Ronan Collins reels in the showband years at Town Hall

Thu, Jan 14, 2010

THE SHOWBANDS were a truly unique Irish entertainment phenomenon from the mid-1950s to the early 1970s and produced such names as Brendan Bowyer, Dickie Rock, Joe Dolan, Butch Moore, Red Hurley, and Big Tom.

At the time Irish music was only at an embryonic stage of development and the only way a musician had of developing his craft was by joining a group. Among the many internationally famous international musicians who started their careers on the showband circuit were Van Morrison, Rory Gallagher, Henry McCullough, Eric Bell, and Colm Wilkinson. The Beatles even played support to Irish showbands in their early days.

A trio of great comics at The Laughter Lounge

Thu, Jan 14, 2010

A SCOTSMAN, an Irishman, and an American walked into a bar...that bar will be the Róisín Dubh when Geoff Boyz, Shane Mauss, and Keith Farnan play The Laughter Lounge next Wednesday.

Playing at Plays in Town Hall studio

Thu, Jan 14, 2010

YOUNG GALWAY ensemble The Company Productions kick off the New Year in appropriate fashion at the Town Hall studio next week with a new play about the trials and tribulations of putting on a play.

CoisCéim Dance to mix Superman and Nijinsky

Thu, Jan 14, 2010

COISCÉIM DANCE Theatre is celebrating 15 years of award-winning productions this year and to mark the occasion it is bringing two new dance works, As You Are and Faun, around the country.

As You Are directed by CoisCéim dancer Muirne Bloomer and Faun directed by CoisCéim artistic director David Bolger, will be performed in the Town Hall Theatre on Tuesday January 26 at 8pm.

Reservoir Dogs at Town Hall

Thu, Jan 14, 2010

“THERE’S TWO ways you can go on this job: My way or the highway,” so says Joe, played by Lawrence Tierney in Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs.

Pete Mullineaux acting classes

Thu, Jan 14, 2010

GALWAY BASED actor, poet, and songwriter Pete Mullineaux will host his next series of acting classes in the Galway Arts Centre, starting Wednesday January 20.

Malcolm Middleton’s Long Dark Night

Thu, Jan 14, 2010

MALCOLM MIDDLETON may have announced he’s taking a break from recording solo albums for a while, but he’s not finished touring and this first rate songwriter is coming to Galway at the end of the month.

Cinema Review- Daybreakers

Thu, Jan 14, 2010

A dystopian world where vampires have taken over and the remaining humans are hunted down and farmed like animals seems like the perfect recipe for a fangtastic blockbuster, but sadly the Spierig brothers’ direction got lost in the gore, leaving just a bloody, and at times laughable, mess in its wake.

As a vampire flick fan I have been waiting with baited breath for the arrival of Daybreakers to our cinema screens. The film, which is directed and written by twin brothers Michael and Peter Spierig, began great and remained that way to some point in the middle until it just went a little crazy, losing focus and getting much too caught up in the gore - when in doubt tear off more limbs. It’s a real pity because the initial idea behind the film is excellent and very much like 28 Days Later but with vampires. Should have been a success right? Well, it wasn’t.

Athenry’s Julie Feeney wins again

Thu, Jan 14, 2010

THE AWARD winning Athenry born vocalist and composer Julie Feeney won the Best Styled Irish Music Video 09 award at the recent IMTV Awards in Dublin.

Over The Edge celebrates its seventh birthday

Thu, Jan 14, 2010

THE OVER The Edge readings will celebrate its seventh birthday on Thursday January 21 with a reading by the poet David Wheatley in the Galway City Library.

Acting workshops

Thu, Jan 14, 2010

ACTRESS AND director Sarah O’Toole will run acting workshops in the Anno Santo Hotel and The Creative Actor course in the Galway Arts Centre.

Text in Action workshop

Thu, Jan 14, 2010

ARTISTS AND theatre-practitioners who want to explore what text can do in a performance context should check out a new class which begins next week.

Art Exhibitions

Thu, Jan 14, 2010

Adrien Sourdot
Madame Pompom And The Chthonians, the debut exhibition of French artist Adrien Sourdot opens in the Galway City Library tomorrow. The Madame Pompom section features oil, pastel, ink, and watercolour works of ‘accidental figures’. The Chthonians features oil, acrylic, and plaster works. The official opening is on Friday January 15 at 8pm. It then runs until January 31.

Call for support for ‘Forge at Gort’ literature festival

Thu, Jan 14, 2010

THE THIRD Forge at Gort literature festival takes place at the end of March and the organisers are appealing to the public for sponsorship.

Acting For Screen course returns to Galway

Thu, Jan 14, 2010

THE ACTING For Screen workshop with actor, agent, and lecturer Shane Munro, returns to Galway next month.

Flamenco classes restarting soon in Galway

Thu, Jan 14, 2010

FLAMENCO DANCER Fatima Lucia will begin a new term of flamenco dance classes on Tuesday January 19 in Áras na nGael, 45 Dominick Street at 7pm.

Start the New Year cinematically

Thu, Jan 07, 2010

AN ARTIST is ‘inspired’ by her guardian angle, a Kurdish youth plans to swim the English Channel to reach his girlfriend, dark goings on mar a town in Germany on the eve of WWI, and a Hungarian woman must confront her past if she is to have a future.

These are just some of the stories from some of the films which will be screened during The Galway Film Society’s winter/spring season which runs from January 17 to March 14. There will also be films from France, Germany, Romania, and Britain, as well as the new film from Jane Campion.

Enter The Asylum with Keith Barry

Thu, Jan 07, 2010

TOP MAGICIAN, illusionist and hypnotist Keith Barry is known as Ireland’s Druid Master. His exceptional sleight of hand and mind control talents carry on the ancient druidic tradition and have marked him as one of Ireland’s leading entertainment figures.

2010 at the Town Hall

Thu, Jan 07, 2010

AS THE curtain rises on 2010, what theatrical ‘goodies’ can playgoers look forward to at the Town Hall Theatre over the coming year?

Renmore Panto’s highly entertaining Mother Goose holds sway until January 17 and will doubtless draw full houses for the rest of its run. After that, the new season commences in earnest and, fittingly, the first play of the year is a new offering by local author Jack Kirwan, entitled Playing At Plays.

Celebrate Schumann with Music For Galway

Thu, Jan 07, 2010

“IT IS music’s lofty mission to shed light on the depths of the human heart,” so said Robert Schumann, whose music will be celebrated this month with a weekend of concerts in Galway.

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