Category Archives: Productions

Muse Productions

Muse to stage Man of La Mancha in Shannon

http://www.clarecourier.ie/article.asp?id=5438

11 October 2016

Muse Productions return to the stage in St Patrick’s Comprehensive from November 3rd–5th with one of their most ambitions projects to date, Man of La Mancha.
Martin McNelis, founder of Muse and an award winning actor in his own right, will debut as musical director. The original production of Man of La Mancha won five Tony Awards and has been revived four times on Broadway, becoming one of the most enduring works of musical theatre.
Written by Dale Wasserman, it is inspired by the Spanish classic, Don Quixote of La Mancha, the story of one man’s quest for idealism while tilting at windmills and dreaming ‘The Impossible Dream’.
It’s the story of the  knight, Don Quixote, as a play within a play, performed by the writer Miguel de Cervantes and other prisoners held by the Spanish Inquisition.
Chris Willetts stars as Don Quixote with Brian Roche as his man-servant Sancho Panza, the cast also includes Eoghan Rice, Mikey O’Gorman, Eoin Sheedy, Jessica Bray, Clare McNelis, Gary Loughnane, Tony Little and Noel Murphy, names familiar from previous Muse and Shannon Musical Society productions.
Stage design is by Martin McNelis, lighting by Diarmaid O’Loughlin, costumes by Clare McNelis and sound by Star Systems. The set is expertly constructed by Frank Boland and team.
Man of La Mancha takes place in a dungeon cell when Cervantes provides some imaginative escapism for his fellow prisoners awaiting a hearing with the Inquisition.
Cervantes presents a play as his defence in a mock trial. In it, he plays Alhonso Quiana, a man who has set his own reality aside and become Don Quixote De La Mancha. Assisted by Sancho Panza, Quixote tries to avoid his mortal enemy, the Enchanter, and woo the serving wench Aldonza, who he takes to be the lady Dulcinea.
While the production contains some dark moments, McNelis has striven to present the sensitive material in a way that will convey the message that hope and idealism can triumph over cynicism and despair.
Man of La Mancha has been described as a remarkable show and one of the great theatre successes of our time. It is a poignant story of a dying old man whose impossible dream takes over his mind.
Songs such as It’s All the Same, Dulcinea, I’m Only Thinking of Him, The Impossible Dream, I Really Like Him and Little Bird remain in your thoughts well after the performance.
Quixote’s dream is Everyman’s dream. His tilting at windmills is Everyman’s great adventure.

At the launch of Man of La Mancha, were (l-r) Seamus Power, AIMS vice president), Clare McNelis, Mary Smyth, Paddy Smyth and Martin McNelis.
At the launch of Man of La Mancha, were (l-r) Seamus Power, AIMS vice president), Clare McNelis, Mary Smyth, Paddy Smyth and Martin McNelis.

Casting for “Man of La Mancha”

LaMancha

We are delighted to announce our cast for the forthcoming production of “Man of La Mancha”

Cervantes/Don Quixote: Chris Willetts
Sancho Panza: Brian Roche
Escalante/Aldonza:  Jessica Bray
The Governor/Innkeeper:  Noel Murphy
The Padre:  Feidhlim Hillery
The Duke/Carrasco:  Eoghan Rice
Antonia:  Lauren Dunne
The Housekeeper:  Clare McNelis
Pedro:  Eoin Sheedy
Anselmo/Guitarist:  Don O’Sullivan
The Barber:  Gary Loughnane
The Moor:  Ian Collins
The Gypsy:  Pam McGlynn
The Innkeepers Wife:  Pam de Blaca
The Captain of the Inquisition:  Ted Germaine

Muse Productions to bring the classic “Man of La Mancha” to the stage

LaManchaMuse productions are delighted to return to the stage with the classic musical drama “Man of La Mancha” by Dale Wasserman and Mitch Leigh.  Fresh from the success of “The Odd Couple” in October, we are mounting our most ambitious production to date.   “Man of La Mancha” is based on Dale Wasserman’s play “I, Don Quixote” and tells the tale within a tale of Miguel Cervantes’ sojourn in the dungeons of the Spanish Inquisition and the history of his “mad knight” Don Quixote de la Mancha which he relates to his fellow prisoners.

An intensely dramatic piece, this production will be directed by Martin McNelis, whose directorial debut many years ago was another Dale Wasserman play, the gripping “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”.  Martin has long wanted to bring this, one of his favourite musicals, to the stage with a small intimate cast.  The production will take place November 3rd – 5th in the Comprehensive School, Shannon.  Readings and auditions to be announced shortly.

