Cork Opera House Mar 19-28 8pm Sat 3pm 26-36 021-4270022Large-scale Irish words-and-music stage creations (which lets out Riverdance) have hardly been numerous or notably successful, but let's not be downbeat. The sponsoring Cork Opera House clearly knows the score – sic – and the prolonged gestation of Michael Collins, and the talents of the creative team engaged to develop it, have left as little to chance as possible.
Experienced director-writer-composer Bryan Flynn has been working on it for four years, during which it had a week-long workshop in 2005, three concert performances in Waterford and Cork in 2006 and the first fully staged production in Waterford last October.
The feedback from these outings was more than encouraging, but now comes the real deal – the official opening on March 19th. With 30 actors and singers and 20 new songs, bolstered by a live orchestra, the stage is set for the epic story of the Big Fella and his iconic companions – back in Cork where it belongs. It deserves to succeed.
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Stags and Hens, New Theatre, Dublin
