Blaze Away! The Incredible Story of Josef Locke
May 15, 2013
Coming to Draiocht on 15 June 2013, 8pm ... Blaze Away! The Incredible Story of Josef Locke
Tickets: €20/€17 or €15 for Groups
More Info about the show ... here ...
Book Now ... Online ... or ph 01-885 2622
From Wiki:
Josef Locke was the stage name of Joseph McLaughlin (23 March 1917 -- 15 October 1999), an Irish tenor singer who was successful in the United Kingdom and Ireland in the 1940s and 1950s.
Born in Derry, Ireland, he was the son of a butcher and cattle dealer, and one of nine children. He started singing in local churches in the Bogside at the age of seven, and as a teenager added two years to his age in order to enlist in the Irish Guards, later serving abroad with the Palestine Police Force, before returning in the late 1930s to join the Royal Ulster Constabulary. Known as The Singing Bobby, he became a local celebrity before starting to work the UK variety circuit, where he played 19 seasons in the northern English seaside resort of Blackpool. The renowned Irish tenor John McCormack (1884--1945) advised him that his voice was better suited to a lighter repertoire than the operatic one he had in mind, and urged him to find an agent—thus he found the noted impresario Jack Hylton (1892--1965) who booked him, but couldn't fit his full name on the bill, thus Joseph McLaughlin became Josef Locke.
He made his first radio broadcast in 1949, and subsequently appeared on TV programmes such as Rooftop Rendezvous, Top of the Town, All-star Bill and The Frankie Howerd Show. He was signed to the Columbia label in 1947, and his first releases were the two Italian songs "Santa Lucia" and "Come Back to Sorrento".
In 1947, too, Locke released "Hear My Song, Violetta", which became forever associated with him. His other songs were mostly a mixture of Irish ballads such as "I'll Take You Home Again Kathleen", "Dear Old Donegal", "Galway Bay" and "The Isle of Innisfree" (the theme song from the film The Quiet Man), excerpts from operettas including "The Drinking song", "My Heart and I", and "Goodbye", along with familiar Italian favourites such as "Come Back to Sorrento" and "Cara Mia".
In 1958, after he had appeared in five Royal Variety Performances, and while he was still at the peak of his career, the British tax authorities began to make substantial demands that Locke declined to meet. Eventually he fled the country for Ireland, where he lay low for several years. When his differences with the tax people were eventually settled, Locke retired to Co. Kildare, emerging for the occasional charity concert and reappearing in Blackpool in 1968. He appeared in front of The Prince and Princess of Wales at the 1992 Royal Variety Show, singing "Goodbye", having announced prior to the song that this would be his final public appearance.
Read a review in The Corkman ... here ...
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By Draíocht. Tags: Music
Sacred Heart National School Choir Huntstown will support The Three Tenors
January 24, 2013
We delighted to welcome Sacred Heart National School Choir Huntstown to Draiocht on Saturday 23 February 8pm, supporting The Three Tenors.
More info ...
School parents can avail of a special offer price.
Book now tel 01-8852622 or Online ...
Singing at the Launch of Lincoln! The Three Tenors!
Coming to Draiocht on 23 Feb.
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By Draíocht. Tags: Music
HALLELUJAH! DRAÍOCHT’S COMMUNITY CLOWN CHOIR STARTS AGAIN IN FEB 2013
December 3, 2012
Hallelujah! Draíocht’s Community Clown Choir
With Veronica Coburn – Theatre Artist in Residence 2012/2013
Weekly Rehearsals begin MON 18 FEB 2013 // 7-10 PM // SIGN UP NOW!
EMAIL: emer@draiocht.ie
Are you sociable? Do you like to sing? Do you like to laugh? Are you the type of person who is open to trying new things? If so, then WE WANT YOU!
A Clown Choir is a group of people who gather together to sing and laugh – to sing in celebration of what it is to be human and to laugh at the ridiculousness of the world we live in.
Hallelujah! will be a choir like no other. Weekly rehearsals will be one part play to two parts song. Performances will be one part concert to two parts clown theatre. Nobody will be asked to do anything that s/he is not comfortable with but for those who are interested in stepping into the spotlight then there will be ample opportunity for them to do so.
Hallelujah! ran a taster workshop on 03 November 2012 to give people an opportunity to see what it’s all about. 55 people ranging in age from 18 to 72 turned up on the day and had a great time. The day was a mixture of hard work and good fun. Everyone learned a little bit about how to be a clown and everyone learned the first section of Hallelujah!’s signature tune - Charlie Chaplin’s ‘Smile’.
Hallelujah! starts rehearsing in earnest on 18 Feb 2013. Rehearsals are every Monday night, Tuesday nights when the Monday is a Bank Holiday, with the choir working towards a year long performance programme that kicks off with ‘The M50 Symphony - A Symphony For Human Voice & Car Horn’ in July 2013. You don’t have to be a good singer to join Hallelujah! You don’t have to be a performer to join Hallelujah! You just have to be interested and willing. The ethos of Hallelujah! is accessibility, inclusivity and artistic excellence.
To register your interest and get further details please email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or write to Emer McGowan, Director, Draíocht, The Blanchardstown Centre, Dublin 15.
