Powerscourt Townhouse welcomed some of Trinity’s most talented students last night, as DU Dance, Trinity Musical Theatre Society, DU Music and Trinity Belles held their first winter showcase.
Guests were welcomed with a prosecco reception upon entry, and were then ushered into the intimate confines of the theatre. Here, the audience were invited to sit around tables decorated with tea lights, boasting sweets and nibbles for them to enjoy. The show presented a diverse array of talent, as singers, dancers and ensemble performances took to the stage. Keelin Shaughnessy and Nick Betts, the self-proclaimed “least talented members of the DU Dance committee”, were the MCs for the evening.
Lainey O’Sullivan from Trinity Musical Theatre Society kicked off proceedings singing “In Short” from the musical Edges, a delightful, homicidal, anti-love song that had the audience in stitches from the first note to the last. She was followed by Ciara Quigley, who sang a beautiful version of “Someone Else’s Story”, from the musical Chess, accompanied by Eric Sheeran-Purcell on the piano. Madeline Arkins and Aideen Kelly performed an acapella cover of Simon and Garfunkel’s “Old Friends”, a song that they themselves described as only vaguely connected to musical theatre, considering it it was sung by a musical theatre performer just the once. Jack Farrell sang “Stars” from Les Miserables the film, accompanied by David Callaghan on the piano. However it was Jack Connelly and Caoimhe Tyndall who brought the house down with a hilarious performance of “Baptise Me” from the musical The Book of Mormon. Their incredible acting talents, combined with the sheer joy they clearly got out of throwing holy water around the stage, brought the performance to life.
DU Dance put forward a number of their intervarsities teams to perform. Their hip-hop group performed three high-energy routines over the course of the show. The DU Dance jazz intervarsities group also performed to a mash-up of Michael Bublé’s “Feeling Good” and James Brown’s “I Feel Good”. The last of the DU Dance acts to take the stage was the society’s intervarsity contemporary team, who danced a very technically impressive routine.
Some of DU Music’s top performers also graced the stage. Eva Belle performed a heartfelt, original ballad entitled “Harbour”, followed by a cover of Dire Straits’ “Romeo and Juliet”. Aoife O’Shea then performed “I Went To The Store One Day” by Father John Misty, and a clever Amy Winehouse and Marvin Gaye mashup. Barra McMahon then played and sang “The First Day of My Life” by Bright Eyes, and an acoustic cover of Ella Fitzgerald’s “Summertime”, and was then joined by Eva Belle again, where they sang a stunning duet version of “Goodbye” by Mick Flannery. Daithi Greene was the last member of DU Music to perform on the night, playing brilliant covers of Amy Winehouse’s “You Know I’m No Good”, and Bob Dylan’s “Mama, You Been On My Mind”.
The ever-popular Trinity Belles performed twice over the course of the showcase, wowing the audience with renditions including Florence and The Machine’s “Dog Days Are Over”, “The Cup Song” from Pitch Perfect and Meghan Trainor’s “No” in their first act performance. As the final act of the entire showcase, they finished the night with a Spice Girls tribute, including snippets of “Wannabe”, “Viva Forever”, “Say You’ll Be There” and “Stop Right Now”, followed by “Send My Love (To Your New Lover)” by Adele, and a mash-up of various Christmas carols.
Judging by audience reaction alone, the showcase was a huge success, one I’m sure will be repeated in the future.
