Theatre Nights: A feast of music, and bluegrass hits

Exciting news from North Cork: The Mallow Musical Society’s first big show, Mala Gala: The Musical, will run at the Glen Theatre in Banteer, from February 14 to 16.

Written and directed by Paola Cioppi, it dramatises the Society’s original founding, while weaving in popular songs from well-loved musicals.

Tickets are now at https://buytickets.at/mallowmusicalsociety.

The lovely little Glen Theatre is located at P51 NX28 and there is free parking available.

In the meantime, Sandy Kelly appears at the Glen this Sunday, February 2, and next Wednesday, February 5, bluegrass band The Special Consensus will be raising the roof.

Call 029 56239 for those bookings.

Down at St Catherine’s Cultural Centre in Kinsale, it’s movie time again next Wednesday, February 5, when they are showing Charlie Wilson’s War, starring Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts.

This is based on a Texas congressman’s covert dealings in Afghanistan, where his efforts to assist rebels in their war with the Soviets have some unforeseen and long-reaching effects. Tickets at the door, which opens at 6.30pm.

Dermot Whelan Live At The Opera House is sold out tonight, with some tickets left for Nathan Carter tomorrow and Saturday. The High Kings on Sunday are also sold out, but there are still one or two seats for Die Fledermaus on Tuesday, from Irish National Opera. Stephen Triffitt is here Wednesday next with Sinatra’s Greatest Hits, and that’s followed on Thursday by Hello Again, a tribute to the great Neil Diamond.

Call 021 427 0022 or see www.corkoperahouse.ie.

Karan Casey returns by huge demand to Everyman this Saturday, February 1, with The Women, We Will Rise. Written by Karan herself and directed by Tom Creed, this amazing theatrical song cycle highlights the role of defiant Irish women during the revolutionary period and beyond.

Next Tuesday, February 4, Scoil Mhuire Junior School presents The Marvellous Land Of Oz, in celebration of the school’s 70th anniversary. That’s a 7pm start, and we predict a sell-out.

Jarlath Regan is here February 7 and 8, while on February 9 we have the welcome return of the Sunday Songbook team with The Jim Reeves Story. So much variety, so much to see! See www.everymancork.com or call 021 450 1673.

At Cork Arts Theatre, there is still time to catch Pakie O’Callaghan celebrating the storytelling of Eamon Kelly until Saturday. Next week, it’s Eoin Ryan with Trawled on February 7 and 8. A true-life experience of an Irish backpacker discovering the harshness of life on an Australian prawn trawler, it revisits in dramatic personal form the world created in Rudyard Kipling’s 1896 tale, Captains Courageous, filmed in 1936 and 1996.

Call 021 450 5624 or see www.corkartstheatre.com.

And listen, the Arts Theatre is now seeking submissions for its annual Views From... short play event. The theme this year is Views from a Couch, and the deadline for entries is March 31.

Where might that couch be? A living room, a psychiatrist’s office, a forest, a dentist’s waiting room? Get your imagination working! Ten minutes is the length required and the setting must be integral to the plot. Any genre - comedy, tragedy, farce, fantasy, horror, period piece, etc. The final ten plays chosen will be performed in late May. Email [email protected] for more info.

Danu is at the Gleneagle INEC Club on Feburary 7, with guests Peadar O Riada and Gearoid Dineen. One of the leading traditional Irish ensembles today, the virtuosos are there as part of the Gathering Festival from February 6-9 with ceilis, concerts, set dancing, workshops all over the place, and a festival club too.

Find all the information on the Gathering at https://www.inec.ie/gigs/the-gathering-festival-weekend-/.