We have enjoyed many wonderful productions since the inception of Transition Year here at St. Finian's College. The entire year group participate in the production. All preparations & performances take place in our school gym, a wonderful venue. It is also our privilege that all our talent is 'home grown' as we have a great balance of boys & girls to play the roles. Our production team are brilliant at St. Finian's & really support, encourage & enhance the talents of our students, whose contributions encompass stage production, design, sound, lighting, advertisement, tickets, programmes, raffles, performance & logistics around event management. The skills acquired, the confidence built & the friendships formed are always a joy to watch evolve over the course of this project. Transition Year students really embrace this experience & often refer to the TY Musical as their best memory from their time in St Finian's College.
TY 2023 Production 2023:
Oklahoma (Rodgers & Hammerstein)
This year our TY musical was Oklahoma. It was one of the best memories of our year so far and it was definitely the highlight of our time as TY students. The musical brought us all much closer together because we all shared these amazing experiences as a year group. Bonds were created and strengthened and the group was one big family by the end of it.
It all started in September, when Mr Connell told us he was starting auditions for this year's musical. At the time we did not know what musical we were going to do, but Oklahoma was definitely not what we had expected. Most of the year group auditioned, which is amazing because there was so much hidden talent in everyone and we ended up having a very talented group of TY students. It took many weeks of auditions for Mr Connell, Mr Andrews and Ms Jones to decide that we were going to do Oklahoma, as they felt it was the best fit for this group of students.
We jumped straight into Oklahoma auditions once it was announced. At this point, we were audtitioning for specific parts. To say they were nerve wracking was an understatement. This was a new experience for most of us and a lot of us were really nervous to sing in front of three people, let alone a whole crowd. However, we all decided to just sign up for what we could, instead of limiting ourselves, because we all wanted to be a part of this or we knew we would regret it.
By the end of September/start of October we had our main cast and people were getting straight to work. People were divided into groups to help come up with ideas for the musical. Whether it was making up the dances for ‘Kansas City’ or ‘Many a New Day’, designing the set and painting the backdrop, coming up with ideas for costumes and making them, or being on our PR team designing tickets, posters, our programme etc. there was something for everyone to do. We were kept busy to say the least.
We had two hours on Thursday and Friday dedicated to the musical where people would work in their groups, while the cast ran over the script and their songs. Our musical was looking better and better every week, more people were being cast into roles and we really started to put our dances together with the help of Ms Siobhan Moore from ‘Dionysus Dance School’. We were all so busy as there was so much to do, whether it was learning a dance, singing one of the numerous songs in the musical or figuring out how to act and what to do in a certain scene.
As the weeks went on, we were all getting closer as a group. Whether it was encouraging each other behind the scenes or bursting out laughing on stage, we all started to loosen up and really began to bond together. It never felt like a task, as we were just having a good time and enjoying ourselves, all the while making memories we would never forget.
Before we knew it, Thursday night had rolled around and the nerves began to kick in. Everyone was in their costumes, we all got our makeup done by Ms Jones, Ms Glynn, Ms Coloe and some of the girls backstage. The main six actors got their makeup done professionally by Ms Nicole Cullen, which really brought the characters to life. Before our first show, we all huddled up in a room backstage as Owen McMahon read out his heart warming speech which encouraged and prepared the whole group for what lay ahead. Then, it was lights, camera, action!
With every show we became more confident. By this point, we were exhausted, but still, we didn’t want it to end. The three matinees and the three nightly performances were a massive success. On the final night, we were on the verge of tears, knowing that we wouldn't relive the same experience again. However, it was Mr Andrews that really pulled us to pieces with his heart wrenching speech at the end of our performance.
Everyone had a huge role in the musical to make it the success that it was, whether it was on stage or behind the scenes. We all became extremely close and it turned us all into one big family. The memories that were created because of this opportunity will never be forgotten. On behalf of the TY class of 22/23 we would like to sincerely thank Mr David Andrews, Mr Daniel Connell, Ms Niamh Jones and Ms Bláithín Keena for the unforgettable experience and for making the musical the success that it was and the highlight of our year.