Final rehearsals staged for The Odd Couple

Final rehearsals staged for The Odd Couple

Mikey Gorman, Martin McNelis, Feidhlim Hillery, AnnaMaria Barrett, Eoin Sheedy, Clare McNelis and Eoghan Rice rehearse for The Odd Couple

06 October 2015

Fifty years after its world premiere on Broadway,  Muse Productions are “all systems go” as they head into their final week of rehearsals for their own production of Neil Simon’s award-winning play The Odd Couple.

After a run of almost 1,000 performances on Broadway, the characters were revived in a successful 1968 film and 1970s television series. In 1985 the play was adapted by Neil Simon for a female cast.

Many well-known faces from TV and theatre have played the lead rolls on stage and screen over the years, including Walther Matthau, Jack Klugman, Art Carney, Tony Randall, Jack Lemmon, Mathew Broderick and  Nathan Lane.

In the female production, the leads were played by Rita Moreno and Sally Struthers. Most recently CBS produced a TV sitcom in 2015 starring Matthew Perry and Thomas Lennon.

Muse Productions have assembled a local cast, comprising of Martin McNelis and Eoin Sheedy in the lead roles, accompanied by Feidhlim Hillery, Eoghan Rice, Mikey Gorman, Clare McNelis and Anna Maria Barrett.

Also welcomed back to the Shannon stage is Gary Loughnane who performed many times with Shannon Musical society and other local drama groups.

Muse Productions are looking forward to welcoming old and new fans during the week, for what is expected to be a super comedy performance to suit all ages and tastes.

The play runs for four nights from Wednesday 14th to Saturday 17th of October in The Oakwood Arms Hotel at 8pm nightly. Tickets are €10 and can be purchased on the door. A reduced rate of €5 is available for the special opening night. For more information on tickets, call  087 443 2222.

For current updates, please follow Muse Productions on their Facebook page or on www.museproductions.org.

 

The Odd Couple coming to Shannon in October

http://www.clarecourier.ie/article.asp?id=4825

The Odd Couple coming to Shannon in October

22 September 2015

Muse Productions have lined up some first class drama entertainment for their Shannon fans this October. Their latest production of the award-winning Neil Simon play The Odd Couple will be staged in the Oakwood Arms Hotel from Wednesday 14th to Saturday 17th October inclusive.

Produced by Ted Germaine, this mismatched ‘Odd’ Couple, better known as Oscar Madison and Felix Ungar, will be played by Martin McNelis and Eoin Sheedy.
No strangers to Shannon audiences, both Martin and Eoin are well known from their previous performances with Muse Productions, Shannon Musical Society and other neighbouring musical and drama groups.

Joining Martin and Eoin on stage will be Feidhlim Hillery, Gary Loughnane, Eoghan Rice, Mikey Gorman, Clare McNelis and Anna Maria Barrett.

The play follows the life of Felix, a neurotic writer, overly obsessed with cleanliness who is thrown out by his wife and turns up on the doorstep of his friend Oscar Madison, a slovenly sports writer, who is smack in the middle of a card game with his friends.
Despite Oscar’s problems, which include careless spending, excessive gambling and a poorly kept house filled with spoiled food, he seems to enjoy life.

Felix, however, seems utterly incapable of enjoying anything and spends his time constantly cleaning and tidying. He only finds purpose in pointing out his own and other peoples’ mistakes and foibles, leading to hilarious and very often misunderstood results.
Oscar, his closest friend, feels compelled to throw Felix out after only a brief time together, although he quickly realizes that Felix has had a positive effect on him.

What follows is a few hours of fun for the audience as both men adapt to their new circumstances, love each other, despair of each other but ultimately learn from each other!
And as for the apartment… well you might just be hiring Felix at the end of the run to come do the housework for you!

Muse Productions was founded in April 2011 by Ted and Anne Germaine with Martin and Clare McNelis to close a gap in the production of local drama and to provide a platform for all types of theatre to be performed in Shannon.

Emphasis is placed on utilising local talent and providing entertainment first and foremost to the people of Shannon and the surrounding area.

Muse have turned the Oakwood Arms into a warm intimate theatre venue and to date have produced seven plays and hosted a very successful one-act festival in 2014. The booking office will be open in the coming weeks, call 087 443 2222

The Odd Couple Casting

We’re delighted to announce the full cast for Neil Simon’s classic “The Odd Couple”.  Great turnout at the readings gives us a lot of confidence that we’ll be able to hopefully mount a One Act play for the festival also.  To all those who read for us, we appreciate the interest.  For those who weren’t cast, we hope to see you involved in some other aspect of the production.  Please stay in touch!

