Two immigrants, having survived the coffin ships and the rat-infested tenements of the Lower East Side, find themselves gainfully employed at Olana, the home of Hudson River Valley artist, Frederick Church. Here, both Emilia, who serves in the home, and Michael, who runs the stable, carry on with duties of cleaning, laundering, caring for children, feeding, exercising the animals, and more. But great changes are taking place. And with these changes, come both opportunities and crimes. When Father Joseph embraces these souls, it is a duty he takes to heart. These relationships change their lives forever.
Written by:
Kate McLeod, a playwright, lyricist, librettist. All of her 22 plays have been performed and/or produced in New York and throughout the Northeast and in London. Her education includes a BA in English Literature and an MFA in theatre from The Catholic University of America. McLeod started her life in the theater as an actress, and toured South America with USIA for six months performing shows with three other actor-singer-puppeteer-magician-musicians. She worked as an actor in Boston and New York. McLeod created a program called, "What's Your Story?", a 15-hour workshop with 10 at-risk teenage girls from a group home at the Hudson Opera House.
Starring:
Annalisa Chamberlin (Emilia), an actor based in New York City, working in film & television, and theatre. She attended the New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts, and was a resident actor at Wallis Knot Theater, and The Cry Havoc Company where she was also a dramaturg and mentor. Film and TV credits include... Law & Order: SVU (NBC Universal); Sex, Guaranteed (Amazon Prime); The Locksmith (Amazon Prime); In Defense of Civil Society (Diversity at Cannes). Theater: Between Two Worlds (HERE); Paper (Hudson Guild); Hamlet (Wallis Knot Theatre); Oh My! The Musical (IRT); Peace and Love in Brooklyn (The Cell, premiere); Daughter of the Waves (NYMF); The F*ck Am I Doing? (NYMF); For Goodness Sake (4th Street Theater at NY Theater Workshop); Boann and the Well of Wisdom (Origin 1st Irish, premiere); Dead Man’s Cell Phone (Millbrook Playhouse, PA). Irish Echo Arts & Culture Award, 2023.
John Patrick Hart (Michael), an actor, singer, and a proud graduate of the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama. He was most recently seen as Count Orsino in Twelfth Night with The Drilling Company and was nominated for his performance as Aiden in Herself during the Origin 1st Irish Festival last spring. He is thrilled to be playing Michael this evening.
T. Ryder Smith (Father Joseph) - Broadway: Oslo, War Horse, Equus. Off-Broadway: world premieres of plays by JT Rogers, Sarah Ruhl, Christina Masciotti, Katori Hall, Richard Foreman, David Greenspan, Barbara Hammond, at Playwrights Horizons, Signature Theatre Co, CSC, others. Regional theatre: world premieres of Scenes from Court Life, We Are Pussy Riot, Creditors, Big Love, Salome, Lincolnesque, at Shakespeare Theatre, Yale Rep, La Jolla, The Old Globe, A.R.T. Film/TV: The Penguin, EVIL, Lost Nation, Hunters, Bull, The Blacklist, Elementary, Nurse Jackie, The Abolitionists, The Report, Happy Tears, Brainscan; short films by Rachel Rose, Marie Losier, Daniel Fish, Lawrence Krauser, Redmond Entwistle, Jared Watson. Vocal: the Bioshock videogames, animated series The Venture Brothers, Pacifica Radio’s readings of James Joyce’s Ulysses, numerous audiobooks. Drama Desk nomination, Outstanding Solo Performance: Glen Berger’s Underneath the Lintel; shared Drama Desk award, Outstanding Ensemble, Lebensraum; shared OBIE award, Outstanding Ensemble, Oslo; Audie Award, audiobook Fire in Paradise.
Conor Bagley (Director) is a New York-based director. Directing: Off-Broadway: “Two by Friel”: Lovers: Winners (50th Anniversary) & The Yalta Game (NY Premiere); The Smuggler by Ronán Noone (Irish Rep; MV Playhouse). Regional: Not Ready for Prime Time by Erik J. Rodriguez & Charles A. Sothers (Westchester, Miami); The Adult in the Room (Victory Gardens); An Iliad (Atlas, DC). Associate Directing: Translations, dir. Doug Hughes; Juno and the Paycock, dir. Neil Pepe; The Home Place, dir. Charlotte Moore (Irish Rep); Donegal by Frank McGuinness, dir. Conall Morrison (Abbey Theatre). He has directed developmental readings/workshops with numerous playwrights including: Marina Carr, Larry Kirwan, Vanessa Garcia, Christopher Demos-Brown, & Deirdre Kinahan. Producing: Broadway: The Inheritance by Matthew Lopez (Tony Award, Best Play); Once on This Island (Tony Award, Best Musical Revival). Bagley was a Manhattan Theatre Club Directing Fellow, a directing alum of the 24 Hour Plays: Nationals, and sits on the Board of Directors of Irish American Writers & Artists. Recipient of Irish Echo's 40 Under 40 Award, the V. Browne Irish Award for “artistic excellence” from Silliman College at Yale University, a DCMTA's "Outstanding Performance”, and a BroadwayWorld Regional Award for “Best Direction of a Play.”