Malachy McCourt was raised in Limerick, Ireland. He left school at thirteen to work in Ireland and England as a laborer. At twenty he traveled to America and again worked at the manual tasks such as longshoreman, truck loader, dishwasher, until he became an actor. He made a name for himself on Broadway and Off-Broadway and at the regional theatres. Soap operas such a Ryan's Hope, Search for Tomorrow, One Life to live were a good source of work for him. Movies and television were good to his career as well.
Frank McCourt has been an English professor for three decades. His memoir, Angela’s Ashes, was honored with The Pulitzer Prize for literature, the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Boston Book Review’s Non-Fiction prize, the Abbey Award and the Los Angeles Times Book Award, and spent more than 100 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. His second hit book, ‘Tis, was another bestseller in 1999. Angela’s Ashes was turned into a major motion picture. He has been keynote speaker at the White House on several occasions, and has been invited to Congressional committees to discuss education in America.
Obviously writing is in the brother’s blood. A Couple of Blaguards illustrates the life stories of these brothers in a comical manner. New York actor Jarlath Conroy and the gustier funny man that is Malachy, is played by Howard Platt. Platt used to be a commercial theater producer in Chicago and doubles as this production's director. The "brothers" are well represented by these two veteran actors. The chemistry is great but there is still plenty more discoveries that these two can find using the wonderful text. At times it seemed that the direction was so fast paced there was little room for emotional journeys on stage. All and all, these Irish clad funny men have a good thing going.