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October 2009 |
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PANTO BOOKING Booking for the Panto ROBINSON CARUSO opens next Thursday, 8th. October, at the Strand Theatre Box Office, 051 645050 or 086 3571403, and as usual, business will be brisk for a Carrick Show, which runs in the Strand Theatre from Saturday 24th. October to Sunday 1st. November.
Everyone enjoys a good laugh, especially in these recessionary times, and ROBINSON CARUSO will be a tonic, with its rollicking storyline, great music, a dash of romance, and lots of hilarious comedy. Fergus Power, the Dame, aided and abetted by Audie Murphy as Giovanni, a broken down Pavarotti, and the two “funnymen”, Padraig Sheehan and Seamus Power, will lead the fun. Romance will be provided by heartthrob Michael O’Dwyer and the lovely Nicole Smith. Lots of other parts keep the story going, and the fun, craic and mayhem keeps rolling along. Carrick Panto is better than a trip to the doctor, tickling your funnybone, and the ideal antidote to Politicians, Referendums, Weather and Recessions.
There will be ten performances, 7 evening and 3 matinees. The 3 matinees and the special Family Night on Monday 26th. October, cost €12. The other 6 evening performances, Sat., Sun., Tues., Wed., Thurs., and Fri., are priced at €15. The Halloween matinee on Saturday, 31st. October will be SPECIAL, and will leave the kids free to go “trick or treating” that night. Cast and Production Team, as well as Sets, Costumes, Props, Lighting and Sound, are working flat out to make sure that ROBINSON CARUSO will hit the high decibels of comedy for kids of all ages, from womb to tomb, as they say. Its not just for kids, grown-up kids in their teens, twenties, thirties etc. up to their nineties will have a ball. Don’t miss out. Booking opens next Thursday.
ANY EMPTY CANS ? When you go to the Panto ROBINSON CARUSO at the end of the month, you’ll see a very strange craft. Not a flying saucer, but a FLYING TEAPOT ! This wonderful spaceship, which gets Robinson and the Cast, from Earth to Cloud Cuckoo Land, is made from empty Coke, Fanta, 7 Up, and other soft drink cans, and the Musical Society needs lots more --- SOON. Drop them into Willy at the Strand Theatre --- YESTERDAY.
Things are falling into place nicely, as rehearsals intensify. Indications are that the Panto is going to be a riot, with children, dancers and Chorus integrating with the super line-up of Principals. Fun, laughs and mayhem abound, and ROBINSON CARUSO is going to be a guaranteed cure for all ills, the ideal tonic for recessions, and all the bad news that seems to be all around. Booking opened this week, and as expected, was very heavy. There will be 7 evening performances from Saturday, 24th. October to Friday, 30th. October, at 8 pm., and 3 matinees on Sunday, 25th., Saturday 31st. October, and Sunday 1st, November at 3 pm. The Halloween matinee on the Saturday will be very special, and the audience will hopefully turn up IN COSTUME. It will also mean that kids, in Cast and audience, will be free to go “trick or treating” that evening. Tickets can be booked at the Strand Theatre Box Office every day, 11 am. to 1 pm. and 2pm. to 4 pm. 051 645050 or 086 3571403. Admission Evening €15 ( Family Night Monday 26th. € 12 ) Matinee € 12.
IN GREAT SHAPE Cast and Production Team of ROBINSON CARUSO are working flat out to ensure that the Panto will hit the stage on Saturday week next 24th. October, in the Strand Theatre, in great shape. The Production Team has been working since mid Summer, planning and selecting music, song and dance, before rehearsals started in September. After auditions, 92 children and 40 plus adults, have been knocking fun out of the script, dance and song, and indications are that ROBINSON CARUSO is going to be a fabulous Show for young at heart from 4 to 94.
Two of the hardest working people involved are Choreographers Patricia Woods and Grace Ryan. Patricia, winner of several A.I.M.S. Awards, has been dancing her socks off, and that of her dancers, for more years than she’d care to admit to ! She really knows her stuff and generously imparts her great knowledge to her charges. Grace Ryan is assisting her, making her own bit of history, as she tackles her first time opportunity to get her girls to dance the light fantastic. Both Patricia and Grace are not sparing themselves, and the finished product will be a credit to them.
Booking opened last Thursday and, as anticipated, was very heavy. The Box Office at the Strand Theatre is open daily from 11am to 1 pm., and 2 pm. to 5pm., and credit card facilities are available. Don’t be disappointed, just ring Willie or Alice at 051 645050. It’s the perfect cure for depression and recession.
PRESS RELEASE FOR ROBINSON CARUSO Carrick Pantomime has been famous since the 1950s, and since its revival some years ago, it has lived up to its great reputation. ROBINSON CARUSO is no exception. The story is the ideal tonic for current woes. They say a good laugh is the best medicine for all ills, so the tonic is at hand.
Dick Meany’s topical script tells the story of Robinson Caruso, who works in his father’s Chipper, the Da is a brokendown Italian tenor, on whom the Dame has his/ her beady eye. To make a short story even longer, our hero Robinson is the Prince Charming (???} to save the villagers on a Carribean Island. Robinson is shipwrecked, stalked by the Dame, and the Witch Queen, has several spells cast on him, turning him into the great lover ( !!!), and a genius, among other things. He invents a Flying Teapot and flies to Cloud Cuckoo Land to confront Queen Disco and win the day against all the baddies. On the way, he falls in love with Moira, and finishes up as Mr Wonderful. This may sound a little confusing, but what the heck, its Pantomime, Carrick style, and is guaranteed great fun. The craic is only mighty.
