Waterford Theatre Podcast

Part 3 of the discussion with Des Manahan on his life and times. Includes audio from his lifetime achievement award in the Theatre Royal, February 2020.

Part 2 of our conversation with Des Manahan. This episode he discusses G&S, Buxton, Tops of the Town, The Festival, Why he ended up a comic and what young people he admired over the years.

Des Manahan joins me for the first part of a 3 part special with him about his life and times in Theatre and some of his special memories. If you're a Waterford Theatre lover (or even beyond Waterford) you will know Des as one of the all time legends of the Waterford stage. Enjoy.

Michael Quinlan and Anne O'Riordan are here with a chat about 2 great Waterford plays hitting the boards next week.

I was delighted to be given a copy of this recording - Pentimenti's launch from the Crystal Showrooms way back in 1998 at a WLR Arts and Entertainment award. Andrew Holden was there as part of the ensemble and he kindly joined me to share his memories of what was a landmark show in Waterford Theatre. The extract is up first, the chat with Andrew starts roughly around 22 - 23 minutes in. Enjoy!

DAVE WAS IN THE ORIGINAL CAST OF CATS - HE WAS SACKED ON OPENING NIGHTHE'S NOT A HAPPY PUSSY...... but two very happy chappies are Jamie Beamish and Richard Hardwick who joined me for a chat about all things 'Cat' related. We had good fun discussing everything from the plays humble beginnings at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival to a West End performance attended by Elaine Paige herself to an interesting encounter on the Greenway with a random Australian tourist... Where did Dave's wig come from? What is the 'Llama' shape and what exactly did the Really Useful Group make of it all...Have a listen...

In 1994 Waterford Crystal won the National Tops Of The Town title in the Gaiety Theatre in Dublin. It was the last time a Waterford Group featured in a Tops final. Now - 25 years later - we hear from some of the people who were there that year in a celebration of that remarkable production.

Red ‘n Blue Theatre present the Irish Premiere of Lovesong in Garter Lane this week. A new Waterford Theatre company - what's not to love? Jenny Fennessy and Dylan Kennedy join us for a chat. Lovesong is a story of one couple, told from two different points in their lives – as young lovers in their late 20s and as worldly companions looking back on their relationship. Their past and present selves collide in this beautiful tale of togetherness.

Glenn Murphy returns to the Waterford Stage later this month with a trio of concerts 'From Me To You' in Garter Lane. I caught up with Glenn to talk about the concerts but also to look back at his younger life in stage schools, 'that' production of Les Mis in 2012, viral videos - and oh yeah the small matter of singing on stage with Adele...

Everyone does a Christmas special - so here's one from me as well! Basically a quick snippet out of all the episodes so far. I'm so grateful for everyone who's taken part. So you'll hear (in this order) Mick Quinlan, Nick Bailey, Dave Hayes, Rob O'Connor, Darajane O'Sullivan, Roddie Cleere, Conor Clancy, Ben Nolan, Liam Butler, Tony Corcoran, Brother Ben Hanlon, Dee Lanigan, Jack Cunningham,Jamie Beamish, Jim Nolan, Brother Ben Hanlon, Padraig O'Griofa and Anne Corcoran Brown.. it's a short episode as nobody has attention this time of year for epics. Enjoy!

Oh Yes It Is! Panto time in Waterford comes but once a year... so who am I to not feature it? This is one close to my heart as Panto is the biggest show that I do every year. Talking about Panto with me are the Ghosts of Christmas Past (Padraig O'Griofa) and Christmas Present (Anne Corcoran Brown)... we had a great chat about 33 years of success... hope you enjoy it!

I recently spoke to Br. Ben about the Addams Family. When we finished talking about that we left the 'tape running' so to speak - and talked about choirs, theatre, composing operas and more... Worth a listen to anybody who ever met and worked with Br.Ben Hanlon.

Always a pleasure to talk to Jim Nolan anytime of the year. At the moment he's working on Mt. Prospect - a co-production with WIT and Garter Lane. Jim talks about this fascinating collaboration and how it is benefiting students in lots of ways - as well as sharing his insight into Garter Lane's important place in Waterford Theatre development.

The fourth show this October is 'The Little Shop Of Horrors' by Jack Cunningham Productions. Joining me for a chat is Jack Cunningham and Emma Walsh. Also a brief visit from Jamie Beamish and Ray Collins who share their memories of Little Shop from 1993 - 25 years ago this week!

The South Eastern Theatre Group's annual productions have become red letter days in the Theatrical calendar. This year they're producing the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical 'The Beautiful Game' - a love story set against the backdrop of 'The Troubles' in Northern Ireland. Dee Lannigan is chairperson of the group and dropped along for a chat about the show and all things South Eastern.

Br. Benedict Hanlon (or simply 'Ben' as he likes to be called) is a living legend in Waterford Theatre. He joins me this week to talk about 2 topics - The Addams Family, De La Salle Colleges current production and De La Salle College's 40th anniversary production. Along the way some fond memories come out, and more then a passing reference to some legends who have gone before us.

It's not every week you open a 'World Premiere' - and that's exactly what is on this week in Garter Lane from the pen of Tony Corcoran and the hilarious ensemble that is 'The Bilberry Goats'. Tony joins us for a chat about all things goats, writing comedy and world premieres...

It's Musical Theatre week, and this week the focus is on Hairspray that takes to the boards in a few days time. Joining me is Liam Butler Director and Ben Nolan - Edna and Kayleigh Grant - Motormouth, both from the cast.We started talking Hairspray and went through everything from representing ethnicity on stage in this PC age, do kids in amateur productions still dream of being professionals and why don't people book early in the week to see a show... all good craic and plenty of Hairspray chat and music there too...

'A man who thinks his wife turned into a sheep' was one of the most entertaining descriptions of any part of a play I've heard in recent times... Conor Clancy is the Artist in residence this month in 'A Little Room' in Waterford.A Little Room is a space dedicated exclusively to theatre development. It is open to practitioners from Waterford and beyond to come and spend a month developing work in a free and professional space. Conor Clancy is an Actor, Playwright, Musician,Singer and Composer who started his career in the ensemble of Les Miserables back in 2011 with the South Eastern Theatre Group and is currently working on 'To Carauntoohill' (where the wife turns into a sheep) :)

It's without doubt the greatest street theatre festival in Ireland and it's on our doorstep. I decided that it would be remiss not to honour Spraoi and feature it this week, but I wanted to grab some different voices to share an alternative story with us all - so I enlisted Rob O'Connor - Musical Director of the Spraoi parade, Darajane O'Sullivan - co-ordinator of the Sanofi Spraoi orchestra and Roddie Cleere - the 'Voice of Spraoi' for the last 25 years... enjoy a slightly different take on our beloved festival!

David Hayes and Nick Bailey are re-working West Side Story into 'Inside West Side' - a brand new studio album which received huge support from Waterford Musical Theatre fans in their Fund-it campaign. The guys join me to talk about getting the project off the ground, the thoughts behind it, the fund-it campaign and why a gang of 30 people are gathering together in a studio to shout Mambo in hopefully the right place. Also featuring music throughout from Leonard Bernstein to celebrate his centenary.

Michael Quinlan (or Q to friends) returns home to star in his one man play 'Misterman' in the Theatre Royal - he joins me for a chat. Also featuring music from 'The Book Of Mormon', 'Chess', and 'Pentimenti' from the late great Bryan Flynn. To subscribe search iTunes for Showtime Waterford and hit subscribe!