James Joyce’s ‘Ulysses’ to be celebrated on Broadway for Bloomsday

Marathon reading celebrates 30 years of reading from James Joyce’s greatest book on June 16

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Over 100 Broadway stars and avid Joyceans will gather at Symphony Space, on Broadway, to read portions of the modernist masterpiece, James Joyce’s “Ulysses” which celebrates life, love, literature, language and lust.

Symphony Space will celebrate the 30th anniversary of Bloomsday with a joyous and marathon reading from James Joyce’s “Ulysses," curated and organized by “Selected Shorts” host, Isaiah Sheffer.

The readings follow the adventures of Joyce’s hero, Mr. Leopold Bloom as he makes his way around Dublin, from the tower to the library to the bars to the seaside to the brothels – and back home again.  This year’s 13-hour marathon reading samples all 18 episodes of the book concluding when Fionnula Flanagan reaches the final “yes” of the entire uncensored Molly Bloom monologue.

The role of Mr. Bloom will be read by an all-star cast including James Naughton, Denis O’Hare, John Shea, Michael Cerveris, David Margulies, Paul Hecht, Harris Yulin, and more.  Other readers include Malachy McCourt (who has never missed a Bloomsday reading at Symphony Space), Lois Smith, Dana Ivey, Frances Sternhagen, Sonya Manzano, Bernadette Quigley and others.

For 30 years, Bloomsday on Broadway has defined literature as performance and has been the originator for New York City Bloomsday celebrations.

Isaiah Sheffer began the event because “Joyce was a poet of sound; he wasn’t a visual person ... It’s meant to be read aloud. The big discovery is that it’s funny.”

The annual event has attracted big names in show business including Stephen Colbert, Alec Baldwin, and Ira Glass.  Stephen Colbert, who cites Bloomsday on Broadway as one of the reasons he moved to New York, was a reader at last year’s evening and said, “… I was so thrilled to be invited by Isaiah to do Bloom."

Bloomsday on Broadway XXX will be broadcast live from 8pm to 1am on WNYC 93.9FM.

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