Mairéad Hughes is a third-year law student who, together with music student Séimí Campbell and medicine student Sean Cassidy, founded Trinity Musical Theatre Society. All three students were involved in the Halls Musical in their first year and subsequently discussed the “injustice of not having a musical theatre society” in Trinity.
In deciding to take it upon themselves to set up such a society, Hughes, Campbell and Cassidy found themselves facing a mountain of regulations and obstacles from the Central Societies Committee (CSC). The challenges that stood in their way took many forms, from their overlap with DU Players’s constitution to financial issues. Hughes explained that it had taken a full year to overcome these hurdles in order to achieve provisional recognition, stating that “some [issues] would take an hour to overcome, some would take months”.
The true crux of their difficulty in gaining recognition was in defining the aims of their new society. One of the first lines in the DU Players constitution states that they aim to cover “all aspects of theatre”, presenting a major issue as it encompassed musical theatre. Hughes, Campbell and Cassidy worked hard to forge their niche and quickly came to the conclusion that musical theatre is so vast and expansive that it “shouldn’t be confined to one theatre group”. Ordinary Committee Member (OCM) Patrick Finlay added that he sees the two societies as having “very different intentions”. They are setting themselves apart by focusing their creative energy into one production a year, unlike DU Players, which produces some 42 productions per year. With this in mind, the Musical Theatre Society’s rehearsal process will be a lot less intense, in the hopes of attracting a much larger audience.
The society received provisional recognition just in time for Freshers’ Week 2016, but the CSC have limited their scope for their first year so that they can find their footing. Even in their first few weeks, however, the society has received a huge amount of attention. According to Hughes, their newly established social media presence garnered an “incredible” response. Many students expressed their excitement and even helped them at their stand during Freshers’ Week. Hughes is hopeful that once they are a fully recognised society and have more experience, they will be able to host weekly workshops, collaborate with other societies, host guest speakers and maybe even put on more than one musical per year. They also plan to host a concert this Christmas entitled “A Night At The Musicals” featuring popular musical theatre songs performed by their members. According to Finlay, one of the greatest challenges that faces them this year is “managing expectations”. The committee needs to focus on doing what they set out in their constitution to do to create a solid foundation for the society’s future.
The highlight of the Trinity Musical Theatre Society calendar will be their main show, taking place in week 10 of Hilary Term, March 22nd to 24th in the O’Reilly Theatre, Belvedere College. With 500 seats, booking the theatre is an ambitious start for the society. The musical chosen this year will be the ever-popular classic West Side Story. Hughes plans to have a cast as large as 75 people and a large crew to meet the demands of the ambitious production. Encouragingly, they have already had many applications to be a part of the crew which includes the roles of Director, Musical Director, Choreographer, Director of Design (Costume and Set), Technical Officer and Stage Manager.
Hughes lauded the fact that there is “so much talent and such a diverse pool of people to choose from” in the student body. The auditions for cast members took place on Wednesday October 12th, and Hughes stressed that everyone of all levels was welcome to audition – a testament to the open nature of the society. She said that the production will be focused on “enjoying your craft and being able to express that”. She also highlighted that the rehearsal schedule is not too time-consuming with many third and fourth-year students or those with intense courses encouraged to take part.
The society’s AGM took place on September 28th to elect the official committee for the upcoming year of Trinity Musical Theatre Society. Hughes was elected as chairperson while her co-founding member Sean Cassidy was elected treasurer. Although the first official year of a new society can be intimidating and demanding, it is clear that the society has a very exciting year ahead of them and hopefully many more to follow.
