Maria Tecce at Fringe Fest '08

Maria kicked off the last year with nothing less than both guns blazing – lighting up the Irish airwaves with her new radio show “Red, Hot, and Tecce” on RTE Radio 1, selling out her new jazz/cabaret show at the Prague Fringe Festival 2007 and Dublin Fringe Festival 2007, and releasing her a new live dvd ‘Live in Prague’. Maria also takes on the acting mantle playing murdered wife ‘Isabella’ the new BBC television series “Inspector George Gentley”, co-starred in the international tour of Irish playwright John Murphy’s “The County Boy” (U.K.), and appears in the upcoming 2008 Channel 4/BBC television series ‘Rock Idols’.

After two albums and packed venues worldwide, Maria has shared the stage with artists as diverse as Dionne Warwicke & Ronnie Drew of the legendary ‘The Dubliners”. Her original songs are included on two separate CD compilations featuring the likes of Grammy Award Winners John Prine, Bruce Mathiske, Ron Sexsmith, and Bella Fleck as well as Irish artists Juliet Turner, Damien Rice, David Kitt, Paddy Casey, Hazel O´Connor, Jack L, and Luka Bloom. Theatre, television, and film collaborations include Jim Sheridan (My Left Foot, In America), the Abbey Theatre, and the BBC.

Originally from Boston and now based in Dublin, Maria was groomed to be an English teacher from the time she could pick up a book. After graduating with a 3.9 GPA and her BA from Boston College in Massachusetts in 1990, fate intervened and turned her Westward instead, and she found herself living the life of a childhood dream – wrangling horses on a ranch in Wyoming 40 miles from nowhere in the wilds of America. For almost 10 years Maria uttered not a note of music nor stepped foot on a stage, making her way across the USA and eventually returning to Europe, where she had studied for a year at the University of Exeter, England in 1989. After a an Irishman enticed her come to Ireland, Maria finally found herself on the West coast of Ireland in a little town called Galway. She had £200 in her pocket and a guitar. That was in 1997.

After fighting for her Irish ‘resident artist’ status for over 4 years, Maria was finally granted leave to remain as an artist in 2001. This Italian-Polish American has steadily garnered acclaim as one of Ireland´s most accomplished and dynamic jazz vocalists and critics have lavished praise for her live performances, interpretation of material, and original work. Maria counts among her musicians members of bands from Van Morrison, Sister Sledge, Jools Holland, Lisa Stansfield, The Waterboys, and Paul Brady. Her one-woman jazz cabaret shows and music gigs have played to packed houses all over Ireland, Europe, U.K., and the USA, highlighting the most engaging qualities of Maria´s music – her wide audience appeal and powerful live performances.

2003 saw the release of her debut album “All About Love” and Maria quickly became a bright and fiery star on the music & acting scenes in Ireland, headlining arts, jazz, and world music festivals, including 5 years running at the international Cork Guinness Jazz Festival which has played host to the biggest names in jazz music past and present. She has gone from strength to strength and her cabaret and jazz shows continue to showcase not only this jazz chanteuse´s acclaimed vocal and interpretive talents but also “the demonstrative and effortless acting skills of a seasoned actor and performer.” The Tribune

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Maria´s first professional acting job in Ireland only 5 years ago found her smack in the middle of Ireland´s most popular soap opera “Fair City” as the icy American boss from hell Camille Barnett. Since then, she has never looked back. Her television debut was quickly followed by Corca Corca Theatre Company´s (Ireland) sell-out success “A Midsummer Night´s Dream” (where Maria played the two leading men´s roles ‘Oberon´ and ‘Theseus´), a role written for her by Jim Sheridan in his film “In America”, a host of other lead roles in theatre productions in Ireland and Europe. Favorite projects include co-starring in the European premiere of the Canadian play “Very Heaven” as lesbian cowgirl ‘Lee’ which ran at The Focus Theatre (Dublin 2004), touring with Storytellers Theatre Company´s critically acclaimed and award-nominated “Dream of a Summer´s Day” (Ireland 2005), and starring in the Theatre Royal’s new production of the German one-woman cabaret show “Tonight: Lola Blau” in (Ireland 2006) to ecstatic critical praise.

Welcome to the citys eagerly awaited annual marathon of theatre, dance, comedy, music and film from around the globe. All shows are in English, Czech or are non-verbal and are programmed so that you can see up to 6 shows a day and over 30 shows over the 8 days of Fringe Festival Praha. Shows take place from the afternoon to late evening, most last for an hour or so with time between to zip from venue to venue and grab a bite to eat. Enjoy a warm welcome at our fringe club where you can join the fun, meet the artists and swap notes with other fringe goers on your “hot tickets” for the day…its the fringe way from Edinburgh to Adelaide, now entering year seven here in Prague.