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New York recently retired Irish boxer John Duddy makes his US acting stage debut and Seamus McDonagh former New York Golden Gloves champion star in the highly anticipated Kid Shamrock with seven performances only at the Atlantic Theatre Company Stage 2 in Manhattan
KID SHAMROCK, written by Bobby Cassidy Jr. and directed by James Smallhorne. Producing Director Faz In Ate Films, Imelda O’Reilly.
Duddy went straight into rehearsals with Dublin-born director Jimmy Smallhorne for “Kid Shamrock.”
Like Duddy and McDonagh (who two decades ago fought Evander Holyfield for the US heavyweight title), every member of the seven-man cast had some boxing connection, guaranteeing the presence of the Fight Mob for the seven-night run at the Atlantic. It’s a fair bet that at least half of Tuesday’s opening-night audience was there to see Duddy, and that a substantial portion of those showed up expecting to see him fall flat on his face in his theatrical debut. If so, they were disappointed.
You might not say that Duddy stole the show (Patrick Joseph Connolly, the veteran character actor who plays an inebriated salesman whose barroom conversation serves as a foil for the older Kid Shamrock’s reminiscences, did that), but he was almost astonishingly competent, delivering his lines (in a New York accent) with a flawless ease.
The boxing scenes, most them based on Cassidy pere’s 1971 Madison Square Garden fight against future middleweight champion Rodrigo Valdez, may well be the best-choreographed fight action ever seen on a New York stage, on or off-Broadway. And casting ex-pugs in every role might have seemed a gamble, but it paid dividends in verisimilitude: Gary Hope, the onetime English cruiserweight who plays the Kid’s cornerman Paddy Flood, is believable because he acts like a boxing trainer.
And Wayne Kelly certainly knows how to act like a referee. In fact, Kelly’s understudy had to work the second night’s performance of Kid Shamrock. Unaware of the potential conflict with the Atlantic Theatre Company, the New York State Athletic Commission assigned Kelly to work DiBella’s real-life Broadway Boxing card at B.B. King’s Blues Club tonight.
While confessing to a case of opening-night jitters, Duddy seemed gratified by his reception and was looking forward to the rest of the run, as well as to what now looms a second career.
Not that he’s turned his back entirely on his former pursuit.
“I’m going up to Connecticut to watch next month’s fight, and I’m actually looking forward to it,” he said. “I like Andy Lee’s chances against the Scotsman for a couple of reasons. Because they’re both southpaws, McEwan won’t be able to run the way he might against an orthodox boxer. He’ll have to stand and fight, and Andy has more of a punch than McEwan does; he hits harder.
“You know, I’ve enjoyed this even more than I thought I would,” added Duddy as he toweled off after his first turn before the footlights. “I don’t know what the future holds, but of course I’d like to do more of it.”
What comes next? “Have your people talk to my people?”
Like Duddy and McDonagh (who two decades ago fought Evander Holyfield for the US heavyweight title), every member of the seven-man cast had some boxing connection, guaranteeing the presence of the Fight Mob for the seven-night run at the Atlantic. It’s a fair bet that at least half of Tuesday’s opening-night audience was there to see Duddy, and that a substantial portion of those showed up expecting to see him fall flat on his face in his theatrical debut. If so, they were disappointed.
You might not say that Duddy stole the show (Patrick Joseph Connolly, the veteran character actor who plays an inebriated salesman whose barroom conversation serves as a foil for the older Kid Shamrock’s reminiscences, did that), but he was almost astonishingly competent, delivering his lines (in a New York accent) with a flawless ease.
The boxing scenes, most them based on Cassidy pere’s 1971 Madison Square Garden fight against future middleweight champion Rodrigo Valdez, may well be the best-choreographed fight action ever seen on a New York stage, on or off-Broadway. And casting ex-pugs in every role might have seemed a gamble, but it paid dividends in verisimilitude: Gary Hope, the onetime English cruiserweight who plays the Kid’s cornerman Paddy Flood, is believable because he acts like a boxing trainer.
And Wayne Kelly certainly knows how to act like a referee. In fact, Kelly’s understudy had to work the second night’s performance of Kid Shamrock. Unaware of the potential conflict with the Atlantic Theatre Company, the New York State Athletic Commission assigned Kelly to work DiBella’s real-life Broadway Boxing card at B.B. King’s Blues Club tonight.
While confessing to a case of opening-night jitters, Duddy seemed gratified by his reception and was looking forward to the rest of the run, as well as to what now looms a second career.
Not that he’s turned his back entirely on his former pursuit.
“I’m going up to Connecticut to watch next month’s fight, and I’m actually looking forward to it,” he said. “I like Andy Lee’s chances against the Scotsman for a couple of reasons. Because they’re both southpaws, McEwan won’t be able to run the way he might against an orthodox boxer. He’ll have to stand and fight, and Andy has more of a punch than McEwan does; he hits harder.
“You know, I’ve enjoyed this even more than I thought I would,” added Duddy as he toweled off after his first turn before the footlights. “I don’t know what the future holds, but of course I’d like to do more of it.”
What comes next? “Have your people talk to my people?”
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