Mrs. Kelly’s Journey Home featured in Detroit News
It’s utterly amazing to me. I’ve been working on the idea of a play, a one-woman show for a couple of years…in my head. Then I met Brian Cox who inspired and encouraged me to actually do it. So, during the dark times (CoVid) as I sat at home and did all my work remotely, I started to write and I couldn’t stop. I edited, revised, collaborated with Brian, and held a table reading with a few brave souls to help me figure out what worked and what didn’t. I edited again and again and again. We premiered the show in October at the Arthur Miller Theater at the University of Michigan in October of 2021. The audience and the crew were all masked and CoVid was still a major concern. Nonetheless, over 300 caring souls came out to see what this new play was all about. And to paraphrase Sally Field, “They like it. They really liked it”.
Doing the Work
Winter happened and I tweaked the show a bit more, making it tighter and rehearsing so much I think my dogs even know the script now. I worked diligently to get the show up into theaters and built my website to include a short video of the show along with wonderful video comments about the show from audience members. My local newspaper wrote a few very kind articles about Mrs. Kelly’s Journey Home and I snagged several performance bookings. My goal was (and is) to share this work with as many people as possible, in-person. My vision is that nonprofit organizations will use this show as fundraising event as well as a community builder. It’s working. I’m in discussion with wonderful organizations across the United States (and Ireland!) to bring Mrs. Kelly’s Journey Home to their community in 2022 and 2023. Then this happened. A writer from the Detroit News expressed an interest in doing an article about the show and asked for an interview. Yes, please!
Then it happened
On Monday, May 30, on the front page of the Arts and Style Section of the Detroit News the article was published: “One-Woman show tells story of immigration, dementia and finding home” (by Maureen Feighan, Detroit News, 5/30/22). I am gobsmacked. Maureen Feighan is an extraordinary journalist. She captured the essence of this play and wrote an article that touched my heart with it’s candor and truth. I hope you take a moment to read it and please share with anyone you think might be interested in being part of Mrs. Kelly’s Journey Home. It’s a wild ride and the best thing I’ve ever done.
Read The Detroit News Article Online
