Grove production of Jesus Christ Superstar in Millennium
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Great ‘buzz’ about Jesus Christ Superstar rehearsals
What’s the buzz? Tell me what’s-a-happening?
And no better woman to ask than talented Derry performer Laura Keogh, who is starring in the Grove Theatre Group’s production of ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’.
“I am sharing the role of Mary Magdalene with the amazing Zara Holmes from Donegal. We are doing three performances each,” said Laura.
Laughing she added: “I haven’t been in a Grove production since in did ‘Hairspray’ in 2019, when, out of the blue, I got a phone call from Martin [Mullen] asking if I’d sing ‘I don’t know how to love him’ - Mary Magdalene’s signature song in Jesus Christ Superstar. I said, ‘I’m too old to be Mary Magdalene, Martin, I’m in my 40s. Maybe Jesus’ mother Mary but not Mary Magdalene.
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“He said, ‘You’re never going to be too old’ so I thought, ‘Alright, I’ll give it a whirl’. I am delighted to be doing the production, doubly delighted because my daughter Lailah is onstage with me again in the junior ensemble. She was only seven when we did ‘Hairspray’.
“It is just lovely to be back in the Forum. We love the staff, they are always so welcoming. We love performing on our own platform, our own local stage. It is like a West End production to us. I am even doing a bit of dancing.
“We all love it. We all work, we all have families and kids but we are all here having fun and the creativity and singing is just brilliant for our wellbeing.
“The talent in this town, indeed throughout the North West, is phenomenal. We have a wee boy from Malin Head who gets the bus up and down for every rehearsal. That’s the level of dedication from everyone involved - the whole cast and crew. We are here, rehearsing ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ as a group, and it is priceless,” fizzed Laura, who added that a proportion of the ticket sales was also being donated to The Foyle Hospice, a cause close to her heart.
In addition every cast member is filling in a sponsor sheet, also for the Foyle Hospice.
“We are helping out the Hospice and having a ball at the same time,” said Laura, whose Aunt Peggy Doherty received end of life care in the Hospice last year.
“Mary Magdalene is supposed to be an ‘exotic beauty’. I don’t know if I match that description but I am going for hair extensions next week to get into the spirit of the role,” smiled Laura.
“Mary Magdalene is really the thirteenth Apostle. She is a true follower of Jesus. The life she led before she followed Jesus may have been dark, we don’t know, but she found a new way and she became the main follower of Jesus Christ,” she added.
‘The talent in this town, indeed throughout the North West, is phenomenal’
“She supports him. She can see how distressed he is with the pressure, the weight on his shoulders. She has a beautiful connection with him. She wants to care for him. She wants to love him but she can’t because nobody can. He was untouchable.
“It really is a lovely role. I am onstage with Kieran Connor (Jesus) and Micky Doherty (Peter) and William McFadden (Judas). And, it has proved that Derry really is the ‘City of Song’. This is a demanding, very vocally challenging score. It is so complex. The wide range within all the vocal solos is unbelievable. Laurence Quigg is our amazing musical director and we are going to have lots of fantastic local singers and musicians in the pit. It is a production not to be missed,” enthused Laura.
Kieran Connor, has been involved with local amateur dramatics for 23 years, is reprising his role as Jesus for the Grove production of ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’.
“I played Jesus 10 years ago with Letterkenny Musical Society down in An Grianán Theatre and I am so happy to have this opportunity to do it again. I always to do it one more time before I got too old. It is one of my favourite roles,” said Kieran.
“I love the understatedness of the part. Everything is less and you would think that’s easy but it is not. It is very difficult. I try to be understated on the stage and keep it very simple and still until the big moments happen and ‘bam’ and it comes across as more realistic and shocking,” added the Derry funeral director.
“Because Jesus has his moments when he loses his temper, in the Temple scene and when he fights with God in the Garden of Gethsemane, and those moments are even more illuminated whenever his presence is so still in the earlier parts of the musical.
“Rehearsals are going very well, the movement in particular in this show is very contemporary and it is going to look awesome on the stage,” said Kieran, who began his musical theatre career when he was a student at St Columb’s College.
‘ I try to be understated on the stage and keep it very simple and still until the big moments happen and bam’
“I was in the Grove with the Late Tony O’Donnell and did three pantomimes when I was a youngster, then I gave it up. But, lo and behold, St Columb’s was doing ‘The Wizard of Oz’ and with the encouragement of my teacher, Miss Alexander, I auditioned and got the role of the Tin Man.
“I remember going on the stage and loving the reaction every night and I thought, ‘I need to get back into this’. And, ever since, I have been doing shows every year with different musical societies. The education and training all of us, especially the younger cast members, are getting being in these productions is absolutely second to none,” said Kieran, who is now going to focus on encouraging his own children in the performing arts.
Roderick Canning, the director of Jesus Christ Superstar, said rehearsals were going well and everyone was champing at the bit to get on the actual stage.
“We have done lots of work over the last couple of months and everyone is so talented it is incredible. They are working so hard. We are delighted to have such a brilliant cast for this production,” he said.
“We get onto the stage on June 14 and we will get out set put together. We were fortunate Letterkenny Musical Society would have had a big section of set they used when they did it in 2016 and they are lending that to us. Amateur dramatics is one big community like that.
“We are also building scaffolding because it is a modern production. It will look fantastic and it will be the atmosphere we want.
‘We are delighted to have such a brilliant cast for this production’
“Jesus Christ Superstar has never been done in the Millennium, which is 25 years old this year and the Grove is 45 years old, and what better way to celebrate than with this fantastic musical which we have always wanted to do.”
Jesus Christ Superstar is running in the Millennium Forum from Wednesday, June 17 to Sunday, June 21. Tickets can be booked in person, by ringing the box office: +44 (0)28 7126 4455 or online: https://etickets.millenniumforum.co.uk/WEBPAGES/EntaWebShow/ShowPerformance.aspx.