MULLAGH’S own Marty Morrissey is now playing a major part in Mario Rosenstock’s show. Speaking about RTÉ’s GAA correspondent, Rosenstock says, “Marty Morrissey has a huge part in this show, it’s at the beginning of act two. His thing in the audience is to find the most beautiful girl in the audience and to shift her. That’s basically what I do, seek out the most beautiful girl I can find, bring her up on stage. We do several seductive dances on stage together, before I try and shift her!” Rosenstock’s Marty has an enviable record over the last few months, he adds. “I’ve done it 29 times. Marty Morrissey has had 29 different shifts!” It’s hardly surprising that there are sometimes problems with that segment of the show. “There have been varying degrees of success. Some women are not okay with it and some women go mad for it. It really depends on the Marty obsession factor in the audience,” …
Read More »From Broadway to the Banner
PEMBERLEY Productions and the Lime Tree Theatre are bringing the one man off-Broadway production of In Acting Shakespeare on an Irish tour this month, with dates in Clare, Limerick and Galway. The tour gives Irish audiences a rare chance to see an off-Broadway production on their doorsteps and it comes off the back of a two-month, sold-out run in New York City. In Acting Shakespeare is a funny, touching and uplifting story of one man’s discovery of Shakespeare, acting and language. Freely adapted, with permission, from Sir Ian McKellen’s Acting Shakespeare, James De Vita tells his own story of a young fisherman searching for a new career. This fun, fervent tribute to one man’s personal journey, deftly weaves some of Shakespeare’s most famous monologues with James’ days as a Long Island fisherman and his nights as a classical actor. Speaking to The Clare Champion, Tim Smith, who is producing the play, which is written by and stars Wisconsin native De Vita, …
Read More »Giant Spectacle in Treaty City
A GIANT granny comes to Munster this weekend as world renowned French based street theatre company Royal de Luxe bring their newest giant to Limerick as part of the city of culture line-up. Founded in France in 1979 by Jean-Luc Courcoult Royal de Luxe have performed in front of more than 18 million spectators across the world and this weekend they bring their 30 foot tall Grandmother to Limerick. From Friday, September 5 to Sunday, September 7 they will be in Limerick where they will deliver a unique Irish urban tale, bringing their Giant’s Saga to Ireland for the first time. The Giant will tell a story while she is in the city over three days offering plenty of free family entertainment. Grandmother, which is being referred to locally as Granny, stands at 7.5metres tall, and is handled like a marionette by tens of Lilliputians, which have become a directly identifiable signature of the street theatre company. Speaking about the …
Read More »Luka Bloom tours the cafes of Clare
Luka Bloom could be sinn ing to you in your local café next month, as the North Clare resident embarks on his second Clare Café Tour. As someone who thoroughly enjoys the café atmosphere, Luka Bloom decided last year to bring the music to the wonderful cafes around the county. The atmosphere they have for an intimate gig was one reason for bringing his folk song repertoire to the café stage but, he also said, he finds the proprietors are genuinely enthusiastic about creating a warm and homely atmosphere for the guests. Speaking about last year’s café tour, Luka said it went beyond all his expectations. “I was a little bit nervous about whether people would be open to it, and I was completely blown away. The interesting thing about the tour we did last year was that every single one of the café’s I played in last September, I don’t think one of them existed 10 years ago. They …
Read More »Kíla on their way to Doolin
Having played together for over 20 years, Kíla are one of the country’s most innovative groups, having created their own style of music and winning endorsements from the likes of Bono and Sinead O’Connor. Speaking about the group’s sound, musician Colm Ó Snodaigh said; “It’s an eight piece band, so it’s a big band, a big sound. In the last few years we’ve taken in a new member who’s exclusively a drummer, it’s the first time. We’ve always had drums on stage but they were only used for one or two tracks, but is the first time we’ve had that kind of sound all the way through it. There’s fiddle, flute, pipes, bodhrán, drums, mandolin, guitar, bass guitar, it’s kind of a big sound. It suits the festival stage in a way and it’s very dance-y music.” He said that he loves seeing people moving to the music at their shows. “It’s great fun to be honest with you. Probably …
Read More »‘Bridge warming to the folk scene
By Carol Byrne SIXMILEBRIDGE Folk Club will host two concerts this month; the first on Wednesday next at the Mill Bar, and the second in the soon-to-be opened Kilkishen Cultural Centre. The new centre will be the venue for a folk club concert with the Mulcahy’s traditional music family on May 16. Now in its 16th year, the folk club has changed venues many times, starting with McGregor’s in Sixmilebridge, then the parochial hall, followed by the Courthouse. They are now firmly established in Gallagher’s, Kilkishen, and also return on a regular basis to both Gleeson’s and the Mill Bar, in Sixmilebridge. However, with the opening of the new Cultural Centre in Kilkishen, Brendan Walsh, said this will mark a new beginning for the club, as they aim to promote it as a top-class acoustic music venue. “It will be a huge asset to the folk club, as it is a state-of-the-art heritage venue with a capacity of 80. As …
Read More »Tiernan Likes to Keep On Moving
By Carol Byrne TOMMY Tiernan is preparing for what he calls a World Tour of Clare running from June 13-22. Speaking to The Clare Champion, he said he’s looking forward to the tour of the Banner. “It’s the second one. I did one a few years ago, it was great. I’d never been to East Clare before but I’d be a fan of Martin Hayes and the Tulla Céilí Band and all that. The last time we did Killaloe and there were great drinking sessions over at Miltown Malbay on the west coast and Spanish Point; it was a great tour.” He has done tours of all the counties at this stage and says he enjoys seeing places a bit off the beaten track and it has given him a few new insights. “About four or five years ago, I thought it’d be more interesting, that you’d get to see more of a county, have more opportunities for story-telling. It’s …
Read More »The Nualas on their way to Ennis
By Owen Ryan HAVING first come to prominence in the 90s the Nualas are on the road again and will be in Ennis next week, coming to Glór on Saturday, April 26. Anne Gildea is one of the group and she says they are defying a convention that women in entertainment vanish from the scene after a certain age. She also says that the group has changed focus somewhat since the early days. “Obviously your motivation is different when you’re older. Now, we’re not that much older, but I find it more fun, there’s more depth in what we can talk about and it’s more interesting to do now. In showbiz, you’re supposed to disappear when you get a bit older, if you’re out of your thirties as a woman you’re supposed to disappear or something.” The current show builds on the alter egos developed when they first burst on the scene. “The basic Nuala show started in the 90s …
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