Summer Revels set to celebrate wonderful creativity of Cork

WHEN the legendary Michael Twomey came up with the idea of Summer Revels, a summer variety show to celebrate the innate musical and comedic talent of Cork, he could never have anticipated that the insatiable appetite of Cork audiences would see the show run every August for 21 consecutive years!

What was its enduring appeal?

“Simply put, Summer Revels was a superb variety show about, and for, the people of Cork,” says Frank Duggan, one half of the iconic Cha and Miah duo alongside Twomey, who appeared in all 21 shows.

“Revels was 95% Michael Twomey’s idea and used the same repository of core performers from show to show,” Frank explains.

Each show featured a giant of the Cork stage, from the incomparable Billa, Paddy Comerford, Dave McInerney, Cha and Miah and barman Jim Queally, Dick Healy and the Montforts, to the occasional special guests like singer Marie Twomey and comedians Barrett and Sullivan.

“Cork people love to laugh, and comedy was definitely the highlight of the shows,” adds Frank. 

“Michael devised the formula for most of our comedy sketches.”

One favourite, an hilarious sketch written in rhyming couplets, included the unforgettable line: “Anon! Anon! I’ll have a slam at her. What I wouldn’t do in Iambic Pentameter.”

This summer, Cork Opera House are aiming to reclaim that sense of pride in homegrown talent with a Summer Revels for a 2024 audience.

“There is a great history behind a show like the Revels, with all of the people who worked to make it a success across previous generations,” CEO and artistic director of the Opera House, Eibhlín Gleeson, said.

This summer’s show, described as “a mix between a summer musical and a panto”, will showcase the talents of up-and-coming artists alongside more established performers to celebrate Cork, its community, and its culture.

In a city that is bursting at the seams with exceptional talent, reflecting a new generation of artist while paying homage to the greats that have preceded them is important to those behind this latest endeavour.

One such über-talent is Bandon native Alison Arnopp, who has enjoyed tremendous success on the London stage in her solo-cabaret shows and in stellar productions with the Royal Shakespearean company and the multi-award winning Oliver Cromwell Is Really Very Sorry.

“My own parents have very fond memories of going to the Summer Revels variety show and seeing characters like Cha and Miah, and Paddy and Billa,” said Alison.

It’s wonderful, especially working abroad, that we give a nod to the theatrical stalwarts who were the original Summer Revellers, while shining a light on what Cork talent is like now, with international experience.

“The show will feel very much part of the city,” she insists.

Being immersed in the variety show side of Summer Revels, with circus performers, magic, singing, dancing, and local talent, appeals to Alison’s innate love of performing and cabaret.

Described as a show within a show, where the audience will get to experience both the on-stage and backstage antics, Alison’s character, the Bossy Director, is burning with unfulfilled demands and ambitions with hilarious consequences.

A hugely versatile and multi-talented writer, singer, teacher, and actor, Alison has just finished writing her new music-comedy cabaret, GirlBossGod, which “explores the hyper feminine in a Kim Kardashian-Love Island sort of universe.”

Connecting with her audiences and “making them part of each show”, is important to her.

“It feels like, together, you’re sharing things.”

Given that Summer Revels was all about a sense of connection with the Cork audiences, Alison should be on familiar territory this summer. A self-confessed lover of all things musical, she broadly describes herself as a Voice-. Self-employed, her voice is her working tool, on so many levels.

“I do a lot of voiceover work, singing, session singing, backing vocals. I’ve been involved in a lot of shows and I also record a lot of demos for new musicals, the most recent being with the incredible Alfie Boe.”

She also teaches singing.

A lot of work I do now is with performers in the comedy, drag and cabaret sphere, often fellow queer artists who are looking to upskill their vocals, as well as hobbiests.

While she enjoys the freedom of shaping her busy day-to-day, she is very cognisant of exploring the wider notion of women working.

“It’s great to be self-employed, but there is a pressure to do, and to be, ‘ALL’ too. All of the time.

“The relentlessness of focusing on the PR and marketing, taking pictures, generating content for social media, the cost of this, on your mental and physical health, on your relationships and family, is enormous.

“This industry has impacted me so significantly. I have struggled with my mental health. The idea that the show must go on at all costs is not something I espouse any more.”

One would think that a very healthy mindset to have when dealing with the vicissitudes of an industry like theatre.

I will continue with singing in teaching. Even if I’m not singing on stage, given I know the grind of this industry so well, I will work as an advocate and er of my students.

