Well, not exactly. I was there, in Paris, on Saturday night with Ass Monkey (that’s the boyf, and yes, that is his name). If you had been there too, say, as a French spy, a French fry or an overpriced bar of nougat, you would not have seen me present the show, but would have heard running commentary along these lines:
‘There are guys in the Moulin Rouge? What for?’
‘Could they have put a taller German man in front of me?’
‘We’re an hour here, and that choreography is still the “Shimmy, Shimmy Shake”. Spare me!’
‘There’s no way they’re singing live in that tank of water’
‘Oh my god, are they real ponies??’
‘If there has to be men in it, they could at least whip their pants off or something…??’
And so it went on. €200+ down, we were. Amused and entertained, we most certainly were not. My feeling was that I had seen, and presented, better shows in Dublin! I have presented shows on the once burgeoning Irish burlesque scene since 2004, with both the very girlie dance troupe The Pink Panties, and Dublin burlesque superstars, The Pony Girls. Of course, when I had my son Jacob, I hung up the corsets and stockings until further notice. I mean, who do I think I am – Twink?!!
Burly Days
Between glimpses of cheap lamé costuming over the shoulder of The Tall German at The Moulin Rouge, I was reminded of how much presenting excites me. Our class at the GSA last week was magic, even though we were missing a few heads, John’s ginger one included. Stationary Shauna returned after a week off and we had our usual gossip about The Kardashians. Shauna knows exactly what Kim’s dute date is, and I am pleased to tell you that my brain rejected that information and I have forgotten it already. The work we had to present was a piece of worldwide journalism that spoke to us, or was on the same topic that we are interested in presenting. They were all truly varied and interesting, but the one that struck a chord the most with everyone was from Niamh, who read part of Donal Walsh’s published letter on the subject of teenage suicide. The gorgeous and brave Donal had just passed away the previous night, so it was both poignant and sad, and definitely resulted in a few tears from me.
My own piece came from the Scary Mommy website, called ’10 Ways To P*ss Off A Pregnant Woman’ – a tongue in cheek list of all the things to not say to a pregnant woman, if you could help yourself (lots of people apparently cannot). It was only after leaving the class that I realized that I hadn’t explained that the list was a facetious one, and now they all probably thinks that I condone rubbing the pregnant bellies of complete strangers and shouting into their belly buttons like microphones… Another Shazzy Clanger!
Still mortified from Week 3 when, after class, I almost followed Bill Hughes home to his front door, I took it especially handy on the arse-licking front. It took all of my strength not to accost him after class for chats about Blathnaid NíChoffaigh’s ‘alleged’ attitude problem, or what his views are on force-feeding Ryan Tubridy a sausage sandwich, but I managed it. And then I regretted that I didn’t all week. Not only am I indirectly sabotaging our chances at being BFFs, but I’ll never know the answers to those questions now. And here I am with the sausages on…
So tonight, I’m going giddy-up. The waft of freshly-baked blueberry muffins is coming from my kitchen and they are being delivered in pretty boxes to the class later. There’s an upgrade on bringing an apple to the teacher for you. Ach, I jest – they’re for everyone. The exercise we have to deliver tonight is on The Person That Means The Most To Us In The World, so I’m bringing a little sugar comfort in case it’s needed. Lord knows, I’ll be the first to cry as usual, although maybe not quite as much as Ass Monkey did when he forked out the cash for The Moulin Rouge.
Happy Outside The Moulin Rouge!Alive Outside Sports Events Company require 1 male actor for 2 separate day’s work at our HELL & BACK event – Event Race Brief!
It is vital that the actor is available to attend both HELL & BACK dates for continuity…
Male actor needs to be quirky, strong character and able to motivate, dramatise and get our message across to 2,000+ nervous participants!
HELL&BACK is a unique, extreme running event; Ireland’s Toughest Physical and Mental Challenge in Killruddery House & Gardens, Bray, Co Wicklow.
It involves participants running over mountains, forests, swamps, getting electric shocks, crawling under barbed wire and lots more insane challenges!
Alive Outside Sports Events Company want an actor to add to the “Sense of Theatre” on the day & to address 2,000+ crazies at Killruddery. You will have a script and this must be delivered to a repeat number of separate group waves 250 people in each event wave.
