Antaeus). Tinlney too, stood out as a stubborn, committed rebel with a caring side.

Rounding out the cast is Josh Clark (Peace In Our Time, Oedipus, The Autumn Garden and

}

Joel Daavid did the stagecraft and scenic design for Corktown ‘57 and it really helped set the tone and mood of the play and portrayed the time period nicely.

KUDOS to all involved with this fine production! If you saw Corktown 57, we hope you enjoyed it as much as we did (I attended the play with our publisher Jim McDonough, who also gave it FIVE SHAMROCKS!) If you missed it, you can bet it will come around again. Special thanks to Publicist Lucy Pollack, who told us about the production and arranged for us to attend and for pictures. -PW

Irish Arts & Entertainment

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E May/June 2015 E

SHAUN THE SHEEP Movie...

Opens nationwide AUGUST 7, 2015!

Click here to learn more:

http://conta.cc/1Rt9C13

Call Jim McDonough 951-216-1493

www.shaunthesheepmovie.com

In case you haven’t already heard the most exciting news from the farm, Shaun and his animal friends are crossing the pond and arriving in the USA soon!

They are venturing to the big city this summer, and YOU can join in on the fun!

Follow Shaun’s exciting adventure from the baaaautiful green grasslands through a few unusual mix-ups, and see what happens when they land in the Big City, in a theater near you, AUGUST 7!

Page 26

Irish Arts & Entertainment

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Jim Sheridan Continued from page 5 plex characters and layered personal and political stories, Jim has had a pivotal influence on Irish cinema, with distinguished US critic Roger Ebert labelling him “a leading figure in the renaissance of Irish cinema”.

IFTA CEO Áine Moriarty, “The Academy is honoured to pay tribute to the great Irish filmmaker Jim Sheridan. He is a master storyteller, bold and brilliant, whose skill and vision continues to inspire so many, and his constant support and

nurturing of Irish creative talent is part of his ongoing legacy."

Jim’s talents were honed through a very early interest in the theatre, developed in no small part because of Peter Sheridan, his stage director father. After leaving University College Dublin with a degree in English and Philosophy, Jim and his brother, also called Peter, took over Dublin’s Projects Arts Centre, turning it into the focal point of alternative theatre in Ireland.

As artistic director of the company, Sheridan wrote, pro-

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duced and directed many plays.

Never one to shirk away from hard-hitting material, his early 1970s plays included the controversial Journey Of A Hole (co-written with Neil Jordan), which told the story of institutional abuse in Ireland’s industrial schools. Other plays included Women at Work, Mobile Homes (both 1976) and The Ha’Penny Place (1979).

A major turning point in Sheridan’s career came in 1982 when he and his family emigrated to New York City, with their experiences later shaping the acclaimed 2002 semi-biographical drama In America.

Once settled in the US, Sheridan took over as artistic director of the New York Irish Arts Center and enrolled in a filmmaking course at the prestigious New York University. His prolific theatre work brought him to the attention of Dublin-based producer Noel Pearson, who was interested in adapting the life of Dubliner Christy Brown, a sufferer of cerebral palsy who overcame his disability to become a celebrated novelist, poet and painter.

My Left Foot was released in 1989, Sheridan’s debut film being universally lauded and nominated for five Academy Awards in 1990, including Best Film. Sheridan himself was nominated for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay, with the wins for actors Daniel Day Lewis and Brenda Fricker establishing Sheridan’s intrinsic flair for working with actors.

Sheridan stayed in Ireland for his next film venture, an adaptation of The Field, one of John B. Keane’s most celebrated plays. Released in 1990, The Field was a critical and commercial success, and once again

demonstrated Sheridan’s ability to draw out fantastic performances from his actors. Thanks to a career-reviving turn as Bull McCabe, Richard Harris garnered both Oscar and Golden Globe nominations, whilst the film itself became an instant and oft-quoted classic of Irish cinema.

“I actually created my own audition, I really had to convince Jim. He understood that I had the passion for it, the commitment. You see, my career was dead.”

Richard Harris on making The Field In 1992, Sheridan wrote the script for Into The West, a magical realist film about Irish travellers that was directed by Mike Newell (Four Weddings & A Funeral, Donnie Brasco).

Sheridan’s script was praised by the film’s actors Gabriel Byrne and Ellen Barkin, with the former proclaiming it as one of the best scripts he had ever read and the latter commenting that it was an extraordinary piece of film writing.

The 1993 biographical courtroom drama In The Name Of The Father displayed Sheridan’s versatility further and cemented his eminent standing on the world stage. Reuniting with Daniel Day Lewis, the film (which Sheridan directed, coproduced and co-wrote) told the true-life story of Gerry Conlon, one of the Guildford Four, who were wrongly convicted of the 1974 IRA pub bombings in the Surrey town, which killed four off-duty British soldiers and a civilian.

The film was released to global acclaim, with critics labelling it an ‘absorbing personal and political drama’, and would go on to be nominated for seven

Academy Awards in 1994. Sheridan himself was nominated for three Oscars for the film in the categories of Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Film. Daniel Day Lewis garnered another Oscar nomination for Best Actor with supporting stars Emma Thompson and Pete Postlethwaite picking up nominations also.

