30-year-old David O'Reilly is living the West End dream. Having taken a chance, moving to London to study acting, things have gone from strength to strength for the Tallaght-born actor, who spoke to Ryan Tubridy about life onstage and in the wings.
"We start work at 6.15 pm and… you can be finished before 10 o'clock… The difficulty of the job is you're onstage for two hours – physically demanding, under the lights, dancing, singing, acting. It sounds very easy… but it really is so hard because you have to get into that place every single night and depending on what musical it is, it can be very difficult but no, it really is one of the most amazing jobs."
David says the real joy comes from seeing people escape the realities of their day-to-day lives and lose themselves in the show for a few hours, "as cringey as it may sound!"
David's first big break came when he landed himself a role as a T-Bird in Grease but a spot on the cast of The Book of Mormon really sealed the deal. David was part of the original line up and he remembers nervous times in 2013. "We weren't really sure what way London was going to react," he says of the controversial comedy but the outpour of love for the show was and continues to be astounding. David was part of the show for five years and says:
"In those five years, they hadn't got one unsold seat in the theatre. Every single show was sold out. It really is incredible."
David left the smash-hit musical when he was head-hunted for a role in Lady Windemere's Fan in London's Vaudeville Theatre as part of the current Oscar Wilde Season. The play stars the likes of Jennifer Sanders and Samantha Spiro and runs from January 12th to April 7th.
Click here to listen to the interview in full.