Ballinrobe hit the high notes

AIMING HIGH Liam Horan, Programme Co-ordinator, Liz Kelleher, PRO, Ballinrobe Musical Society, and Pat McGovern, Chairman, accepting the award for Best Programme.

Ballinrobe hit the high notes

Claire Egan

THEY came, they saw and they conquered. Ballinrobe Musical Society travelled south to the kingdom of Kerry at the weekend – and came away with one of the top musical society prizes.
The acclaimed group attended the prestigious Association of Irish Musical Societies (AIMS) awards at the INEC, Killarney on Saturday last, joining with societies from all over Ireland for one of the highlights of the performance calendar year.
Ballinrobe were in contention for two top awards – Best Programme and Best Supporting Female. They were successful in their quest for the former, while Mairead Coughlan, who played Katisha in this year’s production of ‘Hot Mikado’, was runner-up in the Best Supporting Female category.
“We are absolutely delighted with winning the Best Programme award as so much work and effort has gone in to it. In the past when you went to shows around the country programmes were very often a few sheets of A4 paper stapled. However, we have found that our own programme has gone from strength to strength and that is down to the hard work of Liam Horan and Pat McGovern. The programme is an integral part of the show and is a huge part of the evening. It is now part of the musical memorabilia with people collecting the programmes from every year,” said Liz Kelleher, PRO of Ballinrobe Musical Society.
Tullamore native and newcomer to Ballinrobe, Ms Mairead Coughlan, also came in for special praise, wooing audiences with her portrayal of Katisha in this year’s production.
“We are delighted to have her in the group. It is her first full season with us and her background has been in pantomime. We were delighted that she came on board and pleased that she is with us again next year. She has an absolutely fantastic voice and excellent acting skills,” said Liz.
Group member, Mike Ansboro secured the ‘Personality of the Weekend’ from his fellow musical enthusiasts – very much an informal award with rather loose criteria!
“It’s basically an award within our own musical society we have every year where we vote on who was the best craic for the weekend. That would be the best way to describe it,” explained Liz.
The musical group are doubly proud of their efforts considering that they are competing with societies who have the luxury of much larger catchment areas.
‘Titanic’ is the chosen production for the 2008 season and already plans are in full swing. In fact it is the first time a group south of the border has taken on the momentous musical.
“It’s very much full steam ahead. We held auditions two weeks ago and the production is scheduled for February. It is a huge production but one we are looking forward to,” concluded Liz.