The Irish Arts Center has announced the Off-Broadway premiere of CATALPA, written and performed by Donal O'Kelly with live music composed and performed by Trevor Knight. CATALPA is directed by Mr. O'Kelly, based on original direction by Bairbre Ni Chaoimh. CATALPA begins previews on Wednesday, November 12 for a limited engagement through Sunday, November 30. The performance schedule is Tuesday –through Friday at 8:00pm, Saturday at 2pm and 8pm and Sunday at 3pm. The press opening is Sunday, November 16 at 3pm. Performances take place at the Donaghy Theatre at the Irish Arts Center, located at 553 West 51st Street between 10th and 11th Avenues in New York City. Tickets are $60 and are available through SmartTix at (212) 868-4444 or www.smarttix.com. CATALPA is on an Off-Broadway contract.
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 premiered in Dublin and toured to Melbourne, London, Chicago, Toronto, Paris, Copenhagen, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Geneva.Described by the Times of London as "dazzling theatrical story-telling," these are monologues unlike any other, incorporating memory, landscape, poetic narrative and song, all infused by O'Kelly's Herculean physical energy. Fintan O'Toole (The Irish Times) called it "exuberant, exhilarating, magical." O'Kelly's spellbinding story-telling combines with music composed and performed live by Trevor Knight to recreate the 19th-century rescue voyage with daring theatricality and an unsparing sense of humor.Founded in 1972, the Irish Arts Center is the leading non-profit institution in New York bringing the very best of Irish arts and culture to audiences of all ages and ethnic backgrounds. Located in the heart of Manhattan’s historic “Hell’s Kitchen”, the Irish Arts Center is one of the largest and most inclusive Irish cultural organizations in the United States. More than 35,000 people of all ages and ethnicities participated directly in Irish Arts Center programs in 2006, plus many more through print and broadcast media coverage of our theatrical and musical engagements, education programs, festivals, and special events.
For more information, contact the Irish Arts Center at 212-757-3318 or email info@irishartscenter.org or visit http://www.artmeetscommerce.net/irishartcenter.Videos