Origin Theatre and Bloom's Tavern to Host 4th Annual Immersive BLOOMSDAY BREAKFAST

This year's 4th annual immersive Bloomsday Breakfast hosted by Origin Theatre Company and Bloom's Tavern in Midtown on June 16 will feature an expanded version of its juried costume contest and the announcement of a new Irish-American literary prize.

"Origin's 4th Bloom... @ Bloom's Tavern of Course!" -- produced by Origin Theatre Company... a grand tradition since 2014! -- features performances, inspiring speeches and civilized morning gaiety. Everything takes place -- as a casual Irish breakfast and refreshments are served -- at Bloom's Tavern, 208 East 58th Street, on Friday June 16, beginning at 7:30am (and lasting until 10am).

The annual free event -- New York's only site-specific Bloomsday breakfast -- commemorates the Dublin summer morning chronicled in James Joyce's landmark novel "Ulysses," which takes place in a single day, June 16, 1904.

Among the notables in the cast are Malachy McCourt; Charlotte Moore; David O'Hara; Paula Nance; David Staller; Terry Donnolly; Fiona Walsh; The James Joyce Reading Group and David O'Leary of Trí -- The New Irish Tenors.

For the second year in a row the breakfast features a costume competition for the "Best, or Most Creatively, Dressed Molly or Leopold Bloom." The winner -- either a man or woman -- will be selected from among the guests by a blue-ribbon panel chaired by the internationally recognized image strategist Margaret Molloy. A $2000 Dinner and NYC Fun Package will be offered to the grand-prize winner.

(Contestants are invited to come period-attired, or in a summer-festive outfit that is a modern interpretation of a Dublin morning 1904. Both couples and individuals are eligible. 1 Grand Prize will be awarded.)

A new annuAl Bloomsday award honoring the work of an Irish or Irish-American author, the Origin in Bloom Literary Award, will be announced, and the first prize awarded. Serving on the nominating committee for next year's honor are Irish Voice's Cahir O'Doherty, Irish America Magazine's Patricia Harty, historian and curator Turlough McConnell and the Irish Echo's Peter McDermott.

Bloom's Tavern's site-specific Bloomsday Breakfast/Performance features the Irish-folk-rock troubadour Alan Gogarty on guitar, who interacts with actors in costume, musicians, politicians and visitors on their way to work and other endeavors.

James Joyce first serialized "Ulysses" beginning in 1918. Considered a masterpiece of modernism, it was banned in the U.S. before the book was published in its entirety in France in 1922. Bloomsday observances around the world date back to 1924.

Produced by Origin Theatre Company "Origin's 4th Bloom... @ Bloom's Tavern of Course!" takes place at Bloom's Tavern, 208 East 58th Street, on Friday June 16 from 7:30am to 10am. The FREE, site-specific event is fueled by a traditional Irish breakfast, with blood sausage and kidney pie among the edible delicacies, and refreshing summer drinks. For information and reservations go to www.origintheatre.org.