This article is from page 63 of the 2008-08-19 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 63 JPG
AS THE amateur musical and drama season prepares to take hold all over the county, the Shannon Musical So- ciety 1S preparing for a first with this year’s production.
This year the society will become the first amateur society in Ireland to perform Joe DiPietro’s ‘All Shook Up’. The musical, which was a huge success on Broadway, is based loose- ly on Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night’ and inspired by the music of Elvis USA
The society will be having a launch night on Wednesday, September 3, 1n the Oak Wood Arms Hotel at 8pm.
“Each year we host a night to en-
courage new people to come and join the musical society. It’s really more of an informative night, I think a lot of people think that it’s all about music and if you don’t have loads of talent you can’t join,” said Mary O’Loughlin of the Shannon Musical Society.
“It’s much more than that. Every- thing involved in the musical, except for the orchestra, 1s produced by lo- cal people. We have the costumes, the stage crew – the whole set is made from scratch, the front of house team and the booking office. So there is a great amount for people to be doing beside the work on the stage itself.
“It’s a great social outlet for people, especially if you have just moved to
Shannon. The society can be a great way for getting to know people and getting involved. It’s a great team effort and right across the board in terms of ages.”
This years production will be di- rected and choreographed by Oliver Hurley while Carmel Griffin will the musical director.
The musical society are hoping for a good turn out at the up coming launch night.
“Tt can be difficult enough some- times to get new male members but once they join up they stay with us for years and years. They might be that bit shy at the beginning but once they get involved in it they love it,’ she continued.
“It’s going to be afun show this year. The show will use a lot of the Elvis songs to help tell the story. There is a great story running through it, the music is really secondary – it helps to tell the story.”
Anyone interested in joining the So- ciety can take a browse through the website on Www.shannonmusical. com or call Siobhan on 086 2142554 for details on membership.