Bloomsday on Broadway goes virtual with live streaming

Bloomsday on Broadway, first conceived by Isaiah Sheffer in 1982, is live streaming readings from James Joyce's "Ulysses" this year.

Stephen Colbert introduced this year’s Bloomsday on Broadway event, which is being hosted virtually on YouTube from the Symphony Space Theater in New York City on June 16.

Bloomsday on Broadway is a celebration of James Joyce’s masterpiece “Ulysses," which was published in 1902. The novel, which is one of the most famous publications of the 20th century, follows the characters Leopold Bloom, Stephen Dedalus, and Molly Bloom through a single day - June 16, 1902 - around Dublin.

Of this year's Bloomsday on Broadway event, organizers say: “Since you can't come to us, we're bringing our 39th annual Bloomsday on Broadway to you!

“Beginning at 8am on June 16th, a cavalcade of actors, authors, and musicians will drop in throughout the day with music and readings from one of the greatest literary works in history.”

Colbert, host of ‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,’ is set to be joined by some Hollywood A-listers for this year's event, including Brian Cox, Hugh Dancy, Claire Danes, Kate Mulgrew, Cynthia Nixon, Fiona Shaw, Dan Stevens, and more.

Bloomsday on Broadway was created by Isaiah Sheffer in 1982. In an introduction for "yes I said yes I will Yes.: A Celebration of James Joyce, Ulysses, and 100 Years of Bloomsday," Sheffer said he designed the event for “those who are new to Joyce’s work, or awed or frightened or just simply bewildered by it, [to] be swept up and carried into Bloom’s world by the voices, the intelligence, and the brimming enthusiasm of terrific actors.”

Bloomsday on Broadway is co-presented with Irish Arts Center as part of their At Home With Irish Arts Center series of digital events. The event is supported by Blanchette Hooker Rockefeller Fund, The Shubert Foundation, The Scherman Foundation, the Charina Endowment Fund, The Fan Fox & Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, and the Grodzins Fund.