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By Draíocht. Tags: Draiocht Info, Music, Veronica Coburn
The Sun has got his Hat on at Draiocht
November 5, 2012
Rehearsals are nearing an end as Coolmine Musical Society prepare to take to the stage in Draíocht from next Tuesday 13th to Saturday 17th of November for 'Me and My Girl', the much loved musical filled with laughs, love and classic comedy moments. The cast and crew have been working hard for the last few months to perfect their Lambeth Walk’s ... with a week to go some are still learning!
As always, you can expect a supremely talented cast including Alison Dennan, Paula Fay and Sėamus Sullivan. Due to unforeseen circumstances the role of Bill Snibson will now be played by Colin Hughes who is double jobbing as Director also.
Choreographer Brian Keogh, Musical Director Caitríona Ní Threasaigh and Chorus Master Eoghan Connolly have been working hard to make sure everyone is ready to take to the Draíocht stage.
So, come and join Coolmine Musical Society in 1930's England for a night of musical delights, as they take you to Hareford and beyond, from next Tuesday 13th November!
Tickets on SALE NOW ... €20/€17 conc with a Special Opening Night Offer of all tickets only €17.
Book Online Now ... or phone Box Office on 01-8852622 ... All shows start 8pm!
More info ...
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By Draíocht. Tags: Music
CAN YOU SING AND LAUGH AT THE SAME TIME?
October 24, 2012
CAN YOU SING AND LAUGH AT THE SAME TIME?
Hallelujah! Draiocht’s first Community Clown Choir is here!
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JOIN US IN DRAIOCHT ON SATURDAY 03 NOV 2012, 2-5PM, FOR A FREE INTRODUCTORY CLOWN CHOIR WORKSHOP WITH VERONICA COBURN!
Register your interest by filling in an application form, available from Draíocht’s Box Office or by email from .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Deadline for applications extended: WED 31 OCT 2012
Participants must be 16 years and over.
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Are you sociable? Do you like to sing? Do you like to laugh? Are you the type of person who is open to trying new things? THEN WE WANT YOU!
Hallelujah! will be a choir like no other – its ethos being accessibility, inclusivity and artistic excellence. A Clown Choir is a group of people who gather together to sing and laugh – to sing in celebration of what it is to be human and to laugh at the ridiculousness of the world we live in.
Weekly rehearsals will begin in 2013 but on November 3rd 2012 there is an opportunity for you to come along to see what it’s all about. The day will be good fun. You will be introduced to the basic concepts of clown theatre and you will learn Hallelujah!’s signature tune - Charlie Chaplin’s “Smile”. Nobody will be asked to do anything that s/he is not comfortable with but for those who are interested in stepping into the spotlight then there will be ample opportunity for them to do so.
You don’t have to be a good singer to join Hallelujah!
You don’t have to be a performer to join Hallelujah!
You just have to be interested and willing.
Come along on November 3rd and see what it’s all about.
Hallelujah!’s first major work in 2013 will be The M50 Symphony – A Symphony For Human Voice & Car Horn!
Veronica Coburn, Draiocht’s Theatre Artist in Residence for 2012/2013 and Director of ‘Hallelujah’ is delighted to be working in Draiocht on this project from November and says
“I have a dream. It’s called Hallelujah! It is a city wide Community Clown Choir where people from all walks of life, all ages, all social strata, come together every week to play and to sing and build artistically exciting performances. No Handel’s Messiah. No programme of early Renaissance love poems. This is a clown choir. Human voice in place of instruments. An evening concert of One Hundred Green Bottles. A joyful place to be.
The clown has always represented everyman and everywoman. The function of early theatre clowns was to maintain the interest of the ordinary people with low comedy and plain speech. It is fitting then that interwoven through the choral programme of the clown choir will be the participants own stories – human stories.”
JOIN US IN DRAIOCHT ON SATURDAY 03 NOV 2012 // 2-5PM // FOR YOUR FREE INTRODUCTORY WORKSHOP.
To register your interest please fill in an application form, available from Draíocht’s Box Office or by email from .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or phone Teresa for a chat about the project on 01-8098028.
Veronica Coburn Biography:
Veronica Coburn s a founding member of the theatre company Barabbas. Veronica devised and performed in Barabbas inaugural season and in Out the Back Door in The Ark in 1997. She devised and directed Sick Dying Dead Buried Out with the company in 1995 and in 1996 directed the revival of Half Eight Mass of a Tuesday.
Over the years she has performed in The Abbey, the Peacock, with Rough Magic, Horizon, Copol, Pigsback, Theatre of Fire and in many television productions. She was assistant director to Gerard Stembridge on his play Lovechild in the Project and on Comedy of Errors in the Abbey. Veronica is chairperson of Dublin Youth Theatre and for them directed Mark O'Rowe's ‘Buzzin' to Bits in Project@the Mint. She has also acted as Artistic Director for the 1998 National Festival of Youth Theatres in Monaghan which resulted in a hundred-strong performance, Hey Pelops.
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Deadline for applications: WED 31 OCT 2012
Participants must be 16 years and over.
Download Application Form here ...
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This one year drama and music project is funded through The Arts Council and Fingal County Council.
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FOR PRESS IMAGES AND INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Nicola Murphy, Marketing Press & PR Manager, Draiocht, tel: 01-8098021 / .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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By Draíocht. Tags: Draiocht Info, Music, Workshops, Veronica Coburn
