Musical Theatre in Ireland

I thought I would start close to home and look at Irish musicals. Admittedly, I have never seen or heard of any Irish musicals and so I was a bit unsure as to whether I would be able to find enough information to complete this post. However I was pleasantly surprised to see that the Irish have come on leaps and bounds in terms of musicals in the past few years.

Once is an adaptation of an Irish film made in 2007, starring Glen Hansard. It has won 8 Tony awards, in 2012 which was considered to be a very competitive year for musical theatre. The song Falling Slowly featured in both adaptations has won many awards and is a song I love but I never knew it came from a musical, let alone an Irish one.

The musical is set in a Dublin pub and it's very intimate as the audience can walk around the set before the show and during the interval to make them feel as though they are really sitting in the pub.

Once is the story of a vacuum repairman who aspires to be a musician and while singing on the street meets a Czech woman who shares the same dream. They collaborate and write songs that reflect their love.

In terms of our most famous theatres in Ireland we have the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, which will always be known as the Grand Canal to me, the Abbey Theatre, the Olympia Theatre, the Gaeity Theatre and many more. 

If you look for it there is musical theatre all around us in Ireland, especially Dublin.