McCarthy, from Sea Isle City,
spent 15 years as a professional
journalist in a career that began
with the Main Line Times, covering Philadelphia’s historic Main
Line region. Her father is the
award-winning actor Tom McCarthy. Following in his footsteps,
Kelly began acting at age 4, building a resume that includes stage
and television credits. She thought
— the first world premiere production in the theatre’s history.
“It started with me writing about
a husband and a wife,” said Kelly
McCarthy. “At some point when
I was writing it, I felt there was
something wrong with this man
and I didn’t know what it was.
There was some issue he was
dealing with, it wasn’t just that he
felt he hadn’t done enough in his
I don’t know how it evolved, but I realized
the character had Alzheimer’s.
about writing a play many times,
but never got around to doing it
until her father got a grant for his
daughter to write a play for him
to act in. The result is The King of
East Jabip, a heartwarming comedy about a family dealing with a
father’s diagnosis of Alzheimer’s
disease. The play will be presented September 9 to October 9 at
the Eagle Theatre in Hammonton
NJ STAGE 2016 - ISSUE 8
life. I don’t know how it evolved,
but I realized the character had
Alzheimer’s. So, this is a man who
still wants to do things and he’s
just found out that pretty soon
he’s going to have a hard time accomplishing some goals he always
wanted. He has an urgency.”
The play started out with just the
husband and wife. It received a
reading at the Walnut Street The-
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