PERFECT 10
HERE ARE OUR TOP TEN THINGS TO DO IN CORK THIS WEEK
BAGATELLE CELEBRATING 40 YEARS ON THE ROAD
VETERAN Irish favourites Bagatelle will bring their 40th-anniversary tour to the stage of the Cork Opera House next Thursday evening (February 7).
Having completed what had been billed as their final tour in 2016, the band bowed to public demand and decided to go back on the road again for a series of gigs to mark four decades of making music.
Bagatelle have earned themselves a worthy spot in the pantheon of Irish musical greats, with several number-one singles and multi-platinum album sales.
Fans can expect to enjoy a veritable greatest hits show at the Opera House with a set-list of perennial favourites including ‘Summer in Dublin’, ‘Second Violin’ and ‘Leeson Street Lady’.
Tickets for the concert are from www.corkoperahouse.ie or 021 427 0022 and priced at €35.
FUNDRAISING CONCERT AT ST MARY’S, DONERAILE
A VARIETY fundraising concert will take place at St Mary’s Church of Ireland in Doneraile on Friday, February 8, at 8pm.
The annual concert, in aid of the Building Maintenance Fund at the church, will feature musicians and singers across a wide range of genres under the watchful eye of Master of Ceremonies Sean Donnellan of C103.
Artists who will perform across the course of the evening include the Nagle Rice School Choir; tenor Michael O’Keeffe; traditional musicians Philip Cotter and Noel Fitzgibbon; Castletownroche classical guitar duo Toque; and singers Ann Murphy from Killavullen and James Murphy from Buttevant.
Popular singer Edward Winter will lead the audience on a sing-along, and his brother, Finbar, will perform a tribute to Johnny Cash.
Tickets, priced at €12, which will include interval refreshments, are available from Centra in Doneraile or by phoning (087) 692 1649.
SPOTLIGHT CHAMBER RECITAL AT THE TRISKEL
THE final recital in the Triskel Christchurch Art Centre’s Spotlight Chamber Music Series will take place this coming Saturday at 1.10pm.
Funded by the Arts Council, the series is based on the simple principle of bringing some of Ireland’s most distinguished musicians to play together in small ensembles at small and intimate venues.
Saturday’s recital will more than live up to that billing, featuring the string sextet of Mia Cooper and Nicola Sweeney (violin); Simon Aspell and Davis Kenny (viola); and Brian O’Kane and Aoife Burke (cello).
The exciting programme for the evening will feature Brahms’ Sextet No.1 in B-flat Major (Op 18); Sam Perkin’s stunning duet for two violas; and will conclude with the moving sextet that serves as the introduction to Strauss’ final operatic venture, ‘Capriccio’.
Admission to the concert will be €12.50/€10.50 at the door.
BARRYMORE PLAYERS SWING BACK INTO ACTION
THE Barrymore Players will swing back into action at the Castleyons Community Centre on Friday with the first of three consecutive nightly performances of their production of Tommy Marren’s hilarious comedy ‘Nobody’s Talking To Me’.
The action takes place in the kitchen of rural couple Mattie and Maggie Conway on the day of their 50th wedding anniversary.
However the couple have not spoken for 10 years, and what should be a happy day quickly turns farcical when the local parish priest makes a surprise visit to renew their wedding vows and all hell brakes loose. Featuring a talented cast of local actors under the direction of Donal Howard, the play will take audiences on a two-hour roller coaster ride that will have the audience laughing out loud. For tickets, priced at €10, phone 087 4028944.
HEY! PAT SHORTT BACK AT THE INEC WITH NEW SHOW
THE irrepressible Pat Shortt will bring his new show, ‘Hey!’, to the stage of the INEC in Killarney for two performances on Friday and Saturday night.
Shortt has been busy in recent years touring with his sell-out shows ‘ The Hall’, ‘Selfie’ and ‘How’s Tings?’, while also starring in the hit play ‘A Skull in Connemara’ and the film ‘ The Belly of the Whale’.
His new show continues where its predecessors left off, with new material and sketches taking a quirky look at Irish life through the eyes of a rogues gallery of oddball characters in increasingly bizarre situations.
