Mrs. Kelly’s journey continues to unfold
Breeda Miller performing “Mrs. Kelly’s Journey Home“
by Marsha Chartrand
A year and a half ago this was all just a pipe dream … and now it’s a dream coming true — and much more — for Breeda Miller.
“My mother’s just gotta be beaming,“ Breeda says. “She has to be loving this.“
“This“ is the amazing success of the one-woman show that depicts the life of Breeda’s mother, Mary Kelly.
“I have really focused this last year, just on this play,“ she shares. “I’ve been refining, tweaking, and doing all I can do to bring this project to fruition. I don’t have an agent, I don’t know famous people who can give me a leg up, and so I just put myself out there, and so far it’s been working. It’s still early days. But in retrospect, a lot has happened in that year; far more than I could have imagined.
“And all along, my biggest fear is that I would do all this work, but it would just turn out to be mediocre or a vanity project. It wouldn’t be relevant, helpful, or good. On the contrary; I’m delighted with the response that I’ve gotten. I never could’ve imagined it.“
Although there have, of course, been disappointments along the way, there has been so much more good news for “Mrs. Kelly“ that Breeda continues to find delight in each day:
- An old friend from her Detroit radio days, freelance writer Jim McFarlin from the Detroit News, HOUR Detroit, and Metro Times, has pitched her story to several of his editors.
- She has recently made contacts in Vero Beach, Florida, for a Valentine’s Day show. “Who doesn’t want to go to Florida in February?“
- She’s gotten a follow-up call from one of the theaters she worked with in Chicago to bring her show there.
- Detroit Public TV will be broadcasting the show as soon as the project is funded. “That’s a slow game,“ Breeda explains, “but it is so exciting because it will reach out to so many people who might not otherwise have the means or ability to come to a theater to see a show.“
- And, of course, there is the upcoming tour group that she’s leading to Ireland in September 2023, with a performance in Dublin while they are there.
And, as of last week, Breeda Kelly Miller was named a 2021–2022 Wilde Award Winner for Best One Person Show, Mrs. Kelly’s Journey Home from EncoreMichigan, Michigan’s leading theater news organization.
“This was a total shock!“ she says. “I’ve been aware of the Wilde Award (named for playwright Oscar Wilde), but it’s so surprising … I’m really tickled, and of course I’m in very good company. I’ve also seen the other solo shows that were nominated, and they were excellent. So it’s wonderful … and now I can call my show ‘award winning‘!“
Back in her office in Manchester, Breeda is working on a book of Mrs. Kelly’s Journey that is a follow-up including many of the stories that couldn’t be included in the play.
“I couldn’t have done all of this 20 years ago,“ she admits. “It’s a combination of my life experiences, my perspective, and I’ve had the time to step back and be able to do this at my age. It’s the right time, the right place, and I’ve had the right people placed in my path.
“Best of all, I have the discernment to recognize all of that.“
The seasons of life can be a shock, she says, and they can hit you unprepared. And while dementia is definitely a huge part of the play, it doesn’t define it any more than it defined Mary Kelly. It’s about love, it’s about loss, and about finding the goodness. “That’s what people take away from it,“ Breeda concludes. “It rings true regardless of your racial, ethnic, or educational level. People tell me, ‘You just told the story of my family’.“
Breeda still has some pipe dreams that she’s working on. At the rate she’s going, it seems a pretty sure bet she’ll be seeing those come true, too, at some point. Just watch her.
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