How the US media covered Obama's Irish stopover

THE president and his pint: this was the image of Barack Obama's brief Irish stopover that captured the imagination of most American media outlets.

The image was used to illustrate articles on most US news websites, and broadcast on all the news networks, who reported on Obama reconnecting with his Celtic roots.

"When at a pub in Ireland, it would surely be deemed sacrilegious to deny yourself a pint of Guinness, especially if you're the president of the United States reconnecting with your distant Irish relatives," wrote Kelly Chernekoff, on the Fox News White House blog.

"So when visiting his great, great, great grandfather's hometown of Moneygall, the president was determined to not only drink a pint, but do it justice."

The visit has attracted considerable media attention, with the primary focus on Moneygall.

Mark Landler of the 'New York Times' wrote that: "President Obama may not be related to everybody in this postage-stamp Irish hamlet of 300 that claims him as its native son. But on Monday, Mr Obama appeared determined to hug, kiss or shake hands with every last one of them."

Jubilant

The paper described the visit as "jubilant" and the crowds who greeted him as "quite possibly the most loquacious rope line he has ever worked".

On TV, all the main networks previewed the visit with stories about Moneygall, including a report on NBC's top-rated morning show 'Today'.

Both MSNBC and CNN carried Mr Obama's speech at College Green in Dublin live in full.

CNN went to the scene early enough to hear Enda Kenny's impassioned plea to Irish Americans to follow their president home to Ireland.

Some outlets took a more sober take on events.

The 'LA Times', conscious of the ongoing controversy over Mr Obama's speech on Israel last week, carried his words of tribute to the Northern peace process as a model for other conflicts.

Bloomberg concentrated on Mr Obama's pledge of support for Ireland's efforts at economic recovery after the bailout.

The main news story of the day in the US was a massive tornado which killed at least 119 people in the city of Joplin, Missouri.

Most outlets carried reports from officials that Mr Obama was receiving regular updates on the damage as he made his way around Ireland.

This article appeared in the Irish Independent May 24 2011

Spiderman 2.0 hitting the right notes

A new air of positivity surrounds the Spiderman musical on Broadway, after preview performances resumed on Thursday night with no glitches and a more crowd-pleasing storyline. The $75m production, with a score written by Bono and the Edge, had taken a three week break to allow a new creative team to drastically rework the much-maligned musical.

New director Phil McKinley has put an increased emphasis on the love story between Peter Parker and Mary Jane, and on the battle with the villainous Green Goblin. The comic book’s most famous line – “With great power, comes great responsibility” has been included for the first time – its omission from the original version of Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark had shocked fans.  “I’m very glad it’s in there. It’s got to be,” Reeve Carney, who plays Peter Parker/Spiderman, told me after Thursday night’s first preview of what’s being dubbed Spiderman 2.0. He said, after an “intense” few weeks of rehearsals, it was a relief to be back on stage in front of an audience. “I venture to say it was the most positive reaction we’ve had out of all 146 shows,” he said, basing his judgment on the volume of the response, and the laughter from the audience.

The new show adopts a much lighter touch, with many more jokes, some even at its own expense. At one stage the Green Goblin refers to himself as “a $65m circus tragedy” and quickly adds “make that $75m”. Spiderman is the most expensive musical ever staged on Broadway, and has been in previews for longer than any other show.

Patrick Page, the actor who plays the Green Goblin, says the creators of the show have listened to what fans and critics have said, and taken their suggestions on board. “It’s kind of the first Twitter Broadway show,” he said, “where people started saying: well this is what I think, and the creators and producers said okay, well let’s include their opinions.” Page said it had been the “thrill of a lifetime” to work in studio with Bono and the Edge over the past few weeks as they put together a new song “Freak Like Me”, which opens the second act of the show.

TV Carpio, who stars as Arachne, a character that has been transformed from a villain in the original production to a guardian angel for Spiderman in the new version, also paid tribute to the U2 guys. “They’ve been so supportive. It’s a dream come true. They’ve been great mentors and it’s been amazing to watch them work,” she said. Carpio says she’s happy that she continues to have “some of the most beautiful songs” in the show, despite her role being scaled back significantly. “I’m not going to lie and say it doesn’t affect me a little bit,” she conceded, “But it’s a bigger picture, this thing is bigger than my part. If my part has to be sacrificed for this story to be told and people wanting to hear it, I’m for it. I’m a team player.”

