Helen Spring and Carol Gleeson are the writers and producers of the musical play Are Ya Dancin'?, set to make its national debut at 3Olympia Theatre this summer, with a cast featuring one Paul Mescal Snr, father of the Oscar-nominated star of Aftersun and Normal People.
Below, they introduce their all-singing, all-dancing love letter to the "golden showband era" with a cast of 30!
A mutual love for the arts, drama and music is what sparked our life-long friendship and creative partnership. This coupled with a shared ambition to produce top quality, female-driven theatre inspired the formation of our own theatre company A Likely Story Productions in 2016.
Having officially met in secondary school in Naas, Co. Kildare, we had already crossed paths at various drama competitions throughout the country. In fact, we were each other’s main competition – with an even divide of accolades between us!
Eventually paired together to compete in a national duologue competition, we quickly realised the advantages of working together and our complementary strengths led us to become best friends and a dynamic duo.
producers Helen Spring and Carol Gleeson
What began as a shared passion for performance soon progressed into the realm of writing which we subsequently pursued in our third level studies. We spent our college years co-writing, co-imagining and co-dreaming of a career in the industry. However, reality bites! And like so many before us, we found ourselves adopting ‘sensible’ careers (Carol owns a speech and drama school and Helen is a primary school teacher) to pay the bills while we pursued our artistic ventures.
We both grew up with a love for 50's & 60's music and listening to wonderful stories from our grandparents of the golden showband era.
Book proposals, comedy sketches and TV proposals (one of which was in early development with RTÉ prior to the recession) were among our many creative exploits, before we decided to focus on what we know best – writing for the stage.
After successfully producing, directing and starring in several well-known plays, in 2018 we decided to embark on our greatest challenge yet – to write and produce an original play with music.
We both grew up with a love for 50's & 60’s music and listening to wonderful stories from our grandparents of the golden showband era. The late, great Jimmy Magee was a close friend of Carol’s husband and shared many stories of the showband scene with her as did countless other first-hand witnesses we spoke to when researching the show. Reliving the magic and nostalgia of this period with these people gave us a very clear vision - and so, after eight months of writing and rewrites, Are Ya Dancin’? was born.
The show, which follows lead character Tommy O’Neill who finds himself at the helm of an up-and-coming showband, boasts a cast of thirty people – which is a real rarity on a professional stage these days. The production includes a live seven-piece band, twelve actors and fourteen dancers – an array of the most talented Irish performers from across the nation.
Now, following four sold-out runs around the country, Are Ya Dancin’? comes to 3Olympia Theatre this August and features classic hits aplenty, including Rock Around the Clock among many others.
For two women who’ve spent their lives involved in drama and the arts and who have dedicated six years to proving the merits and broad appeal of our show, it’s a great privilege for us to bring Are Ya Dancin’? to the national stage. We hope to see you there!
Are Ya Dancin'? – A Showband Story comes to 3Olympia Theatre from August 27th-31st - find out more here.
