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Part Seven: 4th and Inches on the 1 Yard Line
I waited until the last possible moment to write the final installment of these so-called chronicles, to impart the very latest news on our production of The Quiet Man Tales. My hope last October, when I began this series, was to devote this final column to the topic of preparing for opening night in April, but it has taken longer than expected to raise the money. This is a very common occurrence in the theatre world.
The good news is that as of March 22nd, we have raised over 80% of our $260K budget. By the time you read this, we will probably have more, so we are very close. It’s going to happen.
Back in 2004, when we had planned to do our chamber theatre-style version of the play at the Irish American Heritage Center, we had to cancel because we couldn’t find the right actors. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise. We regrouped and started writing a full play instead of just dividing up the dialogue from the book among the actors. If we had gone ahead with it, The Quiet Man Tales, as it is today, would probably never exist.
Likewise, if people showered us with checks when we did our big reading at the Mercury Theatre last year, I would never have had the opportunity to write these columns. I’ve had the chance to tell you about The Quiet Man Tales, how it came to be, where we are now, and where we hope it will go. And writing for the Irish American News has been a lot of fun—so much fun, in fact, that I’m going to keep doing it.
I’ve met some terrific people so far—actors, producers, investors, journalists. There was almost a Biblical progression in a major line of introductions. Our first reading begat Frank West; Frank begat Cliff Carlson; Cliff begat Jim Corboy; and Jim begat—well, lots of investors. The help and support that Cliff and Jim have given The Quiet Man Tales cannot be overstated. And I didn’t know either one of them a year ago.
During the 18 month-long process of tracking down and obtaining the rights to Green Rushes I had the pleasure of meeting four of Maurice Walsh’s grandsons in Ireland. I visited Kerry and Dublin, where the stories of the book and play take place. My research into the Irish War of Independence not only gave me the opportunity to learn about Irish history, but led to the discovery that a relative, Captain Frank Mahon, was a rebel leader in Galway during the war. To learn about a certain period of Irish history, and to find your namesake in the pages of that history is startling and wonderful. Another Frank Mahon, my dad, was born during the Easter Rebellion—April 26, 1916—but I don’t think he ever knew that. He was born in St. Louis, and had his own war to deal with in the 1940s.
Maureen O’Hara read our play, and endorsed it.
That was huge. Coincidentally, I met a gentleman at the Irish American Partnership breakfast last week whose aunt’s sheep were also in the movie The Quiet Man—probably the ones Mary Kate is herding when she first sees Sean Thornton. The sheep do a nice job, but I doubt that it helped their careers. Maureen was always a scene-stealer.
So now that the hardest part is almost over, everything else kicks into high gear: locking in actors, signing a contract with a theatre, lining up costume, set, sound and lighting designers, launching a website. That’s just the top of a very long list. Since this all takes time, and summer is traditionally a slow season for theatre, The Quiet Man Tales will premiere sometime in the fall. Please come and bring everyone you know.
In the meantime, I will start a new column in May. It will come under the heading: “Enough about me, what about you?” It will give me a chance to meet more people and find new stories to tell. When I have more Quiet Man Tales news, I will throw that in as well. So that’s it for The Quiet Man Chronicles. My thanks to Cliff Carlson for allowing me to shamelessly hawk our play for the last seven months, and for his great endorsement in the March issue. If you didn’t read it, I’ll send it to you.