A World Premiere of the New Musical
on the Francis J. Greenburger Mainstage
Book, Music, & Lyrics by Asher Muldoon
Based on the novel by Patrick McCabe
Directed by Ciarán O’Reilly
Music Direction by David Hancock Turner
Choreography by Barry McNabb
With David Baida, Nicholas Barasch, Carey Rebecca Brown, Joe Cassidy, Kerry Conte, Andrea Lynn Green, Daniel Marconi, Polly McKie, Michele Ragusa, Scott Stangland, Christian Strange, and Teddy Trice
“Muldoon has created a buoyantly engaging musical…miraculous…[Nicholas] Barasch is a young talent with a formidably bright future” — Charles Isherwood, The Wall Street Journal
“Good lord is it thrilling…a breakout performance that [Nicholas Barasch] gives himself over to completely” – IrishCentral
“When I was a young lad twenty or thirty or forty years ago, I lived in a small town where they were all after me on account of what I done on Mrs. Nugent.” — Patrick McCabe, The Butcher Boy
Growing up in a narrow-minded Irish village in the 1960s, young Francie Brady lives in a comic book dreamland with his parents and best friend Joe, but all that ends when the Nugents – mother and son – move to town. After the haughty Mrs. Nugent denounces the Brady family as “pigs,” a violent obsession enters Francie’s world and only builds as the life he loves crumbles around him. When he cannot fight the dark forces any longer, the story spins to a catastrophic conclusion.
The Butcher Boy is Patrick McCabe’s shattering masterpiece. Published in 1992, the novel was hailed as a modern classic and has remained in the Irish consciousness for decades. A 1997 film adaptation was directed by Neil Jordan and starred Fiona Shaw, Stephen Rea, and Sinéad O’Connor.
This musical adaptation is the first original musical in eight years to be developed by Irish Repertory Theatre. In 2017, high school senior Asher Muldoon (Dear Evan Hansen National Tour) approached Irish Rep with this adaptation, for which he had written a hypnotic score, smart lyrics, and a funny and moving book. In 2018, Irish Rep mounted a workshop and an enthusiastically received concert performance. We are thrilled to present the world premiere in 2022.
Read the performance program here!
Strobe lighting effects will be used in this production. This production may not be suitable for children under 14.
Click here for a Content Warning.
Watch the Trailer here:
“an anti-coming of age story…powerful” — The New York Times
“[Nicholas] Barasch is a fine singer and an energetic presence” — Ken Marks, The New Yorker
“It is a beautiful piece of theatre, a thought-provoking heartbreaking piece of theatre…a damn good piece of theater that will leave you pondering the story and characters for some time to come.” — Front Row Center
“all the earmarks of a future cult favorite…an impressive debut…perfectly staged to give everything a wonderfully mad, surrealistic perspective” — Talkin’ Broadway
“[Nicholas] Barasch unrestrainedly throws himself musically into the forbidding role” — New York Stage Review
“a solid, imaginative adaptation…the show strikes a balance between comedy and tragedy thanks to the excellent ensemble, clever choices, and striking set” — Show Biz
“a dark comedy of contrasts and pipe dreams…empathetically musicalized to highlight the ever-changing circumstances and emotional swings in this compelling adaptation of McCabe’s novel…Nicholas Barasch commands the stage.” — Mark Kappel
