Jay O'Callahan
Storyteller
Jay O'Callahan has performed at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, National Theatre Complex in London,
the Olympics, Lincoln Center, Boston Symphony Orchestra and in venues in Africa, New Zealand, Canada,
Germany and China. The Associated Press trumpeted him as "a theater troupe inside one body."
Time Magazine dubbed Jay "a genius."
Jay writes the plays he performs. The hallmark of his talent is the passion he brings to big and small dramas of ordinary life. He slips into the souls of his characters and captures the wonder and sparkling sense of life welled up inside them, creating a magical world of hope, courage and dignity.
With the sweep of a hand, the flex of a muscle or the hushed click of a word, Jay gives voice to the small town clerk in Village Heroes, the puzzled son coming to terms with his father in The Dance, or the young woman growing up in Nova Scotia during World War II in The Herring Shed.
Jay has just completed creating Forged in the Stars, a story commissioned by NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) for their 50th anniversary. He is currently performing it at NASA locations around the country. Jay is working on a story commissioned by the town of Jonesborough, Tennessee and the National Storytelling Network. It will be completed the fall of 2010. Other commissioned works include: The Myth of Billy the Kid (National Public Radio), The Spirit of the Great Auk (Quebec Labrador Foundation), Peer Gynt and the Hary Janos Suite (Boston Symphony Orchestra), Edna Robinson (Town of Harvard, Massachusetts for their 250th anniversary), The Bread and Roses Strike (Massachusetts State Department of Environmental Management), Pouring the Sun (Lehigh University), and Father Joe (College of the Holy Cross).
The National Endowment of the Arts awarded him a fellowship for solo performance excellence. Jay has received awards for his performances, books, audiotapes and videos from the National Education Film Festival, Fund for U.S. Artists at International Festivals, Parents' Choice, NAPPA, New England Theater Conference and UNESCO, to name a few. He also is a regular contributor to National Public Radio and leads creativity workshops for corporations and other interested groups.
Jay writes the plays he performs. The hallmark of his talent is the passion he brings to big and small dramas of ordinary life. He slips into the souls of his characters and captures the wonder and sparkling sense of life welled up inside them, creating a magical world of hope, courage and dignity.
With the sweep of a hand, the flex of a muscle or the hushed click of a word, Jay gives voice to the small town clerk in Village Heroes, the puzzled son coming to terms with his father in The Dance, or the young woman growing up in Nova Scotia during World War II in The Herring Shed.
Jay has just completed creating Forged in the Stars, a story commissioned by NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) for their 50th anniversary. He is currently performing it at NASA locations around the country. Jay is working on a story commissioned by the town of Jonesborough, Tennessee and the National Storytelling Network. It will be completed the fall of 2010. Other commissioned works include: The Myth of Billy the Kid (National Public Radio), The Spirit of the Great Auk (Quebec Labrador Foundation), Peer Gynt and the Hary Janos Suite (Boston Symphony Orchestra), Edna Robinson (Town of Harvard, Massachusetts for their 250th anniversary), The Bread and Roses Strike (Massachusetts State Department of Environmental Management), Pouring the Sun (Lehigh University), and Father Joe (College of the Holy Cross).
The National Endowment of the Arts awarded him a fellowship for solo performance excellence. Jay has received awards for his performances, books, audiotapes and videos from the National Education Film Festival, Fund for U.S. Artists at International Festivals, Parents' Choice, NAPPA, New England Theater Conference and UNESCO, to name a few. He also is a regular contributor to National Public Radio and leads creativity workshops for corporations and other interested groups.
On the Web
- Website: Jay O'Callahan
- Article: Small Steps, Giant Leap (Boston Globe)
