As Killarney Musical Society graduate Jessie Buckley prepares for the Oscars, 2FM Breakfast host Aisling Bonner takes us inside the world of the amateur theatre groups that have been a hotbed of Irish talent since the 1880s
Jessie Buckley, pictured with her SAG-AFTRA Actor’s Award, has come a long way from her very first stage role as ‘Oliver’ in the Killarney Musical Society production in 1997. Photos: Reuters; Buckley family
It’s a Friday afternoon in January and my phone is lighting up. By the time I check it, there are over 150 messages in a group chat called ‘JCS Cast *church emoji*, *electric guitar emoji*’. JCS stands for Jesus Christ Superstar, which is the musical I’m rehearsing for with Entr’acte Musical Society. The emojis are for decoration. I wonder what in God’s name (pun intended) is going on, so I open the chat and learn that there’s big news in the world of Irish musical theatre. It concerns something I describe to the uninitiated as ‘The All-Ireland Final for Musical Nerds’, an annual awards ceremony for amateur musical theatre held by the Association of Irish Musical Societies (AIMS), also known as ‘The AIMS Awards’.
The group is abuzz because the fancy dress theme for this year’s awards has just been announced, and if anyone’s going to take a costume seriously, it’s these guys. The theme is ‘Brush Up Your Shakespeare’ and someone has suggested that all 50 of us dress up as Jessie Buckley.