Tag Archives: Ennis Musical Society

STEEPED in musical heritage, 25-year-old Hazel Park has chased her dream, and is now living it. After spending a few years teaching, she left education to go to London for an MA in Musical Theatre Performance and is starting her first professional role this week, playing Tinkerbell in the pantomime Peter Pan at University Concert Hall Limerick. She told the Clare Champion that Shannon Musical Society has been a big part of her life and her family. “My grandparents actually founded the society, my family have been in it over the years and I joined when I was 18.” Hazel has also been involved with Muse Productions and the Ennis Musical Society, while she was nominated for Best Female Singer in the Association of Irish Musical Societies Awards in 2020. She has always wanted to get into musical theatre as a professional, but didn’t go into it straight after the Leaving Cert. “It was always in the back of my …

IF you’re looking for something fun to do during the cold winter months, you certainly won’t be barking up the wrong tree by getting involved with the Ennis Musical Society. Auditions for the society’s newest show Legally Blonde are set to take part this Sunday from 3pm at the Holy Family Hall with would-be singers and actors aged 16 and over encouraged to get involved. However, it isn’t just stars of the two legged variety who will be taking part in the show, with society chairperson Rachael Culligan revealing they will shortly be looking for performers of the four-legged kind. “Once we have cast the human parts we will be seeking dogs to audition for two roles in the show. We want to make sure that the dogs work well with who they are on stage with. “We are going to be looking for one small and one big dog, in the movie there is a Chihuahua, but what it …

ENNIS Musical Society members old and new are coming together this April for an evening of song with A Night at the Musicals. The society will be back on April 10 in Hotel Woodstock where they will be performing numbers from musicals of all eras for all ages to enjoy. Expect songs from favourite shows such as Les Miserables, Wicked, Rent, Seussical to name but a few. The concert comes following the postponement of the society’s 2022 show Legally Blonde until next year due to Covid-19. The society were also unable to put on a show in 2021 because of the pandemic, and their 2020 production was cancelled after just two performances. Ennis Musical Society chairperson Rachael Culligan tells us they have had a “terrific response” to the plans for the upcoming concert. “We initially had planned on doing Legally Blonde but with so many members getting Covid, we just felt that we couldn’t manage that scale of rehearsals with …

THE Ennis Musical Society has confirmed that this year’s production of Legally Blonde has been postponed until next year, writes Jessica Quinn. However, the local group has said there are plans for a smaller scale project for this April or May. The society had planned to hold auditions for the popular musical production of Legally Blonde earlier this month. However, a spokesperson for EMS has said that the society has made “the difficult decision to officially postpone Legally Blonde until 2023”. Just last November the society announced plans for the much anticipated show which was set to run in glór from the end of March and into early April. The society had been unable to put on a show in 2021 due to Covid-19 restrictions, and their 2020 production was cancelled after just two performances. Society chairperson Rachael Culligan at the time had said they were looking forward to getting back on stage in 2022. She also made an appeal …

Society ideal for those looking for love says chairperson as plea issued for male voices “WE need men”. That’s the message from the Ennis Musical Society who have put out a desperate plea for the men of county Clare to get involved in their upcoming show Legally Blonde. As if taking part in a fun show isn’t enough of an incentive, chairperson of the society Rachael Culligan reveals that the society is the ideal place to be for those looking for love. She describes the group as “almost the Tinder of Ennis” with many couples meeting and falling in love after joining. “It’s kind of a wonderful dating service I would say,” she laughs. The Ennis Musical Society are holding auditions for the show in January, and Rachael is urging men to put themselves forward. Auditions had been scheduled to take place this weekend, however the society have decided to pause those plans due to Covid-19 and they are instead …

THEY may had to cut this year’s show short due to Covid-19, but the Ennis Musical Society still managed to hit the high notes at this year’s AIMS awards. The local group, who had to cancel this year’s production of Seussical the Musical just days into its run, took home the title of Best Programme at the annual awards which Rachael Culligan, chairperson of Ennis Musical Society has described as the “equivalent of the Tony Awards” in amateur musical society circles. The society had a total of three nominations in the competition, also coming in runners up in the Best Actor category for Brian Roche and Best Singer for Hazel Park. “We were delighted with the win, and we were delighted to get nominated in three categories because it’s not easy to get an AIMS nomination. The AIMS amongst the musical creative circles is quite highly regarded, it’s the amateur equivalent to the Tony Awards.” She paid tribute to all …

CLARE has been selected as one of eight counties in the country to receive funding for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI+) services under the Dormant Accounts Fund. In November 2019, Seán Canney TD, Minister of State for Community Development, Natural Resources and Digital Development, published the Dormant Accounts Action Plan 2020 providing funding to address disadvantage across the country. This includes the provision of €200k to support LGBTI+ community organisations. County Clare was selected as one of eight organisations nationwide and has been awarded €35,000 from the Dormant Accounts Fund. The funding is based on proposals received from organisations around the county who are seeking to complete projects which ensure that existing community infrastructure is inclusive and welcoming to LGBTI+ people. Following a countywide call for expressions of interest, 10 organisations across the county will benefit from the funding, including: Clare Women’s Network, Clare Haven, Clare Youth Service, North West Clare Family Resource Centre, Ennis Musical Society, Fishbowl Youth, Burren Art Gallery, …

IN true show-biz style the future of Ennis Musical Society has been secured with a fantastic response to a GoFundMe appeal. Society chairperson Rachel Culligan said is it phenomenal that their €7,000 target had been reached within just eight days of the fundraising launch. In addition, the society has received financial support from organisations and individuals with an interest in the arts. “Now we can pay off our debts and look forward to getting back on track for next year’s production in Glór,” she said. Continuing, Rachel said, “Maeve Fox of Pantaloons Ennis came forward, as well as Allen Flynn of Ennis Players. He’s also decided to come on board as our main sponsor for next year – that’s fantastic. Allen went through his contacts and then came back to say that a Clare man living outside the county wanted to make an anonymous donation of €6,000. Our society president Pat Buckley contributed too. All this helped to get us …