It’ll be absolute ‘Madness’ at the Craic Theatre

THE Craic Theatre in Coalisland will rock to the hits of Madness in what promises to be fantastic shows packed with energy and even some magic!

Our House: The Madness Musical, was the winner of the 2003 Olivier award for Best New Musical and has since gone on to tour both nationally and internationally to great acclaim.

Through the music of Madness, writer Tim Firth explores the themes of love, family values, growing up, responsibility and dealing with losing the people that shape us.

Madness was a top ska band from Camden Town that was huge in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Their hits were household favourites with 15 of their singles reaching the UK top ten.

Director and choreographer Sean O’Neill says the show is what it says on the tin, “Madness! packed with energy, fantastic dance routines, fabulous hits and a great storyline”.

The 24 strong cast have been rehearsing since the beginning of September and can’t wait to bring the show to live audiences.

“We have been flat out singing, dancing and acting,” said Sean. “All the brilliant Madness hits are there: Baggy Trousers, It Must Be Love, House of Fun, Our House… and many more!”

Stage veteran Liam McIlvenna plays the lead role of Joe Casey opposite Holly McCann who plays Sarah with award-winning local actor Conor Begley as the bad guy, Reecy. The story centres around 16-year-old Joe who makes a bad mistake in life and has to chose whether or not to hand himself into the police. The narrative follows both courses of action, the right decision and the wrong decision, and how they impact on his life.

Sean, who is a freelance performer, added, “All the lyrics to the songs are in keeping with the original hits. The back stage and set team on this production are the same team that got nominated for an AIMS (Association of Irish Musical Societies) Award last year for ‘9 to 5’.”

Recently married, Sean’s wife Lisa also stars in the show. He continued, “It is high energy, madness! All the routines are so energetic and vibrant. It is a great show with a great storyline and brilliant music to go with it. The audiences will be bouncing in their seats and that’s what we want! There are plenty of surprises too, including some magic!”

Our House: The Madness Musical will be at the Craic Theatre for eight nights: Thursday, November 17 to Sunday, November 20 inclusive and Thursday, November 24 to Sunday, November 27 inclusive. All performances commence at 8pm.

Tickets are £15 and can be purchased by logging onto: www.ticketsource.co.uk/craicartscentre