Musical theatre students in Cork take to the stage

MUSICALS with a strong story appeal to Christine Scarry, who is directing MTU Cork School of Music students in a jukebox musical featuring the sounds of ska band Madness at the Everyman from February 21-24.

This production of Our House from the BA (Hons) students in musical theatre is set in the 1980s in the Camden Town area of London.

It tells the story of Joe Casey who, on the night of his 16th birthday, takes Sarah, the girl of his dreams, out on their first date. Trying to impress her, he breaks into a building site to show her the view and to share his ambitions with her. This son of a ne’er do well father and an Irish mother wants to succeed in life. Onto the scene the police arrive however.

“There is that moment to make the decision to do the right thing or the wrong thing,” says Christine.

“It’s a thunderbolt moment. Joe splits into good Joe and bad Joe. He has the option of giving himself up and taking the consequences, or running off. The whole show is pivoted on moments where we see the character making the good and the bad decision. Overall, the show has the tone of Blood Brothers.

It has a really serious core but it’s actually very funny as well.

The lead role is played by Paul Morey-Stout, with Sarah played by Zoe Moynihan.

“Paul’s role is incredibly demanding. He barely leaves the stage. There is a supporting cast of nine with strong principal roles and lots of other cameos.”

Christine describes the musical as “a slice of real life. It has both sadness and humour in it”.

Written by Tim Firth and Gary Barlow, the musical is more than 20 years old.

“I think it stands up very well. There’s the whole rebelliousness of teenagers. 

It’s my first time doing this show and I love it. It has lots of depth as well as all the fun elements.

This is just the second year of the BA students in musical theatre at MTU Cork School of Music staging a production at the Everyman.

“I was delighted to direct last year’s graduating students in The Addams Family,” says Christine.

What about jobs for graduates of the musical theatre degree?

She says: “While some will go straight into the business of performance, others will go into the production side. And some will go on to study further. There’s the need to get an agent and actually create work.”

While the West End may seem like Mecca for graduates of musical theatre, Christine points out that there are also great work opportunities in Europe. The MTU Cork School of Music is part of the European Musical Theatre Network.

As part of that, Christine, a colleague of hers and seven students are going to Madrid shortly to work on a production of Blood Wedding by Lorca.

“The Network is a fabulous initiative. We are the only English speaking musical theatre college to be represented in it. 

There are some really good employment prospects in Europe so that graduates need not only look at what’s available across the pond.

Language is not a problem as most musical theatre is in English.

“We actually have quite a large number of international students on the course. A goal of the faculty is to encourage our students to create work as musical theatre in Ireland is under-represented professionally.

“We would love to see musical theatre grow and get more support from the Arts Council and other bodies. Our students of musical theatre work incredibly hard and their level of skills are second to none. They have great rigour and discipline.”

There is a strong practical element to the course.

“The students build a professional portfolio which deals with agents, auditions, tax and other business skills. And there is the opportunity to do electives on the way which might support their journey.

“Some students, who have an understanding of stage management, might decide that’s the way they want to go. They’re not just getting an academic or theoretical approach. There’s also that side of what the real world is like and preparing them for that. 

It’s the best faculty in the country with an incredible staff, many of which are high-achieving industry practitioners.

A freelance director and lecturer, Christine is from Dublin but based in Kilkenny, from where she commutes to Cork to teach acting and directing part-time, at the MTU Cork School of Music. She studied at the old College of Music on Chatham Row and has a Masters degree from Dublin City University.

Christine’s early career saw her acting and singing professionally for years.

“I kind of fell into directing and discovered that I really enjoyed swimming in that pool. It’s very satisfying. It means I have more agency in my life.”

While Christine also directs straight plays, she prefers musical theatre “because you can bring so much more to it. I treat musicals like plays, anyway. They just happen to have music.”

Christine describes herself as a “diehard Sondheim fan” and she runs an annual Stephen Sondheim festival in Kilkenny.

With very little professional musical theatre in Ireland, Christine says there is a “fantastic opportunity for students who are making that their profession. They have the platform in Cork to do it at the Everyman which is such a great venue.

“Our House is a professional production in every way other than the fact the cast are students. The rehearsals are run along professional lines.

“We have a fabulous creative team with David Hayes as our musical irector. He is probably the best in the country. Our incredible choreographer is Therese O’Sullivan.”

It sounds like a dream team.

For tickets, see https://everymancork.com/events/our-house/