On February 17, many of the remaining original cast members from Jez Butterworth's The Ferryman took their final bows at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre. Many of these cast members were part of the show in London, and helped make it a smash hit on Broadway when it opened to rave reviews in October. (You can read my initial review here!)
Leading the cast were Paddy Considine as Quinn Carney and Laura Donnelly as Caitlin Carney, his sister-in-law. The pair have given some of the best performances of the season over the past few months, supported by an incredible cast including Catherine McCormack as Mary Carney, Quinn's wife, Niall Wright as JJ, Fra Fee as Michael, Carla Langley as Shena, Brooklyn Shuck as Nunu, Willow McCarthy as Mercy, Matilda Lawler as Honor, Rob Malone as Oisin, Mark Lambert as Uncle Pat, Dearbhla Molloy as Aunt Pat, Finnoula Flanagan as Aunt Maggie Far Away, Tom Glynn-Carney as Shane Corcoran, Conor MacNeill as Diarmaid Corcoran, Michael Quinton McArthur as Declan Corcoran, Charles Dale as Father Horrigan, Stuart Graham as Muldoon, Dean Ashton as Frank Magennis, Glenn Speers as Lawrence Malone, and Justin Edwards as Tom Kettle, not to mention the rotating cast of babies that play Bobby, the goose, and the rabbit.
While Brooklyn Shuck, Willow McCarthy, Matilda Lawler, Finnoula Flanagan, Michael Quinton McArthur, Charles Dale, Glenn Speers, and the rotating babies will remain with the cast, there was something electric and incredibly special about the cast that was initially assembled to bring this play to New York.
The Ferryman is an epic play that will no doubt become a classic, and the energy on stage was magnetic. This cast truly felt like the family they portray onstage, and gave some of the most memorable performances I've ever seen. There's an old saying: "lightning never strikes twice," but this time, the creatives behind The Ferryman seem to have defied that in assembling this cast. All five times I sat in the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre to witness the story of love, loss, and betrayal play out in front of me, I left in a state of shock and astonishment. That was certainly the case on the afternoon of February 17, as I prepared to see the cast one last time. I was left shaking from head to toe with tears in my eyes, from the power of this piece of theater and the performances on stage. So while a new cast full of talented actors take the stage the night of February 19, I will forever hold that last performance in my heart.