‘Hey!’ delivers a particular take on modern life that can only the unique mind of Pat Shortt could conjure up. For tickets, at €32.20, phone 064 667 1555.
CRAZY CHESTER SET TO PLAY COUGHLAN’S LIVE
The hugely popular Cork band Crazy Chester will play a free gig at Couglan’s Live on Douglas Steet from 10 pm on Saturday night.
Heavily influenced by the likes of Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash and Neil Young, the band play a style of music that effortlessly crosses between rock, country and pure Americana, with their original songs tipping more than a nod to Crosby, Still, Nash & Young and The Band.
Renowned for their lively and entertaining live shows, the strong and fluent musicianship of band members, combined with their strong catalogue of covers and self-penned songs, seperate them from the majority of cover bands out there.
BLACKWATER FIT-UP FESTIVAL GOING STRONG
THE 2019 Blackwater Valley Fit-Up Festival has been unveiled and continues this week and next with performances of two critically acclaimed plays at intimate venues across the region.
This week’s offering is Seamus O’Rourke’s ‘From Under the Bed’, a touching tale of two ageing, rural, bachelor brothers who have to make decisions about certain things that would have been far better ‘ left under the bed’.
It will run over the next four nights at the Meelin Community Hall tonight; the First Fruits Arts Centre in Watergrasshill; The Town Hall in Mitchelstown; and the Palace Theatre in Fermoy.
Next week will see ‘Small Halls and Potholes’, an evening of ‘eccentric songs and strange stories’ in the company of Irish musician and poet Little John Nee. They take to the stage in Buttevant, Ballynoe, Meelin, Watergrasshill, Mitchelstown and Fermoy. For details visit www.fit-uptheatrefestival.com.
JOHN SPILLANE TO RETURN TO DE BARRA’S
CORK’S favourite musical son, the inimitable John Spillane, will be back on home turf next Thursday night, continuing his long-term residency at De Barra’s Folk Club in Clonakilty.
During a career spanning more than three decades, Spillane has sold more than 100,000 albums; won two Meteor Awards; and seen his songs covered by a host of Irish folk luminaries including Christy Moore, Solas, Mary Black and Sharon Shannon. His gigs are always very special occasions as Spillane treats guests to well-known ditties and debut performances of new songs delivered with roguish humour, tinged with more than a dollop of typical Cork irreverence.
Tickets from the venue at www.debarra.ie priced at €10.
SEÁN KEANE AND FRIENDS LIVE AT THE FRIAR’S GATE
POPULAR Irish singer and musician Seán Keane will play an intimate concert in the Friar’s Gate Theatre in Kilmallock on Saturday evening accompanied by Pat Coyne on guitar and Fergus Feeley on mandcello.
Known for his distinctive sean-nós style, Keane’s voice is truly unique, with his songs also encompassing a mixture of trad, pop, blues and country.
The Galway native was born into a musical family that included his renowned sister, Dolores, and he was a founder member of the band Arcady.
Keane has won numerous awards, and the London Independent described him as “the greatest Irish musical find of the ‘90s”.
In addition to performing tracks from his many acclaimed platinum-selling albums, Keane will also play whistle, flute and harmonica at the concert. Tickets from the venue are priced at €25 and can be booked by phoning 063 98727.
A SLICE OF ROMANTIC VIENNA AT THE EVERYMAN
THE Everyman Palace Theatre will play host to ‘A Viennese Strauss Gala’ this coming Sunday evening at 8pm.
Now in its 15th year of touring the continent, the show recreates the romance of the Viennese festive season, rekindling golden memories of a bygone age of glamorous soirées and Strauss waltzes.
Performed by the European Orchestral Ensemble and accompanied by soloists from companies including Opera North, the English National Opera and D’Oyly Carte, it will feature some of the great works by the Strauss family, Kalman and Lehar, including Die Fledermaus and the Merry Widow.
Cleverly staged and choreographed, the show will appeal to romantics and music lovers alike.
Tickets for the performance are priced at €26 from the venue. Contact 021 450 1673.