Actress Jennifer Damiano who plays Mary Jane, celebrated her 20^th birthday on Thursday, and is confident that they now have a “really solid show”. She was keen to give credit to ousted director Julie Taymor, whose “vision is still at the heart of the show”. Taymor retains a billing as “original director” on literature for the show, with new director McKinley billed as “creative consultant”.

One of the biggest cheers of the night was for stuntman Chris Tierney, who made his return to the Broadway show after suffering horrific injuries in a fall during a performance in December. Tierney, who suffered a fractured skull, fractured shoulder blades, four broken ribs and three broken vertebrae when he fell 20 ft into a pit at the front of the stage, said he felt “stronger now than when I fell”. The new version includes four extra flying sequences, and Tierney says, despite still suffering some soreness and a lack of flexibility in places, he’s got no concerns about taking to the air.  “We are the most safe show on Broadway, I’ll tell you that much. We’ve gone through about 60 new Department of Labor precautions. I’ve got about four people looking after me every time they clip in anything. I think it’s a little too much now, but I guess it’s the best way to go.”

Audience members emerging from Thursday night’s preview seemed to have enjoyed the show, with most saying it had been a lot of fun. “I really liked it,” said Brian Hartlet from Stamford, Connecticut, who had seen the original version three times. “The overall story in this one is much clearer, it flows so much better than the last one. But there are some elements of the first one that I miss.” Critics have been invited back to review the show in early June, and their verdicts are expected to be published to coincide with the musical’s long-awaited official opening on June 14^th. 

Celebrations at Ground Zero as Bin Laden Killed by US Forces

As news broke that the world's most wanted terrorist had been killed by US forces in Pakistan, spontaneous celebrations erupted in Washington and New York.

At Ground Zero, site of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center's twin towers, thousands cheered.

I went down to the site to speak to some of those involved, and you can hear my a vox-pop of revellers, and my report on RTE Radio 1's John Murray Show at the following link.

http://www.rte.ie/radio1/thejohnmurrayshow/

(scroll down to the bottom of the page to the May 01st section)

AUDIO: Irish filmmakers hoping to make their mark at the Tribeca Film Festival.

A reception hosted by the Irish Film Board at the residence of the Irish Consul-General in New York was attended by several of the next generation of Irish filmmakers hoping to break into the industry.

Two feature films and five shorts from Ireland have been selected for the Tribeca Film Festival, which got underway this week.

You'll find a radio package I made for RTE's Morning Ireland on the Irish at Tribeca at the following link.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2011/0422/morningireland.html

It's a Dunne deal - Neighbors lift objections after Gayle agrees to smaller house

GAYLE Dunne, wife of debt-laden developer Sean Dunne, has settled a long-running and bitter planning dispute with neighbours in the upmarket US town of Greenwich,Connecticut.

Residents of the plush Belle Haven suburb were prepared to lodge an appeal against the redevelopment of a $2m house at 38 Bush Avenue.

But their application was withdrawn after a compromise was reached just hours before a zoning board hearing on Wednesday night.

Under the terms of the deal, the Dunnes have agreed to preserve a century-old maple tree that sits on the property line with neighbours and reduce the size of dirt piles on the plot.

A separate application by the Dunnes for an even bigger house, with a carport attached, has been withdrawn.

Retired IBM executive Richard Case, who lives next door, said the dispute was the biggest he had been involved in during his 30 years of living in Belle Haven.

"I've never been interested in having this thing protracted for three years of litigation through Connecticut superior courts, which was the next level after we got past this board," he said.

The ownership of the Bush Avenue property is hidden behind a trust operated by a lawyer, Thomas J Heagney. But the address is listed as Mrs Dunne's residence in company files lodged with the state.

Modifications

The Dunnes have agreed to scale back their plans for the property significantly. In return, residents have agreed to certain modifications to the original building permit that was granted last July.

There are modifications to planned chimney heights, roof lines and the garage that soften the profile of the house and reduce the visual impact of the changes being made.

The Dunnes first ran into difficulty with locals and town officials when demolition work on the Victorian-era house exceeded what they had been granted permission for.

Neighbours also objected to the size of their proposed house on the half-acre site.

Construction work resumed at the Bush Avenue property in recent weeks after months of delays. But neighbours were ready to fight the planning permission, until a deal was reached in negotiations.

It's not known if the Dunnes still plan on living in the Bush Avenue property once the renovations are complete.

Asked if Sean and Gayle Dunne would be welcome as neighbours, Mr Case said: "I will try to be accepting to anyone who comes."

Earlier this week, I revealed that the high-profile couple are also linked to a second property on Bote Road on the other side of town, where construction is well advanced on an even bigger mansion.

