It all started when…

"The Butcher Boy" started out as my senior project in high school. I knew I wanted to write a musical, and I had just finished reading the novel in my Irish literature course. The story felt so naturally musical to me, and I thought it had the potential to be staged in a really interesting way.

Patrick McCabe's classic novel tells the story of Francie Brady, a young boy growing up in a small town in Ireland in the early 60's. Though the world around him is as sure as ever of an imminent nuclear attack, Francie lives a carefree life playing with his best friend Joe Purcell, and spending the evenings with his Ma and Da. But when he picks on his England educated neighbor Phillip Nugent, Phillip's mother angrily refers to Francie's family as a bunch of pigs, sparking a violent obsession which grows as Francie's life falls apart around him.

2 years into writing the show, in July 2018, I had the incredible experience of having my first professional reading at the Irish Repertory Theater. It was directed by the brilliant Ciaran O'Reilly, music directed by Princeton alum David Hancock Turner, and featured Nicholas Barasch (She Loves Me, Big River) as Francie Brady.