Theatre Nights: Quite the weekend ahead for jazz fans

WELL, that time of year has rolled round again, and the Guinness Cork Jazz Festival is already bouncing into action, ready for a nice, long and lively weekend!

Macy Gray at the Opera House tonight (Thursday) is already fully sold out, but tomorrow evening you can choose between Adam Ben Ezra at the Triskel 6pm or Kurt Elling at Everyman 6.30pm (also Saturday at 6pm). Matthew Halsall is at Everyman later tomorrow (9.30pm) and also Saturday at 2pm.

The City Hall will be jumping with The Charlatans tomorrow, Tony Hadley, and later Jenny Greene on Saturday.

Mack Fleetwood is at the City Hall on Sunday , 7pm, and later that night, Cork clubbing legends Shane Johnson (Fish Go Deep) and Jamie Behan (Bastardo Electro) join forces for a party on the dancefloor with one purpose: MOVE.

But there are so many performances, concerts, events on everywhere, in all sorts of venues, that you really will have to look up the website ( guinnesscorkjazz.com) to pick and choose your favourites. Quite a weekend ahead for jazz lovers, make the most of it!

But please don’t forget to remember your origins, and celebrate Halloween next Tuesday, October 31. 

It’s the ancient New Year’s Eve, with November 1 the start of the Celtic new year, and has always been marked by time-honoured customs and traditions. 

At Crane Lane Theatre, they are certainly observing the proper date with Monsieur Pompier’s Travelling Freakshow on its first ever appearance in Cork. You might well have been lucky enough to see it at Electric Picnic, but if not, haste you down to Crane Lane on Tuesday evening where doors open at 8pm for this freakiest of cabarets. Come in costume by all means, they say, as fancy dress is positively encouraged, and there will be a prize for the best-dressed ghoul on the night! 021 427 8487 or www.cranelanetheatre.ie

Tomorrow night brings a show to the Glen Theatre in Banteer guaranteed to make those winter blues vanish, with award-winning comedian Dave Young and A Night at the Theatre with Groucho, his portrayal of the legendary Marx Brother. Made famous by movies such as A Night at the Opera, A Day at the Races, Duck Soup and The Big Store, Groucho achieved legendary status for his one-liners such as ‘Behind every successful man is a woman; behind her is his wife’; ‘I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member’; ‘I have had a perfectly wonderful evening, but this wasn’t it’. And so many more. You’ll be quoting them for weeks afterwards! Show starts 8pm sharp. Booking 029 56239 or 087 7558752.

Rehearsals are now well under way for Cork City Ballet’s glittering production of Swan Lake, coming up at the Opera House November 2 to 4. 

All the well-loved elements are promised, including the famous dance of the cygnets, the exquisite White Swan pas de deux, and of course that spectacular tour de force of 32 fouettés from the wicked Black Swan in Act III.

 Guest star Katerina Petrova, prima ballerina of the Sofia State Ballet, will dance the lead role of Odette/Odile All this and Tchaikovsky’s glorious score too! Tickets are going fast, so don’t delay. 021 427 0022 or www.corkoperahouse.ie

After the jazz, you can go whalewatching (virtually at least) at Everyman on Wednesday November 1, when underwater cameraman Ken O’Sullivan (North Atlantic – The Dark Ocean and Ireland’s Deep Atlantic) presents Into the Deep, a live show in which he speaks about his adventures exploring the North Atlantic Ocean, encountering enormous whales, monstrous sharks and exploring the amazing underwater world. Ken will show videos and give insight and backstories into what it’s like trying to navigate this vast ocean and film some of the largest animals ever to have lived. Fun for all the family. 7.30pm start. 021 450 1673 or www.everymancork.com for tickets.