“I feel I have a voice to add, and will use my voice to help others use theirs.”

Another star of the inaugural Summer Revels cast is actor-singer, Claire O’Leary who has just finished The Wizard Of Oz at the London Palladium where she understudied Dorothy, and also got to play a reimagined Glinda, who swaps the high-flying for a hot-pink motorbike.

“Playing Glinda was a bucket list moment,” says Claire, who always seemed destined for a life in the theatre.

In a childhood steeped in drama and music, with her mum Valerie and a few siblings involved in the entertainment industry, Claire made her professional debut at the Cork Opera House at the tender age of 11, playing Annie in the national tour.

She starred in many Opera House productions, from Hairspray and Sound Of Music to panto, before leaving her Fermoy home, aged 15, to complete her education at London’s ArtsEd, one of the UK’s top Drama Schools.

“I am a home bird,” she its, “and if I had gone as an older teenager, it might not have turned out as well. Leaving home can be a tough time, but I felt fairly fearless then and wasn’t fazed at all.”

While Claire loves doing musical revivals, she its she is drawn to projects that are in gestation, that allow her to add her creative voice to their development.

I love the idea of building something from scratch, of being in the room with all those creatives, and feeling like we are completing the vision and storyline between us.

Although still only in her early twenties, Claire has worked on previous productions with many of those in the Summer Revels cast.

“I was only a child when I did them, so it’s lovely to come back as an adult and play alongside them this summer.”

In Revels, Claire plays a young stage manager struggling to meet the demands of her ever-expanding role backstage, dealing with the delicately balanced egos of the diva director and health and safety inspectors, and juggling jobs for which she is neither paid nor qualified to do! Sounds chaotic and so much fun!

Described by the creators as “The Muppet Show meets Saturday Night Live” (SNL), one Summer Revels actor who knows more than most about the internal dynamics of SNL is Declan Wolfe.

He has spent each summer in Chicago since 2010 immersed in improvisation, studying and performing with afficionados of the art like Keith Johnston (a protégé of Viola Spolin, the original innovator of improv in education in the States) and Chicago’s Second City Company, from which SNL was born.

Well-known to Cork audiences for his Improv Panto antics, Declan is an inveterate improvisation practitioner and educator, who has spent the past 25 years teaching drama to kids/teens in Studio Wolfe.

“Teaching has always been my first love, but improv is an integral part of that process, and can help shape and benefit the wider community,” he said.

“Improv was born in America”, adds Declan, so it made sense for him to pack his bags one summer and head Stateside in search of internships with the best of the best.

“The Americans have a very structured approach towards improv. For example, even though Saturday Night Live sketches appear to be totally improvised, the team actually use improv tools to create the sketches for TV, loosely structuring them around what worked in the improv sessions, yet still allowing fluidity to adapt to the guest player.

“ Saturday Night Live blew my mind and, working alongside them and my COH Improv Panto colleagues has made me realise how much I love (and missed) being on stage,” its Declan.

He has been part of the Summer Revels creative process from its inception, a year ago, when the production team brought together six performers and writers to experiment with roles and situations that would be goofy and colourful to write.

We all shared our expertise with each other, guided and shaped by our co-directors Killian Collins and John O’Brien.

It is clear he is excited by the arc of growth he has been part of since the get-go. And he gets to play a diva in the forthcoming show!

“Sadly, my character Declan Divine is an extension of my worst self!” he adds, with not a hint of sadness!

“The show is nascent, but I’m really enjoying it.”

The writing team were the biggest draw for him.

“The writing team is so strong. Featuring Katie Holly, John McCarthy, Sally O’Leary and Kevin Twomey (‘I’m Grand, Mam’), I felt it was a golden opportunity to work with those who have international experience and to trust in the production team.”

And while the show is scripted, Declan is thrilled that the writers have allowed space for a bit of improvised Cork craic between his character and the audience.

Acclaimed Cork directors Killian Collins and John O’Brien lead the creative team of writers, designers and performers in this epic, fun family show.

O’Brien describes the show: “It’s a riotous family show with pop, musical theatre, comedy, sketches, magic and circus, all combining to make a super fun show celebrating the creativity of Cork.”

Hup, Cork, like!

Summer Revels runs from Wednesday, July 24 to Sunday, August 11, various times. For more see https://www.corkoperahouse.ie/whats-on/the-summer-revels/