All systems go for ‘Children of Eden’

Fourteen years after they last staged the production, Fergus Dennehy talks to Tralee Musical Society Director, Oliver Hurley, about the society’s upcoming production of ‘Children of Eden’. Three weeks out from opening night, Oliver talks rehearsals, set d

FOLLOWING on from the huge success of their ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ production staged in 2017, the hard working and award-winning team in the Tralee Musical Society are delighted to present their latest production, ‘Children of Eden’.

This fast-moving, uplifting and creative show is a portrayal of two biblical stories – the story of creation following Adam and Eve as well as Noah and his family.

Last staged back in 2004, it was one of the most successful shows ever undertaken by Tralee Musical Society, receiving five nominations and winning three awards – Best Director, Technical and Visual.

Boosted by the most amazing score by Stephen Schwartz – composer of Pocahontas, Wicked and many more - this show is set to leave audiences enthralled as Tralee Musical Society bring this amazing story to life.

The production is once again set to be helmed by award-winning director and choreographer, Oliver Hurley, with the very talented Aine Murray taking up the role as musical director and the society’s very own Laura Crowley as choral director.

Oliver took some time out of his busy schedule this week to chat to us here at The Kerryman about how the production is shaping up - hint: it’s all coming together nicely!

“We’ve just over three weeks to go now from next Wednesday and we had some music rehearsals on this Monday night just gone, just to see where we are musically,” said Oliver speaking on Tuesday morning.

“The beauty of this show is that the music is absolutely stunning. This is an early work of the composer Stephen Schwartz, who has gone to have such huge success in his career, and musically, it is just beautiful; to sit there last night and just listen to the music with our cast, it was wonderful,” he continued.

The cast of ‘Children of Eden’ is made up of nearly seventy people with plenty of past and present members teaming up with a few new faces who have joined the society this year; the cast have have been rehearsing tirelessly for a number of weeks now.

Some of the leading roles will be played by some of the society’s stalwarts including Mike Lynch, Gary Murphy, Tim Moran and new-comer, Clodagh Harrington, in what will be her first ever production with the Tralee Musical Society.

“Having a bigger cast was something that we would have done deliberately this year. We have reduced our production schedule this year. Normally our adults would have had two shows a year and our youths one show. So, we set out this year to find shows that could include both kids and adults and this show,’Children of Eden’, fit the bill perfectly,” Oliver said.

“I directed this show as well 14 years ago and it’s actually one of my favourites to work on. This is one of those shows where you have a huge amount of creative freedom when it comes to the set and how you can stage it.” he said.

“I’ve learned a lot more in these past 14 years since directing it - in terms of projection and visualisation and what we can do with lighting - and I can’t wait for

This is one of those shows where you have a huge amount of creative freedom when it comes to the set and how you can stage it. It’s a beautiful show.