The Symphony Space "Bloomsday On Broadway," the only complete and annual New York reading of James Joyce's Ulysses every June 16, will celebrate its 25th anniversary on Friday June 16, 2006, beginning at 12 noon.
The first major literary marathon created by Symphony Space's Isaiah Sheffer in 1981, the twelve-hour literary event led to the later, famous, National Public Radio-broadcast "Selected Shorts" series. The event will take place in the Peter Jay Sharp theatre at Symphony Space.
For this anniversary, "Bloomsday" will be distinctive in two ways. First, it will focus more intensively on the character of Stephen Dedalus (rather than Leopold Bloom and Molly Bloom, who also figured heavily in the book). Second, a significant portion of the twelve hour reading will present work by James Joyce's friend, sometime secretary, and disciple, Samuel Beckett, whose Centennial is being celebrated around the world. Prominent actors will read from Beckett's novel
Molloy, from his play and monologues, and from his poetry. The complete text of
Krapp's Last Tape and the sucking-stones story in
Molloy will be some of the selections.
Many "Bloomsday" events have been broadcast on major radio stations and published on CD (most recently the "Bloomsday on Broadway XXIV"), and this event will be taped for broadcast on WBAI.
Among the 80 readers at "Bloomsday" will be
Marian Seldes, Denis O'Hare, Frank McCourt,
Malachy McCourt,
Jonathan Hadary,
Paul Hecht,
Stephen Lang,
Fritz Weaver, Rochelle Oliver,
Mia Dillon,
Keir Dullea,
David Margulies, Roger Hendricks Simon, Terry Donnelly, Caitlin Langstaff, Robin Howard, Caraid O'Brien,
Bernadette Quigley,
Jack Davidson,
Larry Keith, Steven Spinella, Barbara Rosenblart, Lisa Flanagan, soprano and Kevin Burdette, baritone (singing the "La ci darem" duet from the opera
Don Giovanni, the piece planned by Molly Bloom with her adulterous paramour Blazes Boylan. Other traditional Irish music and songs mentioned in the texts will be sung as well). The event will be hosted by Symphony Space Artistic Director Isaiah Sheffer.
"'Bloomsday on Broadway' celebrates June 16, 1904, the most famous fictional date in literature, when Leopold Bloom walked around Dublin in the pages of James Joyce's
Ulysses. Since 1981, hundreds of acclaimed actors have joined avid Joyceans, writers, critics and scholars on stage at Symphony Space to read selections from the book that heralded the birth of modern literature Celebrations of the life, language, lusts, and literature of Bloom's day, (and that of young Stephen Dedalus, Joyce's own fictional alter ego, as well as Bloom's incomparable wife Molly) have been celebrated as 'Bloomsdays' on June 16th all over the world," state press notes.
Samuel Barclay Beckett (1906-1989) was the Nobel Prize-winning Irish playwright, novelist, and Everyman whose comedy
Waiting For Godot is the single most performed theater work of the last fifty years."His plays, also including
Endgame and
Krapp's Last Tape, and books were stripped-down and bleakly funny black comedies about the nature of being human, and the hopeless outlook of their characters were a direct allusion to his despair about life," state press notes. His novels include
Molloy, the trilogy
Malone Dies and
The Unnameable. When James Joyce's eyesight was failing, Beckett became a constant companion and secretary, writing out the author's words.
Symphony Space is located at 2537 Broadway at 95th Street. Tickets for "Bloomdsay on Broadway" are $20; Members $14; and Students/Seniors: $17. Tickets
are available at (212) 864-5400, or visit
www.symphonyspace.org.
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