Gospel choir’s night at the movies

ENNIS Gospel Choir will be performing their new show, Gospel at the Movies, in Glór on January 22 and 23. This show will also feature members of the London Community Gospel Choir, one of the leading gospel choirs in the world.
Mary Neylon of Ennis Gospel Choir said she was confident the public would enjoy the show.
“All the songs that are in it have been taken from the movies and the stage is being built by Joe Betts. There will be a big screen put up at the back so it will be a bit like a movie theatre. There will be edits put up on that, clips of the choir and other bits and pieces throughout the show. That’s being done by Colm Flynn.”
She said that the London visitors would add a lot to the performances.
“The band from the London Community Gospel Choir will be there and they’re one of the biggest in the world. They’ve sang with U2, performed for the Queen and have been around for years. Some of us met them through workshops and we mentioned what we’re doing and they said they were interested in coming over. We’re very lucky to have them.”
Mary said that the Ennis Gospel Choir is doing a bit of rebranding. “The choir is getting a new logo and graphics and that’ll all be revealed at the show, it’s being worked on at the moment by Michael Ballinger.”
She feels that it’s important to offer people something slightly more expansive than they may expect.
“This is a big, exciting show and we wanted to do something a bit different, not just to sing on stage. If people go to the theatre they want to see a proper show. Glór are being very good to us and they’re letting us do up the foyer, which will help to give it a cinema feel.”
This is Ennis Gospel Choir’s second production, following on from A Gospel Experience, which was attended by more than 2,000 people.
Mary said that the choir is quite diverse and is rooted in the local community. “We’re a non-audition community choir, which basically means that we welcome anyone who wishes to participate, without questioning their reasons. All we ask is that they are committed to singing with us and that they enjoy the experience. It’s very unusual amongst choir circles to be completely non-audition but we have been so lucky with the people who have joined.”
Tickets are available from the Glór box office.