It is unusual to have a festival atmosphere on a Monday night in a west of Ireland town in early February, but that was the case in Castlebar last week, when several large band trucks arrived into town that day and set up outside the Royal Theatre. The job of unloading stage equipment and instruments started early and by 5pm all was in place for a magical Night With The Stars, hosted by Midwest Radio. And shine brightly the stars did, to a capacity crowd, who cherished each performance – including some surprise guests.
The night started with Amanda Ryan, competitor on Glór Tír. A performance followed by Gerry Guthrie and later Robert Mizzell, Crystal Swing, and Mike Denver.
The second half started with Jimmy Buckley, with a surprise appearance from his 14-year-old daughter Claudia, where they sang a duet. The next surprise was Paul Claffey with his fine singing voice, followed by Conal Gallen, Ireland’s king of comedy, who sang “50 Shades of Grey”.
The evening continued on with Patrick Feeney followed by Derek Ryan and Nathan Carter, and the show finished with John McNicholl.
Conal Gallen makes another appearance in the Royal Theatre tomorrow, February 9 with his new show Laugh out Loud, which will be filmed on the night for his new DVD.
Mike Denver appears at the Royal Theatre on Saturday March 9 on his 10th Anniversary Concert tour, when he will be joined by special guests: Crystal Swing, Ray Lynam, Philomena Begley, Brendan Quinn, Gene Stewart, Big Chief, and Kevin Prendergast.
Tickets for both shows on 094 90 23111 or www.royaltheatre.ie
