Molly Bloom in Stereo!

           Each year, Radio Bloomsday ends its 7 hour nationwide broadcast of James Joyce’s Ulysses with the book’s final chapter – a two hour passion filled monologue, by the novel’s heroine, Molly Bloom.  For the first time ever, the complete Molly Bloom monologue from James Joyce’s Ulysses will be performed live by not one but two actresses, Caraid O’Brien and Bernadette Quigley (above), as a conversation that Molly has with her younger self.   

The Molly Bloom monologue is the most sexually explicit chapter in Ulysses and the reason why the book was so frequently censored.  Molly, a soprano, has spent the day in bed with her lover Blazes Boylan while her husband, Leopold Bloom wanders around Dublin.    Radio Bloomsday begins their broadcast of Molly Bloom’s night time thoughts at 11pm.  Throughout the two hour episode, a flood of memories is unleashed as the two Mollys spend the night together, thinking about their life and trying to unravel its mysteries.  Despite all the men that have crossed Molly’s path, she is her own most faithful companion.  

  Caraid O’Brien (left) has directed and performed Molly Bloom for Radio Bloomsday each year beginning in 2008.  Bernadette Quigley has performed the Molly monologue live at Symphony Space.  Her other credits include  The Suspect (upcoming), Dream House starring Daniel Craig, Rachel Weisz & Naomi Watts, Holger Ernst’s The House Is Burning, Jim Sheridan’s Oscar-nominated In America, Law & Order, Law & Order: SVU, Third Watch, and Kings, starring Ian McShane.  Quigley has worked extensively in the theatre including the National Tour of Brian Friel’s Dancing at Lughnasa, having understudied the Tony Award-winning play on Broadway.  Off-Broadway credits include Staci Swedeen’s The Goldman Project (Abingdon Theatre); Marina Carr’s Portia Coughlan (Actors Studio); God of Vengeance (Jewish Repertory); and many leading roles at the Irish Arts Center in such plays as Billy Roche’s Poor Beast in the Rain & Kenneth Branagh’s Public Enemy.

            Other performers in this year’s broadcast include Alec Baldwin, Wallace Shawn, Anne Enright, Marc Maron, Bob Odenkirk, Jerry Stiller, John Lithgow, Heather Woodbury and Paul Dooley.   

             Radio Bloomsday is a seven hour nationwide live broadcast on the Pacifica Radio Network “where artists interpret James Joyce’s Ulysses.”  WBAI and the Pacifica Radio Network have been presenting marathon performances of James Joyce’s Ulysses for over 30 years.  Since 2008, Radio Bloomsday has been directed by Caraid O’Brien in collaboration with Janet Coleman, WBAI’s Arts Director.  KPFK in Los Angeles will also carry the broadcast including the complete Molly Bloom monologue.  

All Star Cast for Radio Bloomsday 2013: In Search of a Father

             Radio Bloomsday 2013:  In Search of a Father broadcasts live on Father’s Day, Sunday, June 16^th from 7pm to 2am on WBAI 99.5FM and on wbai.org.   This year’s broadcast includes a kaleidoscope of global artistic talent united by a passion for getting under the hood of the most influential novel of the twentieth century – James Joyce’s Ulysses.  Artists include Alec Baldwin, Aaron Beall, Mannix Beall-O'Brien, Charles Busch, Bob Dishy, Janet Coleman, Frank Delaney, Paul Dooley, Roma Downey, David Dozer, Michael Elias, Nicholas Elliot, Anne Enright, Bob Fass, Jim Fletcher, Judy Graubart,  Tim Jerome, Felix Norris-Lindsay, Susannah Norris-Lindsay, John McDonough, Paul Muldoon, Johnny O’Callaghan, Bob Odenkirk, Brian O’Doherty, Roger Norris, T. Ryder Smith, John Spinks, Amy Stiller, Jerry Stiller, Fiana Toibin, Kate Valk, Heather Woodbury and Zeroboy.

At 11pm, Caraid O’Brien will revisit her acclaimed Molly Bloom monologue as a dialogue that Molly Bloom has with herself performing together with Bernadette Quigley (In America, Law & Order).  Musicians appearing live on the broadcast include All Ireland button accordion champion, Martin O’Connell, fiddle player Marie-Louise Bowe, singers Eileen Ruby and Christine de Michele, Steven Antonelli, Ralph Martin, Johnny Coughlan, Brad Maestas and Keith Connolly. 

Radio Bloomsday is a seven hour nationwide live broadcast on the Pacifica Radio Network “where artists interpret James Joyce’s Ulysses.”  Coinciding with Father’s Day, this year’s program highlights the many different, sometimes tender and often difficult relationships between Fathers and their children seen throughout Ulysses. WBAI and the Pacifica Radio Network have been broadcasting marathon performances of James Joyce’s Ulysses for over 30 years.  Since 2008, Radio Bloomsday has been directed by Caraid O’Brien in collaboration with Janet Coleman, WBAI’s Arts Director.  KPFK in Los Angeles will also carry the broadcast.  

Radio Bloomsday 2013: In Search of a Father

Welcome to Radio Bloomsday 2013:  In Search of A Father!  This year's broadcast occurs on Sunday, June 16th from 7pm to 2am on WBAI 99.5FM in New York City and on wbai.org anywhere in the world and coincides with Father's Day in the United States.  In celebration of Father's Day, we are focusing our program on the many ruminations on fatherhood that Joyce's characters express throughout his epic novel.   The photo above is of James Joyce and his grandson, Stephen.

Some of the scenes in Ulysses that we will be highlighting this year include Bloom's tender relationship with his daughter Molly, his painful memories of his own father's suicide and his son's death at 11 days old.  Bloom also stands in as a surrogate for Stephen Dedalus, the young poet and school teacher whose own father is a violent, angry drunk.  Simon and Stephen's contentious relationship was modeled on Joyce's own relationship with his alcoholic father, who like Simon was not able to support his growing family.

We have an extraordinary all star cast for you this year that we will be announcing shortly.  Also stay tuned for news on an exciting new take on Molly Bloom's monologue!