Irish Rep Kicks Off THE PARTING GLASS Series Tonight with IN SHORTS

Off-Broadway's award-winning Irish Repertory Theatre announces THE PARTING GLASS, a series of special one-night only events celebrating Irish arts and culture. THE PARTING GLASS, which marks the end of the Irish Rep's 2013-2014 Season, will feature traditional Irish music, dance, poetry and storytelling. The series will take place on the Francis J. Greenburger Mainstage of the Irish Repertory Theatre (132 West 22nd Street).

Tickets to the events in THE PARTING GLASS series are priced at $25, and are available now via the Irish Rep box office by calling 212-727-2737 or online at www.irishrep.org.

The following events will be presented as part of THE PARTING GLASS:

IN SHORTS

Tonight, July 17th at 7PM

Starring Geraldine Hughes and Jimmy Kerr

This intimate performance is sure to delight fans of these natural storytellers spinning yarns from their childhood. Told through a series of short stories, IN SHORTS is a witty and enchanting, coming of age piece that gives a rare glimpse of both artists' very different, yet parallel experiences of growing up in Northern Ireland during the same period.

AN IRISH SUMMER CÉILE

Tuesday, July 29th at 7:30 PM

AN IRISH SUMMER CÉILE is a glorious celebration of traditional Irish music, step dancing, and storytelling featuring Donie Carroll as Master of Ceremonies. The evening also features Dan Larkin, spinning Irish tales in the tradition of the great Irish shanachai (storyteller) Eamon Kelly, and well as music by vocalist Marian Makins , backed by Margie Mulvihill on flute, John Reynolds on fiddle, Don Meade on banjo, John Nolan on button accordion, and Gabriel Donohue on piano and guitar. Surprise guests step upon the stage with their own "take" on the evening ....which may last awhile!

THE RETURN OF THE LARK

Thursday, July 31 at 7:30 PM

An encore performance of From Ireland to America and Back: A Musical Journey in Song

By Irish Soprano Mary Deady. Musical Direction by Jeff Cubeta.

Mary Deady returns to the Irish Rep where she wooed her capacity audience this past spring. This rich musical evening begins as Mary traces her origins from a small village in County Kerry to her finding, in time, a home in New York City. Drawing upon the richness of the American Songbook, frequent echoes of Ireland are filtered through an American sensibility. The return home to Ireland in mind and heart is hallmarked in the second half by beloved historical Irish songs: joys and sorrows, feast and famine, the mirror of Ireland's people. The evening is devised and directed by Bill Ndini.

As lead soprano with the National Folk Theatre of Ireland, Mary Deady has toured extensively in Europe, the US, and Canada. Now a resident of New York City, Mary has performed at venues including City Hall, the Metropolitan Club, and, most recently, with Jeff Cubeta on piano, the Laurie Beechman Theatre/West Bank Café, tracing her migration from Ireland to America through the American songbook. Mary counts among her greatest thrills her visit to Tanzania, East Africa, where she sang for the Irish Society and the Goethe Institute of Dar-es-Salaam.

Jeff Cubeta is a songwriter, vocalist, pianist, and musical director. He has musical directed shows for many celebrated concert/cabaret performers including Eric Michael Gillett, La Tanya Hall, Raissa Katona Bennett, and Marieann Meringolo. In 2012 Mr. Cubeta produced Songs in the Key of LGBT, a Cabaret Benefit for Ali Forney Center, and in 2013, he produced a show of his original music featuring singers Aisha DeHaas, Venessa Diaz, and Charlie Stevens.

I WILL ARISE AND GO NOW: A Summer Yeats Celebration

Tuesday, August 5th at 7:30 PM

A blend of beloved poems, songs, stories and music by Nobel Prize-winning poet William Butler Yeats, read by a roster of Irish Rep actors and guests who have enchanted audiences for the past 25 years. The Yeats canon, accompanied by a chronology of notes and letters written by the Master Himself brings his life into brilliant focus while musical accompaniment enriches his written word. Featuring Rufus Collins, Terry Donnelly, Patrick Fitzgerald, Ciarán O'Reilly, Kitty Sullivan, and John Douglas Thompson

THE PARTING GLASS series marks the end of the Irish Rep's 26th season, which began last October with a critically acclaimed, twice-extended revival of Sean O'Casey's JUNO AND THE PAYCOCK, directed by Ms. Moore, starring Drama Desk Award-nominee J. Smith-Cameron. That production was followed by the New York premiere A MIND-BENDING EVENING OF BECKETT, a presentation of three of Samuel Beckett's short plays, with direction and puppet design by Bob Flanagan, and IRT's annual holiday offering, this season a revival of IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE - The 1946 Live Radio Play, adapted by Anthony E. Palermo from the screenplay by Francis Goodrich, Albert Hackett, Frank Capra and Jo Swerling, directed by Ms. Moore. 2014 began with the world premiere production of the musical TRANSPORT, with a book by acclaimed Australian author Thomas Keneally (Schindler's List) and music and lyrics by Larry Kirwan (founder of the iconic New York City band Black 47), directed by three-time Tony Award-winning director and designer Tony Walton. The musical was followed by an acclaimed, extended run of a revival of Gardner McKay's SEA MARKS, directed by Ciarán O'Reilly and starring Xanthe Elbrick and Patrick Fitzgerald.

Co-founded by Producing Director Ciarán O'Reilly and Artistic Director Charlotte Moore, Irish Repertory Theatre opened its doors in September 1988 with Sean O'Casey's THE PLOUGH AND THE STARS. The Irish Rep is currently the only year-round theatre company in New York City devoted to bringing Irish and Irish American works to the stage. Recognized with the Jujamcyn Theatres Award, a special Drama Desk Award for "Excellence in Presenting Distinguished Irish Drama," an Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Achievement, and the Lucille Lortel Award for "Outstanding Body of Work," the Irish Rep has celebrated the very best in Irish theatre for over twenty-five years, from the masters to the new generation of Irish and Irish American writers who are transforming the stage. Nearly 38,000 audience members annually attend productions at our theatre located in the heart of New York's Off Broadway community. Once here, they witness the Irish Rep's engaging perspective on the Irish and their unique contributions to the world of drama.

For more information, visit www.irishrep.org.

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