It might have been a rainy and overcast evening but with an audience of almost 1000, a very talented cast of 61, a setlist looking back over 40 years of shows and a five piece orchestra, the recent Boyle Musical Society Ruby Anniversary Concert was always going to be something special.
Nothing however, could have prepared us for the overwhelming warmth and goodwill we received from the audience and the wider community on the night – making the concert a momentous and memorable occasion for our Society. Who would have thought back in 1984 that we would be celebrating 40 years – and with so many people who took those first steps to found our society and stage our first production ‘The White Horse Inn’?
Planning for this concert began back in early March and we would like to thank all who lent their assistance and expertise to help make it a night to remember. To each and every committee member who worked behind the scenes and especially to our ‘dream team’ of Vivienne Moran, Lizi Hannon and Anne Kielty, we would like to extend a huge ‘Thank You’.
Special thanks must go to our cast, all of whom would have been in at least one of our past shows, for putting in so much work rehearsing for the concert. We were thrilled to be joined on stage by so many former members, especially those who reprised the solo parts they originally played. We must also pay tribute to our very talented young guests, the children who joined us for the ‘Joseph’ and ‘The Lion King’ sequences and the Brothers of Charity group who joined us for the ‘Mamma Mia’ and ‘Beauty & the Beast’ songs.
Sincere gratitude must also be paid to our orchestra for accompanying the very diverse range of songs with such precision and we’d also like to thank our MCs Daniel Doherty and Ronan Smith for keeping everything running smoothly and on time.
We normally thank Canon Gerry Hanly ‘for the loan of the Hall’ every winter but now we have to thank him for the loan of the Church. The reality is that had we presented the concert in our normal venue, we would have had to turn away hundreds of people! St. Joseph’s Church afforded us the ideal venue for this concert. We are also very grateful to Boyle Parish Council, Pádraig Harrington and Fr. Jonas for all their assistance. Huge thanks also to our sound, light and stage teams for transforming the Church into a theatre in a matter of hours – and having it fully restored by midnight!
We’ve always said that it takes more than a cast, committee and a production team to stage a musical and the same has to be said for our Ruby Anniversary Concert. Thank you to all our volunteers who worked on the door, sold raffle tickets, co-ordinated traffic & parking, supervised children, acted as ushers, helped with costumes or assisted in any way. Thanks also to our own teams, especially Tom and Nigel Cleary, Enda Commons and the stage crew who kept the show on the road and a special word of thanks to Brendan and David McGee for the beautiful memorial video tribute to all those members, no longer with us. A big thanks also to Benny Morgan for his wonderful photos of the concert.
We are very grateful to those who provided rehearsal facilities, especially David Harding, Sean Brennan and Shane Caslin at Abbey College and all at Scoil na n’Aingeal Naofa. Thanks also to Michael Gilmartin at Boyle Resource Centre for the use of the building on the day of the concert.
We are deeply indebted to our three local sponsors, Nordson Medical, Marian’s, Magee Fashions and Boles of Boyle, who donated fabulous prizes for our raffle and a huge thank you to Siobhan Gallagher, Deirdre Purcell, Liz Gannon and their team for co-ordinating this.
Due to the generosity of the audience, the raffle was such a success that we will be making a contribution to the Brothers of Charity, in recognition of their memorable participation in this concert.
While this concert celebrated 40 years of musicals, it was also a celebration for everybody who took part in all of our productions over the years. It was heart-warming to see so many past and present members on the stage with us and also, so many in the audience. Many more watched online and sent good wishes from overseas while others, who are a little further away, were undoubtedly on stage with us, in spirit. We thank each and every one of you.
Finally, we’d like to thank you, our audience and the wider community, for all the support shown to us, not just at this concert but throughout the years. This is our Musical Society and it is your Musical Society and it’s fair to say that without you, the show could not go on.
With heartfelt thanks.
The Boyle Musical Society committee.
Photograph by Benny Morgan.
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