The comedy team is led by Dame Fergus Power, with Audie Murphy as the Da Giovanni, and Padraig Sheehan and Seamus Power as the two “ funnymen “. Romance is in the hands, and voices, of a smashing young couple, Michael O’Dwyer as Robinson, and Nicole Smith as Moira. Magic comes in the shape of Bridget Phelan as the good Whisette, and two baddie Witches, Siobhan Mc Carthy and Eibhlin Walsh. There’s great music, pops and Show tunes to the fore, and a great Production Team.
ROBINSON CARUSO is better than a trip to the doctor, so make sure to get your tickets early when booking opens on Thursday, 8th. October at the Strand Theatre Box Office 051 645050 or 086 3571403. It’s a tonic for all kids from 4 to 94.
COME FLY WITH ME One of the high moments in the Panto ROBINSON CARUSO is the trip to Cloud Cuckoo Land in Robinson’s spacecraft The Flying Teapot. All kids, from four to ninety four, are invited on board to join in the hilarious fun. It’s a riot, with Dame Fergus Power at his / her outrageous best, aided and abetted by Audie Murphy’s Giovanni, and Padraig Sheehan and Seamus Power as “funnymen” Nuts and Bolts. Add into the mix the romance of teen heart throbs Michael O’Dwyer as Robinson and the lovely Nicole Smith, his sweetheart, Moira. They have some lovely moments and beautiful duets. There’s great magic in the hands of Bridget Phelan as the Whizette, who tells the story, Siobhan Mc Carthy, the nasty Witch, who tries to spoil it, and Eibhlin Walsh, the Disco Queen, as weird and zany a character as one is likely to meet. She lives on Cloud Cuckoo Land. Then of course, we have Man Friday, the Witchdoctor, and Bertie, the real Taoiseach ! It’s a panic !
With an adult Cast of forty five, and ninety two children, split into groups to perform at alternate performances, this rollicking Pantomime goes like the proverbial bomb from the opening to the finale, and is a tonic for young and old. If you haven’t got your ticket yet, get a move on. The Panto opens this Saturday evening, and continues with evening performances at 8 pm. to Friday 30th. October. There are three Matinees, Sunday 25th. Saturday 31st. October, and Sunday 1st. November at 3 pm. The Saturday Halloween Matinee will be special, with children urged to turn up in costume. The craic will be mighty.
Booking is open at the Strand Theatre Box Office daily, 11 am. to 1 pm. and 2 pm to 5 pm., phone number 051 5050 or 086 3571403, and credit card facilities are available. Don’t hesitate, get your skates on NOW.
The Musical Society extends sympathy to one of our Cast, Siobhan Mc Carthy, on the death of her Dad, Barry, last week. The Mc Carthy family have always had a very close relationship with the Society. Barry’s mother, Bernadette, was one of the Principal Dancers, before her family of seven sons arrived on the scene. Bernadette and her husband Peter have always kept a keen interest in the Society, and were delighted when granddaughter Siobhan joined and carried on the family tradition. May Barry’s gentle soul rest in peace.
SPARKLING TONIC The Panto ROBINSON CARUSO opened last Saturday, to howls of laughter, in the Strand Theatre, from an enthusiastic audience, and certainly lived up to its pre – opening hype. It runs for the rest of the week, up to the matinee on Sunday. It’s brimming with great fun, great music, great choreography, great Sets, Lighting, Sound and Costumes, but most of all, a great Cast. What a line-up of Principals, led by Dame Fergus Power, aided and abetted by Audie Murphy, Padraig Sheehan, Seamus Power and Chris Hanlon. The teenage romantic leads, Michael O’Dwyer in the title role, and his girlfriend, the lovely Nicole Smith, were melodic and superb. The magical Bridget Phelan, the villainous twosome of Siobhan Mc Carthy and Eibhlin Walsh, and the entire back-up Cast of Dancers and Chorus, ably assisted by the excellent Pit Singers, added immeasurably to what was a scintillating evening’s entertainment, with many highlights, the delightful children, the Storm, the Flying Teapot, and the great comedy and fun that had audiences literally rolling in the aisles. If you hav’n’t been to the Panto yet, there may be a few tickets available at the Strand Theatre Box Office 051 645050, but get your skates on. There’s evening performances this Thursday and Friday at 8 p.m., and Matinees on Saturday and Sunday at 3 p.m. Don’t miss it, it’s a tonic for all complaints !
As if the Musical Society was not busy enough with ROBINSON CARUSO, on stage this week, the Society held auditions for SWEENEY TODD, on Friday of last week, the day before the curtain went up for ROBINSON CARUSO. Talk of gluttons for punishment ! Director Tony Finnegan and Musical Director Fergal Carroll ran eyes and ears over the excellent talent that turned up for the auditions. The Wise Heads are in conclave and white smoke will emerge shortly, and judging by the high calibre that auditioned, a superb Cast will emerge. More news next week. |
