Arts & Culture

TV REVIEW

DVD REVIEW

After another successful year, the Ennis Academy For The Performing Arts will present their end-of-season musical show in the Glór next Monday and Tuesday at 7.30pm. This year, they have chosen Working With Grease The Musical as their presentation.For the past 18 years, well-known ­Limerick show business personalities Tommy Drennan and Pearl Kiely have been running the very successful theatre school in Ennis, giving an opportunity for up and coming hopefuls to show their talents on stage. The annual end-of-season presentation in Glór has always provided a great night’s entertainment and the Grease show will undoubtedly be another great hit.Grease was voted the most popular musical of all time on a recent TV show with songs such as Summer Nights, Hopelessly Devoted To You, We Go Together, Sandy and You’re The One That I Want. The Glór show will feature all these great songs and provide a great night for parents, friends and the general public.The younger pupils of the …

ENNIS musician, Mike Hanrahan is one of 50 Irish celebrities who have bared their souls to write about recent highs and lows in their lives in an intriguing new book.The Rose and the Thorn, compiled by Audrey Healy and Don Mullan, is inspired by a dinnertime game President Barack Obama and his family play, in which they review their lives by reflecting on the roses and thorns of their day. Last year, while appearing on ABC’s The View, veteran American broadcaster Barbara Walters asked the US president about the game and what his recent roses and thorns were. The interview was covered by RTÉ’s Morning Ireland at the end of which presenter Áine Lawlor commented, ‘Isn’t that a wonderful question?’ Listening was journalist Don Mullan, who immediately called fellow writer and journalist, Audrey Healy, saying, ‘I’ve got a good idea for a book’. They persuaded 50 well-known people from various spheres in Irish society to come on board and commit …

FEW expressions of traditional culture have enjoyed a change in fortunes as dramatic as sean-nós dancing or damhsa ar an sean-nós. Having come perilously close to extinction towards the end of the last century, recent years have seen a resurgence of interest in this older style of traditional solo Irish dance.No longer confined to the heartlands of Connemara, sean-nós dancing has exploded on to the national and international scene. With a marked emphasis on improvisation and expression, the low to the ground footwork, improvised steps, free movement of the arms and battering steps of an accomplished sean-nós dancer, backed by lively musicians, are quite simply a joy to behold.  In that vein, dancers and followers alike will be delighted to learn of the inaugural Sean Nós Dancing Competition, which will be held at the Auburn Lodge Hotel on Saturday, May 28 from 2pm as part of the Fleadh Nua. Dance will be one of the art forms to be celebrated …

THE Iniscealtra Festival of Arts celebrates the voice as this year’s theme and there is still time for those looking to enrol for singing workshops as part of the festival line-up. The workshops are being conducted by Sian Croose and will offer participants a chance to sing with up to 70 other voices.The Sound of Angels concert billed for the church in Mountshannon on Saturday, June 4 will be the climax to this year’s festival theme and will bring together a large chorus of singers from East Clare and beyond. Under the tutelage of UK-based musical director and community choir coordinator Sian Croose, the singers will spend three days of intense rehearsal before presenting the musical extravaganza.Sian’s highly accomplished 20 strong choir Big Sky (Norwich, UK) will also perform. Those interested in partaking in the workshops can contact Doreen Hanley on 087 2686764. The festival will be opened on May 28 by Senator David Norris and runs all week.

THE final session of the Clare Three Legged Stool Poets for this season will remember the late Ennis-based poet Brendan O’Beirne.The event will be held in Glór this Saturday, coinciding with Brendan’s birthday. The poet, who passed away last year, was a Clare Three Legged Stool poet for the last four years of his life.Born in Scariff, Brendan spent 10 years living in Ennis. According to Brian Mooney of the group, “The main focus of this event will be celebrating his life. Michael Connaughton, founder of Voicefree is bringing a group of poets from Dublin for the occasion. Brendan was a member of Voicefree, the main meeting ground for poets in Dublin in the ’80s.”Michael will be bringing members of the Bayview Poetry Group. Among them will be Glenda Cimino, who has written an in-depth critique of Brendan’s published work. Music in the afternoon will be provided by piper Andrew Newland while Paul Saalbach of Glascloon Studios will record the …

THE yellow-brick road will be leading towards Glór this month where the Dinan School of Ballet will perform their annual show. This year’s show will be Over the Rainbow, a unique reworking of the classic The Wizard of Oz, taking place on Wednesday and Thursday at 7.30pm. The show will feature all pupils of the school, ranging in age from just three and a half to adults.A variety of music and dance styles have been incorporated into the show, including ballet, tap, jazz and contemporary.“This is our 24th annual show involving all of the students and there is huge excitement among everyone in the school in the lead up,” said Niamh Dinan.“It’s fantastic because we have children as young as three and a half, who are just starting to dance and we also have the adults who had started to dance at that age taking part. The show really has something for everyone.“Although the show is based on The Wizard …