October2013


The Singing Rabbitte 4

Posted on October 8th, by admin in Blog, The Singing Rabbitte. 1 Comment

The show opens tomorrow night.

The previews have been running for more than two weeks. I went home to Dublin for a weekend but, other than that, I’ve been here, in the Palace Theatre, every night, and twice last Saturday.  But, actually, the word ‘twice’ is a bit meaningless, because I haven’t seen the same show twice.

Changes – some drastic, some tiny – have been made every day. A song has, rightly, gone into the bin, and whole chunks of dialogue.  Lines have been added; lights have been shifted. One song has a new ending; an onstage salesman has become a milkman.  A bus stop logo has been replaced: ‘1986’ has been added to a line.

1986 was when I wrote The Commitments. Onstage, Jimmy announces the band’s first gig, reciting poster-copy: ‘Saturday 24 March, 1986.  In Barrytown Community Centre. The Hardest Working Band in the World. The Saviours of Soul. The Commitments.  Bringing The People’s Music To The People.’

I first wrote those lines on the 24th of the March, 1986. Now … Read More »