[This article appears in the Irish Independent 22nd April]

Book given by WB Yeats to lover sold for $12,000

A book signed by WB Yeats and given by him as a gift to his “first love” has been sold at auction in New York for $12,000.

The 1893 collection of poems by William Blake was given by the Irish poet to arts patron Olivia Shakespear [correct]in 1896, two years after the pair first met. The book contains an inscription in ink by Yeats that reads: “Mrs Shakespear/from WB Yeats/February 1896”. Historians say Yeats, who was 30 at the time, had a short-lived affair with Mrs Shakspear that began that year. 

She later married famous American poet Ezra Pound, and the book was in the collection of their grandson Omar Shakespear Pound until his death last year. Yeats and Olivia Shakespear remained close friends throughout their lives, and Yeats would later call her his “first lover and long-time friend”.

The book contains penciled notes on the margins of three pages, probably made by Olivia Shakespear. One quotes Oscar Wilde, another quotes Yeats reading “a brief forgiveness between opposites”. The auction took place at Doyle Auction House on New York’s Upper East Side.

Other items of interest to sell at last night’s auction included a limited edition of an illustrated edition of James Joyce’s Ulysses from 1935 with engravings by French artist Henri Matisse which fetched $2,500. A copy of Oscar Wilde’s L’Anniversaire de l’Infante (1928) sold for $1,600.

Battle to save troubled Spiderman musical with drastic revamp

The lights have gone out on Broadway blockbuster Spiderman: Turn off the Dark, which has taken a three-week break to begin rehearsals on a new version of the show.

The Edge was at the Foxwoods Theater off Times Square on Sunday night to watch the final performance of the original version of the musical which he co-wrote with Bono. The U2 front man is due to join him in New York later this week to work on new songs for the reworked musical.

The $70m production is the most expensive ever staged on Broadway, and despite a record 140 previews it never officially opened. While the doors are closed to the public, cast members were back at rehearsals yesterday (Mon).

“We don’t get a break. The show has shut down but I’m still working,” said Reeve Carney, who plays Spiderman/Peter Parker. “For the past few weeks we have been rehearsing the new show, while performing the old show at night. It’s going to be great to be able to focus on one thing again.”

Producers are still putting the finishing touches to the revised version of the show, which they hope will be more crowd-pleasing and easier to understand than the vision created by director Julie Taymor, who has been replaced. New director Phillip William McKinley is putting more focus on the love story between Peter Parker and Mary Jane, and the battle with the villain Green Goblin. The character of villainous spider-woman Arachne, which had a central role in Taymor’s production, is to be scaled back significantly, and a Greek chorus of four singers who narrated the show is to be dropped altogether.

Cast members held up a handwritten sign saying “Back May 12” during the curtain call at Sunday’s final show, and a special ovation was given to the four young actors who are leaving the show. “It’s so bittersweet because we are saying goodbye to some friends who we’ve worked with that’s become like family,” said TV Carpio, who plays Arachne. The stunning actress displayed no bitterness about the fact that her role was being reduced significantly. “The key thing to know here is that we all want the best show that it can be,” she said, “So whatever that means, at least we have an opportunity to improve.”

Patrick Page, who plays the Green Goblin, said he believed the changes will make it a better show.

“It’s going to be a lot more fun  for me, for the Green Goblin, let me tell you,” he said, “I think fans of the comic book will be very pleased.”

Jennifer Damiano, who plays Mary Jane, said she believed the new version would put “a lighter spin on things”. “They have their reasons for wanting to change things and my job is just to make that work,” she said.

All of the cast members were quick to pay tribute to departing director Julie Taymor, none more so than Reeve Carney, who was plucked from obscurity and cast in the lead role. “She sort of created me,” he said, “I mean I wouldn’t be here without her. So I feel very confident and very good about the fact that it’s not erasing what she’s done, it’s just having a little extra help. It’s great to be able to work with two directors. It’s never happened before on the same project.”

Bono and the Edge are known to be working on at least two new songs for the show, and Carney said he believes one of them has the potential to be an international hit. “All I’ll say is that one of the new songs is one of my favorites and I’m really excited about it,” he said.

It remains to be seen if the reworked version can win over critics who mauled the original production as the biggest flop ever seen on Broadway and beyond repair. Despite this the show was seen by more than 285,000 people and raked in more than $25m at the box office. That’s a lot of money but not enough to break even, and without a credible show, producers won’t be able to proceed with plans to expand productions to London, Las Vegas and international tours in the future.

Previews of the new version begin on May 12, with the official opening now scheduled for Tuesday June 14^th.