A script will be available for applicants who reply to this job opportunity. You will be required to film yourself for 60sec acting /dramatising this script and email in your video. Smart phones are perfectly acceptable.
Dates: Saturday 15th & Sunday 16th June 2013
Time: 11am – 6pm
Pay: €150 pp/pd, event = €300 per actor for both HELL & BACK events
Alive Outside Sports Events Company will provide the script, music and props to go with the event
Closing date for Applications is Monday 27th May.
Alive Outside Sports Events Company will send out the script on receipt of your application.
All Video clips must be sent in by Friday 31st May.
Check out their website: http://www.hellandback.ie/index.html
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEz2gaee8ow
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82Zv6Cu_YlM
They will require a meeting with you to choose suitable actors, the office is in Dun Laoghaire (see address below) next week
Please contact Molly Hutchinson, by email, with your contact mobile no + CV
Email: customer.care@aliveoutside.ie
Tel: +353-1-2147355
Address: 5 Rogan’s Court, Patrick Street, Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin.
ADARE Productions are filming the 5th Series of the hit Irish dance show AN JIG GIG, and would like to offer you the opportunity to avail of complimentary tickets to the show being filmed in RTE.
The programmes will be filmed in RTE studios in Donnybrook over the 14th, 15th &16th and the 21st, 22nd, & 23rd of May.
This is a great opportunity to come along and see behind the scenes in RTE and enjoy a show of dancing, craic, Gaeilge and fun in RTE.
If you would be interested in booking tickets or for further queries please call Kate on 01 2843877 or email kate@adareproductions.ie
The show times are as follows:
14th May Tue; 7.15pm- 10.30pm
15th May Wed; 1.15pm - 4.30pm & 7.15pm- 10.30pm
16th May Thurs; 1.15pm - 4.30pm & 7.15pm- 10.30pm
21st May Tue; 7.15pm- 10.30pm
22nd May Wed; 1.15pm - 4.30pm & 7.15pm- 10.30pm
23rd May Thurs; 1.15pm - 4.30pm & 7.15pm- 10.30pm
AN JIG GIG… gives Irish dancers of all ages the chance to throw out the rulebook, the big wigs, their Feis music CDs and take to the stage in the 5th series of An Jig Gig.
In previous series, we’ve had Prodijig frontman Alan Kenefick dance to Beethoven, set dancers jigging away to Lady Gaga, and a Sean-nos dance striptease which had judge Dearbhla Lennon hot under the collar. This is the show that allows all dancers to step outside of their usual competition rules and make their Irish dancing relevant to them.
All the different dance styles are welcome to apply for the series and this is the one arena where rival organisations can go head to head against each other. From a 3 year old An Coimisiún step dancer, to a 79 year old Sean-nos dancer, this series has seen all that is wonderful about our traditional dancing, and how imagination and today’s modern influences can shape Irish dancing into something spectacular.
Music from the likes of Daft Punk and Metallica to One Direction and Elton John have been used by the dancers in their routines in previous series’ and now we want to see what else the Irish dancers of Ireland can bring to a stage where there are no rules.
Kate Finegan,
Audience Coordinator,
AN JIG GIG.
ADARE Productions.
Tel: 01 2843877.
The love affair with Bill Hughes continues. I fear, however, that I may have given myself away as I stalked him out of the classroom last Monday night, chatting about this and that, how wonderful I thought his class was, how was his leg and did he know if Caroline Moraghan was likely to get all the TV work in Ireland forever and ever? So excited was I that I forgot to shut up and take the turn for my car and found myself pretty much following Bill homewards for tea. Thankfully, Ginger John made an appearance just in the nick of time and so Bill gently shooed me in his direction, and journeyed on without this random woman from his class finding out where he lives. It was a blessing for many reasons, not least of all because Ginger John got me back on track to the direction of my car. I’ve always said it, Gingers rock.
The third TV Presenting Course was better than ever, with each of my classmates and I presenting an intro to our very own programmes that we would like to deliver to the telly watching masses. We had an international dance show from Sibéal, an history of the 10-year-old Electric Picnic from Dónal (Craig Doyle WATCH out) and a documentary on racism in Ireland against the travelling community from Ginger John. I had my own little show about parenting, inspired by a Facebook post I read from a friend who was donating to the Human Milk Bank. That’s right, read it again, The Human Milk Bank. (I still don’t know if I’m appalled or touched. Will get back to you on this later).
