Tuesday is Bloomsday

Bloomsday is a celebration of James Joyce's epic 1922 novel, Ulysses. For those of you have somehow have not read this tome, it chronicles a day in the life of Dublin resident Leo Bloom. And that day is June 16, 1904.

"I want to give a picture of Dublin so complete that if the city one day suddenly disappeared from the earth it could be reconstructed out of my book."
--James Joyce

And how does this relate to South Florida theatre? Joyce isn't known for his plays, having only written one: Exiles. You might remember its musical adaptation, which swept the Carbonells a few years ago: The Dead, at GableStage. No, it's nothing so linear.

Every year, people around the world celebrate the novel on June 16. For several years, John Martin's Pub in Coral Gables has celebrated with readings from the novel by South Florida Actors such as John Felix and Carl Waisanen, among others. That particular party now starts 6:00 pm at Books & Books, with some period leavening from members of the South Florida Emerald Society, parades around the corner with bagpipes at the fore, and then settles into the pub for dinner and a pint.

But you don't have to travel all the way down to Coral Gables to enjoy Bloomsday with a theatrical flair. Two former Florida Stage staffers have organized a celebration at Brogues on the Avenue in downtown Lake Worth. Blue Planet International Explorer's Bazaar and Writer's Room is the creation of Cora Bresciano and Susan Gay Hyatt. They are taking advantage of their connections, bringing in actors such as Paul Tei to create an event theatrical, musical, educational, and entertaining-al. (I know that's not a word, but I couldn't find a synonym that ended in "al"). And like Coral Gables, the event kicks off at 6:00pm.