SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL THEATRE! COME SEE "THE HIRED MAN"!!

KKMusicalSoc

Just in case anyone doesn't read the thread about events happening in Kilkenny, I said I'd start a thread to let people know about Kilkenny Musical Society's "The Hired Man" which starts this coming April 3rd and running until Saturday April 9th.

I know there was some interest on this forum in the past about the types of shows that KMS do, and the opinion from many was that the show choices were generally traditional. Well with "The Hired Man", we have taken on a new venture- but we need the support of the people of Kilkenny to come along and support not only us, but local theatre in general.

"The Hired Man" is more of a dramatic play that happens to have a few songs in it than an actual musical. It covers the themes of love, betrayal, war, mining, death and community spirit. So, those of you who were looking for something different- here it is. Show your community spirit by coming along to The Watergate and supporting KMS.

Tickets from 16 euro available from The Watergate Theatre on 056-7761674.

catbear

What's it's projected running time?

KKMusicalSoc

catbear wrote: »

What's it's projected running time?

Shouldn't be much later than 10.30pm by the time it finishes give or take about 5 mins, that's allowing for an interval of around 15-20 mins. So it's not an extremely long show- around an hour per half. Another plus for people to consider!

Good luck with the show and hope it is a success.

KKMusicalSoc

Thanks- I just hope people take the opportunity to come and see it. We've spent more on PR this year than any other year purely because of the fact that it's not well known, so hopefully it'll pay off.

I suppose we're caught either way- when we do shows that are well known, people complain that we're predictable. When we do lesser known shows, people complain that they don't know it so they're not going to go.

So I REALLY do hope that those who complained that we always do the same stuff come along- they really won't be disappointed. I'd be pretty annoyed to be honest if the people who said such things about KMS then didn't come see this show, because here we have an amazing show, the type of one they said they wanted- it has such heart, and a real earnest honest feeling around it, something you often don't get in musicals because the emotions get smothered by the singing and dancing. I can honestly say that this is one of the best we've ever done.

I had heard before that "The Hired Man" always leaves a huge impression on any society that does it, and I didn't know what they meant. Now I do. I can't describe it though, it's a kind of a proud feeling or something... People will just have to come and see for themselves I guess...

Threadhead

I've heard nothing but great things about it so far so I really hope it does great business for you guys. And it would be really unfortunate if it doesn't find a crowd, especially when you're taking such a brave choice.

I think declining theatre audiences can be largely attributed to high ticket prices at a time where disposable income is falling. And if anything is damaging productions especially locally, it's €20 tickets. Watergate Productions suffered a similar problem last week with their new show. I don't think it's the fault of the choice of shows or musicals but rather the simple fact that theatre is an expensive business and the prices charged for tickets to cover costs is only going to dissuade people from attending. It's much easier to get 6 people to go on €10 tickets than it is to get 1 person to go on a €20 ticket. People with little dispensable income need a really good excuse to part with that kind of money. If you want to make sure something makes an impact on society, it has to be affordable to as many members of society as possible.

However, I hope that doesn't dissuade local groups from taking risks with their material. As I said, I've heard fantastic advance buzz about The Hired Man and anyone I know who's involved in it reckons it's one of the best KMS shows yet. I really hope it does great business.

KKMusicalSoc

I see what you're saying about ticket prices- but we sold out last year with the same ticket prices and some might say things were even more uncertain economically at the time.

In fairness, sales have really picked up- I just think people are slower about booking tickets nowadays, especially to a show they're unsure of.

It's been a great show for the society to do anyway, especially due to the amount of men we've added to our ranks! I've become a little obsessed with the war scene that our men do, it's brilliant- the singing is great but it's really touching too, definitely my favourite part.

Think we're all just itching to put the show on for real now at this stage... roll on Sunday!!

Einhard

And all into Cleere's for the interval!!

KKMusicalSoc

Woohoo, standing ovation for our opening night last night! I'm knackered already but it's going to be a great week if last night is anything to go by.

Was talking to some people who were genuinely really moved by some of the scenes, saying a good few tears were shed (there must be something wrong with taking pleasure in making people cry )

It was lovely as well to see so many people there who have been involved in the society in some capacity or other in the past who came along to support us, especially on opening night which can be stressful!

Now people just need to fill those last remaining seats!

KKMusicalSoc

Just to say a big THANK YOU to anyone who came along or supported The Hired Man in any way- it was a huge risk for us to take this on but thankfully it was a massive success. Although not a complete sell-out, the show sold very well with the last 2 nights being totally sold out and the Thursday night had only a handful of seats left. We got fantastic reviews from anyone who saw it, and standing ovations every night.

I actually cannot describe sufficiently the feeling of unity and friendship amongst the whole cast, chorus and crew having done this show- to be honest I think the fact that we all had to work so hard together to sell the show made us all become very close. They're a great bunch and I really hope as many as possible stay on board for our 2012 show, whatever that may be!

If anyone would like to take a look at what the show sounded/looked like, there's a little taster of it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_gDdQz0CGY