Dear Reader –
Some reflections on an epic Theme Night #30 today. Thanks to Kris Manulak for the great pics.
But first, here’s how and when you can get Theme Night #31 tickets…
**All hyperlinks in bold.
The Big Thing
Theme Night #31 - Stories in Song - Hawk’s Well Theatre - January 19-21 2023.
Tickets on sale this morning at 11am. Get them here.
Where else but Sligo?
Vinnie Higgins had 59 separate inputs into his desk on this show. He had to EQ, mix and balance each and every one of those in order for this show to sound great. He had the needs and requests of dozens of musicians and singers to look after. And not once did he give out. What a hero.
Our regular drummer told me with less than two weeks to go that he couldn’t do the show this time. Fair enough - it happens. But I loved what happened next - former teacher and student Ken McDonald and Sam Purcell (18 - yes 18 yrs old!) came together to figure out how to firstly learn and then divide the drum and percussion parts between them. All with the good of the show in mind, And then delivered them impeccably.
But in the end, the golden jacket for Theme Night #30 went to our hugely popular, hard-working and expressive (!) choirmaster, Dave Flynn. It was lovely to see how the choir responded to him, and he really got the best out of them. And boy did they come out to bat for him when it came to the Golden Jacket selection. Below is one of his less animated faces!
What’s New?
THEME NIGHT NEWBIES: 16 people took part in the theme nights for the first time last weekend. I can’t believe we’re still finding so many new talented people. Thanks to Mary Gaynor, Jack Courtenay, Paul Kelly, Ken Roht, Thomas Spratt, Ciara Frahill, Brendan Doyle, Keith Russell, Jason Kenny, Darren Kerr, Conor White, Emily Tansey, Karen Lynch, Sarah Burns, Gráinne Caldbeck and Charlie McKenna for all they brought to the shows.
MUSICALS SONG THAT I THOUGHT I WOULD NEVER LIKE BUT I DID: It has to be Nothing (from A Chorus Line) - I thought this song represented everything I found troubling about musicals. But when I learnt and performed it, firstly for Eimear Kearney’s performance in a Teenage Theme Night in 2019 and then again for Karen Gordon’s performance this weekend, I found I began to really appreciate the craft that went into the song and the skill it took to perform it. Karen was another of our heroes this week, and it was such a shame she couldn’t perform on Friday and Saturday. Thanks for everything Karen!
PERFORMANCES OF THE WEEKEND: To go solely by audience reaction, the three loudest roars I heard during the run (in no particular order) were for Joe Hunt’s Pinball Wizard on Friday, Seamie O’Dowd’s playing on Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (!) on Saturday, and Paul Maitland’s (below) If I Were a Rich Man on all three nights.
Finally…
Definitely a contender for Theme Night #31 - one of my favourite story songs and something to think about for any fathers out there!
Till next time - Kieran.