True to form, my Nerves Warrior came along to the class for the jaunt and this week, instead of just digging me in the backs of the knees for my piece, he landed multiple attacks all over my body. From the second I opened my mouth in front of the class, I shook from the top of my head to the tips of my toes and could only pray that The Jitters weren’t coming out of my mouth too. In any case, I got through it and a second attempt that Bill directed me through to slow down my pace and find my strong voice. As opposed to the teeny tiny girly one I used in the first place. Who knew?!
We’re off this week due to the bank holiday and our next task is to find a piece of journalism that speaks to us within our chosen genres, and we’ll get to deliver that again next Monday. Bill has suggested broadening our reading and therefore our resources on our chosen topics. One might think that one is well read, given the millions of courses that one has taken but in fact, one has realized that the extent of one’s reading is the free Metro and U Magazine. Poor show, Shazzy! I’ve now subscribed to Vanity Fair and lots of parenting-related blogs, and feel much more informed already. Even though I haven’t actually read anything yet.
I’ve had further signals that TV Presenting is the right course for me, with a trip to opening night of The Lion King with the wonderful Jennifer Stevens from the aforementioned U Magazine. May I refer you to Blog No. 1 where I mentioned that my introduction to telly presenting and wonderful hair, was Aongus McNally from Anything Goes in RTE when I was about six. Well lo and behold, sitting right in front of me at the Bord Gais Energy Theatre (and blocking the view, he’s so tall!), I give you… Mr. McNally. BOOM.
The Back of Aongus’ Head ;o)
Inverse is an exciting new project for LGBT young people, kicking off on the 4 May: a 6-week programme of creative writing workshops, activities, a theatre trip, and talks by high-profile guest LGBT writers.
The project will include a series of talks by prominent LGBT writers. Speakers at the series will include novelists Denis Kehoe and Brian Finnegan, also the editor of GCN; feature journalist Una Mullally; and playwright Sonya Kelly, author of the acclaimed The Wheelchair on My Face.
Inverse is an initiative which aims to provide young people, facing new and sometimes challenging realities, with the creative tools to negotiate them. It aims to generate positive narratives for LGBT young people, and to empower and strengthen LGBT identities. It is being run on voluntary energy,
Inverse has been devised by two writers, Nicole Rourke and Nathan O’Donnell, in conjunction with the Dublin arts organisation, Big Smoke Writing Factory.
WHEN: Saturdays, 4 May – 8 June (6 weeks)
WHERE: Big Smoke Writing Factory, Lower Hatch Street, Dublin 2
ADMISSION: Free
AGE RANGE: 16 – 19
For further information please contact:
Nathan O’Donnell
t: 086 6622671
e: nathanhughodonnell@gmail.com
w: inverseproject.blogspot.ie
NOTES
Big Smoke Writing Factory is a centre for creative writing in Dublin. Hosting creative writing workshops, live literature events, off-site literary cafes, and outreach writing projects, Big Smoke is committed to accessibility, encouraging and enabling beginners and new writers as well as those with more writing and publishing experience. Run by writers for writers, Big Smoke provides a platform for writers to not only improve their work, but to share it with others. www.bigsmokewritingfactory.com/
Nathan O’Donnell is a Dublin-based LGBT writer, whose stories have appeared in The Manchester Review, Chroma Queer Literary Journal, The South Circular and College Green, and were included in an anthology of emerging LGBT writers, Whoosh! He completed an MA in Creative Writing at the University of Sussex in 2007 and is currently studying toward a PhD and teaching English Literature in Trinity College Dublin. He was worked in the literary arts – running workshops and live literature events, managing creative writing projects and working with literary festivals – for the past six years, both in Brighton and Dublin. He has performed his own work at a number of readings and spoken word events and is currently working on a blog-novel project, letterstolucy.wordpress.com
Nicole Rourke trained in theatre and workshop facilitation in the Middle East. She has written, performed and directed several pieces for theatre. Her work has received critical acclaim at festivals in Dublin, London, Edinburgh, Israel, Poland and Singapore. In 2002 Nicole received an Arts Council Travel and Training Award enabling her to travel to Buenos Aires to research and write. Nicole is a highly experienced facilitator and conducts a wide variety of creative workshops including Creative Writing and Storytelling at the Chester Beatty library, Drama and Creativity at the Gaiety school of acting, as well as Teambuilding Through Creativity for various organisations. She worked as a creative writing facilitator at the Irish Writers Centre from 2006 to 2009 and from 2010-11 was the resident Artist in the Community at St Patrick’s University Hospital in Dublin. This position was funded under the Artist in the Community scheme run by create and funded by the Arts Council. The project, entitled ‘Spears of Daylight’, culminated in an exhibition of site-specific contemporary art inspired by the creative writing of patients. http://www.stpatrickshosp.ie/spears-daylight-art-exhibition. In 2009 Nicole co-founded Big Smoke Writing Factory and is currently co-director and one of the principle facilitators there.
