Locals in Mayo have grown accustomed in recent years to seeing big names lining up at The Royal Theatre in Castlebar and no longer blink an eyelid on learning that stars such as Willie Nelson, Bryan Adams, or Snow Patrol are coming to town. Indeed, the association of Castlebar as a stop-off point for the rich and famous is now so ingrained that it would not surprise us if Kylie or Beyonce made an appearance. Why the fuss?
Well that is because the art of making the impossible possible has been crafted and perfected by Pat and Mary Jennings of the Royal Theatre and Events Centre, who must be credited with branding the county town as a venue for global stars. With between 50 and 60 shows on sale at any time, The Royal in its short two-year life span so far has already drawn in some huge names, while gigs such as the Paolo Nutini concert scheduled for September next sold out in a record 31 minutes just last week.
Pulling in punters from a one and a half hour catchment area that includes Athlone, Cavan, Donegal, Galway, and Sligo, Pat Jennings only sees opportunity for further growth.
“I still see a whole market out there not being got by Belfast and Dublin. It’s starting to happen but there’s a lot to do yet. People tell me they save €200 going to shows here, by not having to travel, pay for parking, or book accommodation at big city rates. Every weekend we have something major on and people are travelling from all over Ireland, even England, to attend. Last week over 2,000 turned up for Big Tom. It’s just getting bigger and bigger. Nothing is too big anymore.”
The venue has certainly come a long way since starting off as a sweet shop in the late forties which Pat’s mother and father then converted to The Travellers Friend.
“The name was copied from a pub beside Heathrow that Dad used to drink in. The old Royal ballroom ‘dance hall’ was built in 1963, and from 1990 we started taking in concerts but saw room for developing it further into a theatre in 1995.”
Ten years later at the height of the boom the Jennings family made a massive investment to convert the theatre to an international venue. The goal? To bring the West End to the west.
The new-look Royal took 19 weeks to build but there were teething problems. “Unfortunately there were work schedule delays, and despite erecting a stand-in marquee to host the first star booking of Billy Connolly, a two-day sell-out event, the word came through that ‘Billy Connolly doesn’t do marquees’ and the plug had to be pulled.”
Eventually six months later in August the big launch happened with a huge name at the helm in the form of X-Factor winner Shane Ward.
“This was big stuff. Shane Ward was one of the hottest names at the time and was making his first appearance in Ireland here after the X-Factor win.”
The Royal opened as the biggest seated facility in the west with a capacity for 2,200 sitting or 4,000 standing. The stage alone, which can cater to any West End show from Phantom of the Opera to Riverdance, is the size of two average houses and travels eight storeys up from roof to sunken orchestra basement two floors below. CCTV actually allows band members synchronise instruments by monitoring each other on screen.
Even as the recession hit, Pat and Mary Jennings, who had since also opened their second hotel, The Harlequin, refused to be diverted from their path.
“I never thought of getting out but in the times we are living in it’s a huge challenge to be doing what we are doing, and being in the west of Ireland doing it is a bigger challenge in itself. But we had a vision. We wanted to do it and we’ve done it, in trying circumstances. I have no doubt if the recession wasn’t happening we would be even more successful.”
Still very much a man with his feet on the ground, Jennings is not remotely dizzy or starstruck by superstars.
“I’ve been doing this for 35 years with different acts at different times, so it’s not anything new.”
He likens it all to baking a cake. “It’s about putting together the right ingredients, the artist, the venue, the ticket price, the location, the booking offices, etc, and creating the right mix. We haven’t made 100 per cent right or wrong decisions but I believe you are judged on your consistencies and now we let our numbers do the talking.”