After co-writing and producing Terry George’s acclaimed Troubles drama Some Mother’s Son (1996), Sheridan then teamed up with Daniel Day Lewis once again, for the 1997 drama The Boxer. The script (co-written with Terry George) centres on the life of a boxer and former Provisional IRA volunteer who is trying to go straight after his release from prison. The film was released to acclaim, garnering three Golden Globe nominations, with the New York Times stating that it was a ‘fine, galvinising film’.

A string of producing duties followed for noted filmmakers such as Anjelica Huston (Agnes Browne), John Carney (On The Edge), Paul Greengrass (Bloody Sunday) and Jim’s brother Peter Sheridan (Borstal Boy), all movies, unsurprisingly, with strong political messages.

Jim entered the new millennium with his most personal film to date. A semi-autobiographical tale which draws from the Sheridan family’s own experiences as struggling Irish immigrants in New York, In America was co-written with Jim’s daughters Naomi and Kirsten, and starred Paddy Considine, Samantha Morton, Sarah Bolger and Djimon Hounsou. The film received exceptionally positive reviews when it was released Continued to next page

Irish Arts & Entertainment

Jim Sheridan Continued from previous page in 2002, with The New York Times labelling it as a movie with a ‘supernatural glow that you can practically warm your hands by’.

Along with his daughters, Jim received his sixth Academy Award nomination in 2003 in the category of Best Original Script, with Samantha Morton and Djimon Hounsou also receiving Oscar nods for their engaging performances.

In America Get Rich Or Die Tryin’ The psychological war drama Brothers was released in 2009. Dealing with the aftermath of war on a contemporary American family, Brothers starred Tobey Maguire, Natalie Portman and Jake Gyllenhall.

Hell on Wheels Continued from page 4 “Hell on Wheels.” Nothing is permanent, certainly not the population. The town signs brags that there is one less person every day.

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E May/June 2015 E Sheridan’s direction was warmly received for shirking the usual clichés attached to war dramas. The 2011 thriller Dream House followed, led by Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz, and highlighting Jim’s adaptability to different genres, this ‘mindbending suspense ride’ brought the Irish filmmaker into the horror genre.

Sheridan’s next film, The Secret Scripture, sees the legendary filmmaker return to Ireland. Based on Sebastian Barry’s award-winning novel, this period drama about a 100-year old woman attempting to piece together her life.

For further information about IFTA visit

www.ifta.ie

The town has a bar, a butcher with a slaughterhouse, a brothel and a church. To get from place to place, one walks down dirt, and sometimes very muddy, lanes. Since it is a company town, Durant supplies the needs of his work crews, made up of returning soldiers, freed slaves and many an Irishman fresh off the boat. No one is very civilized, not even the Reverend Coles (Ted Noonan). When he arrives in town with his church, he sets up his tent in between the brothel and the bar. The working girls here are every bit as rough as the men. Everyone has a mangy dog look.

Ironically, the most civilized individual in this camp is the young Cheyenne, Joseph Black Moon, (Eddie Spears), who is baptized by Reverend Cole.

More about the making of NOBLE

[See interview on page 6] Noble began production in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam on the 10th of January 2013.

For cast and crew it was the beginning of a journey through three decades and three countries: From the dour 1950’s Dublin of Christina Noble’s childhood, to Birmingham in the late 1960’s where she tried to create a new life, to the culture shock that was Vietnam in 1989.

For writer-producer-director Stephen Bradley, it was a long awaited moment when five years of research and script writing, location scouting and casting, came together in front of camera.

“I first came to Saigon at the beginning of 2011 when I was writing the screenplay,” he recalls. “I made sure to stay out of the touristic places - District One or the business district - to stay close to what Christina experienced when she first arrived.”

What the Irish-born filmmaker found was, in some ways, not an entirely alien culture.

“It’s interesting that the people here are very like the Irish: they have a great sense of humour, they like to have fun but are quite serious at the same time. They’ve been massively affected by their history but they’ve got over what they call the ‘American war’ and they’re all about moving forward economically, socially and thrusting into a new world. All that was fascinating to me.”

Months of scouting locations around Ho Chi Minh City, where half of the filming would take place, presented cinematic riches and challenges. The architecture and environment had been greatly altered since 1989, the year Christina Noble first came to Vietnam.

“We began filming at one of my favourite locations, mentioned in the interview as the “Peak Experience day!” - which was one of the few that we had to completely recreate,” the director recalls. “It was in one of those old style woodpanelled lobbies at a French colonial hotel. All of those hotels have been changed and modernised but our designer Christina Casali did a great job transforming the lobby of the renovated Saigon Grand to more closely resemble one that our protagonist might have walked through the doors of when she first arrived here in 1989.”

http://thenoblemovie.com FOR INFORMATION ABOUT

Christina Noble Children’s Foundation

www.cncf.org

These two young orphans depicted here were her first two rescues.

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Irish Arts & Entertainment