My name is Shannon and I got started with Irish Repertory Theatre in 2019 as a summer intern, and they haven’t been able to shake me yet! These days, I work as a librarian, and therefore have some recommendations for further reading for fans of The Saviour.
Joe O’Byrne
Joe O’Byrne plays include Departed, The Ghost of Saint Joan, The Sinking of the Titanic and Other Matters, It Come up Sun, En Suite (Abbey/ Peacock Theatre, Dublin), and The Article (Altes Schauspielhaus, Stuttgart). He has directed many plays and adaptations including Frank Pig Says Hello, adapted by Pat McCabe from his novel; The Butcher Boy; Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray at Irish Repertory Theatre, New York, and The Woman Who Walked into Doors by Roddy Doyle. At the Gate Theatre, Dublin, he directed The Dumb Waiter by Harold Pinter as part of the first Pinter Festival. Most recently he has directed Nighttown by James Joyce, his own play McKeague and O’Brien present ‘The Rising’, The Leaves of Heaven by Pat McCabe, and his own play Enough. Film and television work includes “Korea,” “Pete’s Meteor,” and “An Brontanas/The Gift,” and for radio, Old Punks Rule, The Blue Hyacinth, and Yardstick.
Joe O’Byrne has recently directed The Cordelia Dream for Irish Rep Online, as well as J.M. Synge’s The Aran Islands. Watch The Aran Islands on demand now, and sign up for The Cordelia Dream, running July 27 – August 8, 2021, for free.
Ali Ewoldt
Ali Ewoldt has appeared as Christine Daaé in The Phantom of the Opera on Broadway, Cosette in Les Miserables (Broadway, National Tour), The King and I (Broadway, Tour, Lyric Opera of Chicago), Maria in West Side Story (National Tour, International Tour, PCLO, The Muny, MTWichita) and Luisa in The Fantasticks (Off-Broadway).
Regionally, she has played Philia in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (The Muny), Fan/Mrs. Bonds in A Christmas Carol (McCarter Theatre), Martha Jefferson in 1776 (The Muny,) and Sarah Brown in Guys and Dolls (Sacramento Music Circus). Ali’s concert/symphony work includes Feinstein’s/54 Below, Alice Tully Hall, The Town Hall, Canyon Ranch, NY Pops at Carnegie Hall, American Pops Orchestra, Houston Symphony, Kaohsiung Symphony, and The Boston Pops with Maestro Keith Lockhart.
Her TV/Film credits include “The Michael J. Fox Show,” “Yield,” and the short films “Mia” and “The Cactus.” Ali has a BA in psychology from Yale University and is a proud Filipina-American. Social: @aliewoldt
See Ali as Rose Smith in Meet Me in St. Louis on-demand from wherever and whenever you like here!
Bill Irwin
Bill Irwin is a Tony Award-winning actor, director, writer, and clown. His original works include The Regard of Flight; Largely New York (four Tony Nominations); Fool Moon; Old Hats, The Happiness Lecture; and others. He has starred in many Broadway, Off-Broadway and regional stage productions, including The Iceman Cometh; Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play); The Goat, or Who is Sylvia, opposite Sally Field; Waiting for Godot with Nathan Lane (2009 Drama Desk Award nomination); The Tempest opposite Patrick Stewart; Texts for Nothing; Largely New York; The Regard of Flight; Garden of Earthly Delights; Accidental Death of An Anarchist and the Tony Award-winning Fool Moon which he created with David Shiner. On television, Irwin can be seen in character roles including Mr. Noodle of “Elmo’s World” and in HBO’s THE GILDED AGE. His film credits include Rachel Getting Married, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Eight Men Out, Interstellar, Stepping Out, and more. Irwin was an original member of Kraken, a theatre company directed by Herbert Blau, and was also an original member of the Pickle Family Circus of San Francisco. Irwin is the grateful recipient of MacArthur, Guggenheim, Fulbright, and National Endowment for the Arts Choreographer’s Fellowships.
Mary Lou and Joe Quinlan
Mary Lou and Joe Quinlan are proud Philadelphia natives who married and moved to New York City in 1978.
Mary Lou’s career took her from Advertising Director of Avon Products to a highly-awarded decade in the ad industry, including CEO of NW Ayer&Partners. She founded women’s marketing consultancy, “Just Ask a Woman.” Mary Lou has written four books, including New York Times bestseller “The God Box” which she transformed into a solo play which she has performed in the US and Ireland. The play’s first workshop was held downstairs at the Irish Rep. The God Box Project raised over $600,000 for hospice, educational, and arts institutions.
Joe spent more than a decade working for Robin MacNeil and Jim Lehrer for their Report/ NewsHour on PBS. He was later president of two Time Inc television production companies. He has served on the board or advisory board of seven different not-for-profits, including Glucksman Ireland House at NYU, where he received his MA in 2013.
Via the Ireland Funds, they support a wide array of arts, cultural and educational groups in New York and Ireland, as well as endowed scholarships at their alma maters. Mary Lou traces her Irish roots to County Tipperary, Cork, and Monaghan. Joe’s family comes from Cork, Longford, Roscommon, and Fermanagh.
Gregory Harrington
Born in Dublin and based in New York City, violinist Gregory Harrington is redefining the classical virtuoso for the 21st century. His unique ability to transform popular jazz, rock and pop music into brand new violin concert pieces has enthralled audiences around the world. As noted by critics, Mr. Harrington juxtaposes Bach and Bob Dylan, Beethoven and Leonard Cohen, Radiohead and Johnny Cash to staggering effect. As a performer/arranger with orchestra or his performing groups, Harrington’s cross-cultural and wide-reaching appeal has brought him to perform for Presidents and Vice Presidents, celebrities, heads of state, the United Nations and millions of music fans around the globe.
In 2006 he founded a record label, Estile Records, having released 4 critically acclaimed albums to date. On stage, his transcriptions of iconic songwriters, classical masterworks and film score greats have all received acclaim in performance and on recordings. His fourth album Without You, was released in June 2019 and comprises 11 emotionally charged tracks of reimagined pop and jazz love songs for jazz quartet. In November 2020, he will release a recording of Philip Glass’ music with the Janacek Philharmonic and conductor Mark Shapiro. This CD will include his own arrangement of the “Hours Suite” (based on the Oscar nominated score) and the Violin Concerto No. 2 “American Four Seasons”.
Today, Harrington is one of Ireland’s most recognized artists, having performed all over the world as soloist with many orchestras such as the San Diego Symphony, Rhode Island Philharmonic, Mexico City Philharmonic, RTE Concert Orchestra and the Janacek Philharmonic under Thomas Wilkins, Robert Houlihan, Mariusz Smolij and Mark Shapiro amongst others. He was invited by NBC LIVE to open the St Patricks Day Parade on 5th Avenue in New York and has performed anthems for iconic sports teams including the Green Bay Packers to at Lambeau Field and the Irish Rugby team at Soldier Field.
He performs on a 2007 Stefan-Peter Greiner violin.