Desperately seeking Southie

With all the hub-bub about reality shows desperately seeking Southie as a backdrop, local production houses are finding Southie residents less than compliant with requests for castings.  If anything Southie residents have been down right stubborn.  But the fact of the matter is we seem to have a catch 22 situation.  Sort of damned if we do, damned if we don’t.  If Southie residents keep saying no, then the production houses seek other resources.  There is no stopping them from going out of town to neighboring suburbs to find what they are looking for, drop them in Southie,  and voila – you have a reality show.  What if some of these production houses are actually sincere and really do want to portray South Boston in a positive way – shining a light on everything that makes Southie the town we love so much?  The following is a plea from one such person.  She is a young woman with Southie roots on a quest.  She has the opportunity to develop a show for a major network.  Her name is Maura Gavaghan and here is the scoop:

Maura has strong ties to South Boston and many of her family members still live in the neighborhood. Her grandparents were active members of the Castle Island Associate and her parents are members of the South Boston Irish American Society. Maura’s grandfather, Ted Gavaghan, served as Chief Marshall at the 1995 St Patricks Day Parade, and she has made sure to never miss one since! She Irish Step danced for 15 years with the Forbes School in Quincy and had the opportunity to dance at many Dropkick Murphy’s shows for four years, including the Red Sox Rally Monday at City Hall in 2007 and on the field at Fenway for game 7 of the ALCS in 2007. On weekends and breaks you can find Maura running the sugar bowl at Castle Island or visiting family on L Street.  She is Southie once removed but her Southie pride is in her blood.

In a nutshell:
The series would be set in South Boston and give insight into the lives of the new generation of South Boston and follow different residents ranging from locals who were born and raised in South Boston, to newcomers who moved to Southie to take advantage of the ideal location. The cast would represent a wide variety of residents in Southie including the following characters:

• “Southie couple”: A young couple who has lived in South Boston their entire lives and plan on raising their children in Southie. The cast would also include single men/women ages 18-35 who were born and raised in South Boston and plan on settling down there.
• “Yuppies”: Several “young urban professionals” (ages 22-35, flexible) who attended college in the Boston area, and recently rented apartments in South Boston because of it’s ideal location near the water and easy access to downtown Boston. At times, “Yuppies” are considered responsible for raising rent and real estate prices, and changing Southie from a family-oriented town to a fast-paced young city.
• “Moving back”: A man or woman (ages 22-35, flexible) who was born and raised in Southie, but moved away for college/work and finds him/herself back in South Boston after spending years away. This character would struggle between the “yuppies” and the “locals”.
• “Resisting Southie”: A man or woman (ages 22-35, flexible) who has lived in Southie his/her entire life, but is trying to find a way to relocate because he/she is unhappy with the “yuppy” lifestyle, concerned with the negative stereotypes seen in the media, or cannot afford to live in Southie anymore

She will be in the Boston Area March 9th-18th if anyone wants to meet with meet for an interview or informal discussion. Maura will be moving to Boston on May 17th to pursue this project full time. You can email Maura at [email protected] or [email protected]).

* Image: A Southie Street Corner by Paula Villanova