Frances McDormand and Maura Tierney Lead LA’s NORTH ATLANTIC, Opens 2/10

Frances McDormand and Maura Tierney will be joining the cast of Los Angeles based Redcat’s production of NORTH ATLANTIC. Written by James Strah, the production will run February 10th through 21st and is directed by Elizabeth LeCompte. The full cast will include McDormand, Ari Fliakos, Scott Shepherd, Kate Valk, Steve Cuiffo, Koosil-ja Hwang, Paul Lazar, Zachary Oberzan, Jenny Seastone-Stern and Tierney.

NORTH ATLANTIC takes a satiric look at the role of the military and the growing influence of technology in American culture during the late Cold War period, after Vietnam and before the fall of the Berlin Wall. The story follows an international peacekeeping force on an aircraft carrier in the NORTH ATLANTIC, tracing the cultural and sexual dynamics that rise to the fore as they carry out their top-secret mission.

Written specifically for the company by James Strahs in 1982, NORTH ATLANTIC joined a series of Wooster Group works rooted in American themes and told in the rhythms of the American vernacular-works based on texts by Thornton Wilder, Arthur Miller, Eugene O’Neill, and Gertrude Stein. A nostalgia piece, it brings the analog (pre-digital) 1980s to life through slang, song and dance.

Tickets for NORTH ATLANTIC range in price from $35 to $55. Performances take place February 10th through the 21st with performances Tuesday through Saturday at 8:30pm and 7:00pm on Sundays. Tickets may be purchased online at the theatre’s website or by calling the box office at 213-237-2800.

NORTH ATLANTIC is produced by The Wooster Group. The Wooster Group is an ensemble of artists who, under the direction of Elizabeth LeCompte, make work for theater, dance and media.

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Selected Shorts – Confused Couples

“A Second of Pleasure” by Neil LaBute, performed by Andrew McCarthy and Maura Tierney

Download the MP3 here

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Maura’s father passes away.

Tuesday, December 15, 2009  | http://www.bostonherald.com

Former Boston City Council President Joseph Tierney died at his Hyde Park home on Sunday after a brief battle with cancer. He was 68.

Born and raised in South Boston, Mr. Tierney was a five-term city councilor who also ran unsuccessfully for mayor. His daughter, Maura Tierney, achieved fame as an actress on the TV shows “NewsRadio,” “ER” and “Rescue Me.”

One of seven children, his father died when he was very young. The first in his family to go to college, he graduated from Boston State College and Suffolk University Law School.

“Nothing was out of his reach,” said his son Joseph, who recently graduated from Northeastern School of Law. “My sisters and I all truly believe we can do whatever we want to do and that nothing is impossible.”

Prior to running for councilor in 1971, Mr. Tierney worked as a teacher, a lawyer and a youth worker. He would serve on the council for 16 years.

He worked his way up alongside his lifelong friend and political competitor, former Mayor Raymond Ray Flynn.

“Growing up poor in a working class neighborhood, we really had to work hard for everything we ever got,” Flynn said, as he recalled his friend last night.

The two men competed against one another in the 1987 mayoral race.

Flynn said he remembers the day his old friend came into his office to tell him they would be squaring off.

“He came into my office, into the mayor’s office, and he told me he wasn’t going to get any younger and he’d always wanted to be mayor and wanted to give it a shot,” Flynn said. “I said this is the time. Go ahead.”

The men shook hands and they were off.

“It was a lot of fun. Two kids from South Boston running for mayor, and no one from South Boston had ever been elected for mayor before,” Flynn said.

Although Flynn won the overall race, Mr. Tierney won South Boston by a margin of 493 votes, according to a 1987 South Boston Journal article. But after five one-year terms as City Council president, Mr. Tierney stepped out of the political limelight.

He was most proud of his involvement in the restoration of Fanueil Hall and the development of the area.

“He liked the fact that they restored it to very similar to what it looked like when it was originally built, to create that busy environment in a neighborhood that was pretty deteriorated at the time,” said his wife, Pat, who also grew up in South Boston.

Once Flynn and Mr. Tierney were both out of politics, they swapped stories about their children, Flynn said. He said that while Mr. Tierney took the issues seriously, his humor set him apart from a lot of politicians.

“At the last minute, he could put a funny line in there,” Flynn said. “He was a very intelligent, honest, capable political leader.”

Tierney is survived by his wife, Pat; two daughters, Maura of Venice, Calif., and West Village, N.Y., and Deirdre Pulgini of Milton; a son, Joseph of Milton; two brothers, William and Robert, both of South Boston; and three grandchildren.

A funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Thursday at Most Precious Blood Church, Hyde Park.

Burial will be in Cedar Grove Cemetery, Dorchester.

Arrangements by Carroll-Thomas Funeral Home, Hyde Park.

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