Nicholas Barasch, David Baida, Kerry Conte & More to Star in World Premiere of THE BUTCHER BOY at Irish Rep

Irish Repertory Theatre announced today casting for the World Premiere of the new musical The Butcher Boy, featuring book, music & lyrics by Asher Muldoon. Directed by Ciarán O'Reilly (A Touch of the Poet), with music direction by David Hancock Turner (Penelope) and choreography by Barry McNabb (The Streets of New York), The Butcher Boy will begin previews on the Francis J. Greenburger Mainstage on July 21, 2022 and is set to open on August 1 for a limited run through September 11, 2022.

The cast of The Butcher Boy will include David Baida (On Your Feet!) as "Pig 4," Nicholas Barasch (Hadestown National Tour) as "Francie Brady," Carey Rebecca Brown (The Sound of Music National Tour) as "Pig 2," Joe Cassidy (Waitress) as "Alo/William," Kerry Conte (The Streets of New York) as "Mary/Mary/Mary," Andrea Lynn Green (The Home Place) as "Ma," Daniel Marconi (Made by God) as "Phillip Nugent," Polly McKie (The Streets of New York) as "Pig 3," Michele Ragusa (Flying Over Sunset) as "Mrs. Nugent/Kathleen," Scott Stangland (Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812) as "Da" and Teddy Trice (The Book of Mormon) as "Pig 1." Additional casting will be announced at a later date.

The Butcher Boy will feature scenic design by Charlie Corcoran (A Touch of the Poet), costume design by Orla Long (Made by God), lighting design by Kat Zhou (BLKS), sound design by M. Florian Staab (A Touch of the Poet), orchestrations by Muldoon and Sammy Grob (Wake), and projection design by Dan Scully (Three Wise Guys). April Ann Kline (A Touch of the Poet) is the Production Stage Manager, Jade Doina (A Touch of the Poet) is the Assistant Stage Manager, Liam Prendergast (Belfast Girls) is the Assistant Director, and Emma Camp is the Assistant Choreographer. Casting is by JZ Casting.

"When I was a young lad twenty or thirty or forty years ago, I lived in a small town where they were all after me on account of what I done on Mrs. Nugent." (Patrick McCabe, The Butcher Boy)

Life is hard for the youthful Francie Brady, who struggles to navigate the narrow streets and narrow minds of an Irish village in the 1960's. But his eternal optimism and carefree spirit carry him above his dysfunctional family and gossipy town, where he lives in a comic book dreamland with his best friend Joe. When he taunts newcomer Philip Nugent, his uptight mother Mrs. Nugent calls Francie's family a bunch of pigs. This triggers a violent pig obsession, which grows as Francie's life falls apart around him.

This surrealist coming-of-age tale is tangled in a hypnotic score, smart lyrics, and a funny and moving book, which all serve to cloak Francie's pain until he cannot fight the dark forces any longer, and the story spins to a catastrophic conclusion.

The Butcher Boy is Patrick McCabe's shattering masterpiece novel. Published in 1992, the novel was hailed as a modern classic and has remained in the Irish consciousness for decades. A 1997 film adaptation was directed by Neil Jordan and starred Eamonn Owens, Fiona Shaw, Stephen Rea and Sinéad O'Connor.

This musical adaptation of The Butcher Boy is the first original musical in eight years to be developed by Irish Repertory Theatre. In 2017, Asher Muldoon (Dear Evan Hansen National Tour) approached Irish Rep with this adaptation, for which he had written book, music & lyrics. In 2018, Irish Rep mounted a workshop followed by an enthusiastically-received concert performance. They are thrilled to present the world premiere in 2022.

The performance schedule is as follows: Wednesdays at 2PM & 7PM, Thursdays at 7PM, Fridays at 8PM, Saturdays at 2PM & 7PM, and Sundays at 3PM.

Tickets for The Butcher Boy begin at $45 and are on sale now for Irish Rep Members. Tickets will go on sale to the public on June 7 at 1PM ET and will be available at IrishRep.org.

Current on the Irish Rep Mainstage is Belfast Girls by Jaki McCarrick and directed by Nicola Murphy. Belfast Girls will run through June 26, 2022. On the W. Scott McLucas Studio Stage, a brand new production of Yes! Reflections of Molly Bloom, adapted for the stage by Aedín Moloney (The Dead, 1904) and Colum McCann (Let the Great World Spin), will begin previews on June 8, 2022 with an opening night set for June 15 and a limited run through July 17, 2022. This production of Yes! will feature new direction by John Keating, new additional music by Paddy Moloney, and an updated design.