My name is Sarah, I am a TV researcher for Blueprint Pictures. We are planning on making a documentary about redheads for RTE 2 with TV presenter and fashion journalist (and natural redhead herself) Angela Scanlon (The Love Clinic, The Movie Show).
As part of the of the documentary, we want to do a flash mob (using only red heads) in the Dundrum Town Center on Thursday, the 2nd of May. The flash mob will involve around fifty people and it will take less than five minutes. We would walk those taking part to perform the routine three times, at intervals of an hour each time. We would want to film in the center between 6 and 9pm.
The mob is known as a freeze flash mob and would be done in the style of the video below. We will simply have the fifty people show up in the center and then at a pre-determined spot, we will have them stand still for two minutes. We will not put them in positions that would obstruct non-involved people in the center. We will have two cameramen present with us on the day, yet they will be filming secretly and in a manner that will not bring attention to themselves. Here is a link to another frozen flash mob.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwMj3PJDxuo
Also, to help distinguish the group, we are asking everyone to wear a black top or t-shirt for the shoot itself.
If you are over the age of 18 and interested in being involved and getting a chance to be on television, you can contact me directly (details below). I look forward to hearing from you.
Sarah Blake Knox
TV Researcher
Blueprint Pictures
45 Upper Mount Street
Dublin 2.
Tel: 01-6114989
URGENT – Fantastic opportunity for a 6 to 7 year old to play a LEAD role in a Feature Film this Summer in Dublin.
The lead role is that of a little boy who is 5 years old in the film – however a small 6 or 7 year old boy is needed.
Filming will be in June and July for 5 weeks. It is a fully paid role.
The young kid must be articulate, outgoing, able to take direction and not shy.
Characteristics
Height: No taller than 114 cm / 3ft 8ins
Hair: Blond, Sandy or Dark Brown.
Skin: Caucasian, Pale clear skin
Accent: Neutral
Age: 6 or 7
IMPORTANT – PLEASE ONLY RESPOND IF YOU MATCH THE CHARACTERISTICS – YOU WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED OTHERWISE
For more info click on www.MovieExtras.ie
Respond URGENTLY as the production team is meeting potential artists next week.
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The Gaiety School of Acting is excited to announce the launch of our new Young Gaiety Agency. All students from our Young Gaiety and Youth Theatre courses are eligible to sign up to be part of the Agency. For those students who wish to engage with the industry and take part in theatre, film & television auditions, this is the opportunity. Auditioning is a big part of an actor’s life and a life long skill is developed through those experiences.
For more information, please visit http://www.gaietyschool.com
We are looking for young actor to audition for a lead part in a Ghost film that will shoot from June 10th 2013 in Dublin for five weeks. The part we are casting is a little boy who is 5 years old in the film – however we are going to need a small 6 or 7 year old. This is a lead role so the young actor must be outgoing in personality, articulate and be well able to take direction.
Physical Description:
Height: No taller than 114 cm / 3ft 8ins
Hair: Blond, Sandy or Dark Brown.
Colouring: Pale sallow skin
Accent: English/Irish neutral
Please contact sinead.obrien.dublin@gmail.com if you know of a suitable candidate.