Cast in no particular order:

Speed: Gary Loughnane
Vinnie: Mikey Gorman
Murray: Feidhlim Hillery
Roy:  Eoghan Rice
Oscar: Martin McNelis
Felix: Eoin Sheedy

Cecily and Gwendolin: Anna Maria Barrett and Clare McNelis

 

Muse delighted with successful One Act Festival

The cast of ‘Selfie’ who won two awards in the One Act Festival organised by Muse Productions held in the Oakwood Arms Hotel last weekend: (l-r) Anne Germaine (festival director), Richard Germaine, Sean McInerney, Sophie Horan, Jenny Power, Aisling Gough, Clíodhna McNelis and Martin McNelis (festival host).  Other cast members were Molly Lynch and Aislinn Fennell.

http://www.clarecourier.ie/article.asp?id=4364

Shannon audiences were treated to a feast of the finest theatre over the last weekend as Muse Productions hosted their first ever One Act Festival in their theatre at the Oakwood Arms Hotel.

In all, eleven drama groups from all over the country came together to compete in two categories for places in the All Ireland Finals which will be held this December in Ballyshannon.

On the first night, two plays in the Confined section and two in the Open section were performed.    Gorey Little Theatre brought Being Norwegian a study in loneliness and isolation, followed by Amphitheatre Company with Slow Dropping Veils of Smoke, which featured loss of identity.    It was the turn of Cooraclare Drama Group next with their original comedy The Toolapooka Switchboard, a firm audience favourite. Following this Haulbowline presented Tom Stoppard’s The Boundary, a black comedy about three people working on a dictionary and mystery at the same time with much wordplay and malapropism.

Friday night continued in equal variety with two more Open and Confined category plays. Doonbeg Drama Group brought a light Farce called What’s for Pudding, followed by Kilmeen with prison melodrama The Valiant.    Coachford presented a ghost story of sorts in Faint Voices while Prosperous Drama Group rounded off the night with a wonderfully modernised comic version of Bram Stoker’s The Judge’s House.

On the final night there were three plays, all in the confined section. First up was Selfie by Muse Productions featuring a very talented group of local teenagers who showed they can stand shoulder to shoulder with the best in a lovely exploration of the isolation young people can feel in a connected world.     This was followed by a tour de force acting performance by Grean Drama Group with I’m not A.D.H.D. I’m B.O.L.D. and finally a quirky love story with a twist in Bualadh Bos’ production of The Furies.

Adjudicator Brendan Murray, who hails from Galway by way of Dublin, spoke highly of the festival organisation and the standard and variety of the performances.   Of primary importance for those hoping to reach the finals in Ballyshannon were the placings in each category.

In the Open section, Kilmeen placed third, Haulbowline were in second place and Prosperous took top honours. In the Confined section, Doonbeg were in third place, Bualadh Bos second and Grean came out top.    Several other awards were given at the adjudicator’s discretion, for Best Acting Performance and Best Director in each category, and an Adjudicators Special Award for any aspect he chose to highlight.    The best director awards went to TJ Duggan from Prosperous in the Open and Willie Moriarty from Bualadh Bos in the Confined.   The acting awards went to James Murphy from Prosperous in the Open and Elaine O’Dwyer from Grean in the Confined.

The Adjudicator’s award went to the cast of Selfie for Best Ensemble Performance, the Shannon youngsters also won the Audience Award for their favourite play of the weekend.

 

Results of the Inaugural Muse One Act Festival

Best Director Open: TJ Duggan – Prosperous – The Judges House
Best Director Confined: Willie Moriarty – Bualadh Bos – The Furies

Best Actor Open: James Murphy – Prosperous – The Judges House
Best Actor Confined: Elaine O’Dwyer – Grean D.G. – I’m not A.D.H.D., I’m B.O.L.D.

Adjudicators Award: Best Ensemble: Muse Productions – Selfie

Audience Award: Muse Productions – Selfie

First Place Open: Prosperous – The Judges House
Second Place Open: Haulbowline – The Boundary
Third Place Open: Kilmeen – The Valiant

First Place Confined: Grean D.G. – I’m not A.D.H.D., I’m B.O.L.D.
Second Place Confined: Bualadh Bos – The Furies
Third Place Confined: Doonbeg – What’s for Pudding