Geraldine Hughes
By Irish Echo Staff
It’s a long way from Belfast to New Paltz.
Especially when it’s via New York City.
But Belfast actress Geraldine Hughes is heading for the upstate SUNY New Paltz campus, foot to the floor, in order to perform her acclaimed one woman play, “Belfast Blues.”
Written and performed by Hughes and directed by Carol Kane, Hughes will be on stage at the McKenna Theatre on the campus of SUNY New Paltz, October 14 and 15 at 8 p.m.
The play is being presented by the New Paltz Department of Theatre Arts, with additional sponsorship by Garvan McCloskey of Garvan’s in New Paltz.
“Belfast Blues” was developed in collaboration with Kim Terrell and The Virtual Theatre Project in 2003, and produced by Steven Klein and Matt Shakman, as the first play in Black Dahlia’s 2003 season in Los Angeles.
It was originally directed by “Hillstreet Blues” star Charles Haid.
Belfast Blues is a tapestry of stories told from Hughes’ perspective as a little girl coming of age in the war-torn Belfast of the 1980s.
Hailed as passionate, riveting and often humorous, the stories bear insightful witness to the many faces of trying to live a normal life amidst the violence.
At thirteen, Hughes temporarily left “The Troubles” to star in a TV movie, “Children in the Crossfire,” directed by George Schaefer, only to return to a different kind of confusion and pain.
The set and lighting design for “Belfast Blues” are by Jonathan Christman and the sound design is by Jonathan Snipes. It is directed by Carol Kane.
Hughes has appeared in films such as “Duplex,” “Rocky Balboa” and “Gran Torino.”
She played Mary Todd Lincoln in “Killing Lincoln” and Dr. Nina in “The Blacklist.” Broadway credits include “Jerusalem,” “Translations” and “Cyrano de Bergerac.”
Carol Kane made her Broadway debut in “Ring Around the Bathtub.”
Best known as Simka on TV’s “Taxi,” Kane’s film and TV credits include “Annie Hall,” “Dog Day Afternoon” and “Hester Street,” which earned her an Oscar nomination.
Additional Broadway credits include “Wicked,” “The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds,” “Sly Fox” and the 2012 revival of “Harvey.”
For ticket reservations and further information contact the SUNY New Paltz Fine and Performing Arts Box Office at (845)257-3880 or reserve on-line at www.newpaltz.edu/theatre/productions.html.
