Stage photos from the heyday of Dún Mhuire
A TRIP down memory lane for former members of Wexford Youth Group in these photos from the Denis O’Connor Archive of a Variety Concert in Dún Mhuire Hall in April 1972.
Rita Jones, who played Katie Browne alongside Richie Rice as a soldier in a scene from ‘Calamity Jane’ (pictured above), recalled the excitement and fun of rehearsing and staging the concert which featured a host of talented teenage members of the youth group and local schoolchildren and musicians under the direction of Jean Gould and Anne O’Leary of the
O’Leary School of Ballet and Modern Dance.
‘It was a fantastic experience, a brilliant thing to be involved in, and we had great fun. We later went on to enter the Tops of the Town,’ said Rita, who was a committee member of the group which was formed some time earlier at the request of then Bishop of Ferns, Donal Herlihy, and run by former teenage members of the St Vincent de Paul Junior Group.
The youth group met every week in Dún Mhuire for various activities, but the Variety Concert was a definite highlight of that year almost 50 years ago.
It featured excerpts from ‘Calamity Jane’ and ‘Oliver’, a gypsy scene and a golden years sketch featuring Fr Dan Nolan. A huge number of young people appeared on stage.
Guitarists on stage included John Grant, Ray Kelly and Phil O’Mahoney, while the can-can girls (right) were Annette Goodison, Celine Butler, Ann Kelly, Bernie Cullen, Ita and Mary Gregg.
Some of the costumes were made by the performers themselves, with Rita sewing her own outfit for the ‘Calamity Jane’ role.
The show ran in Dún Mhuire for a few nights and was attended by parents, family members and friends of the stars.