{"id":397828,"date":"2026-04-14T11:34:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T11:34:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/397828\/"},"modified":"2026-04-14T11:34:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T11:34:08","slug":"0800-cupid-2026-tour-the-journal-of-music-in-ireland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/397828\/","title":{"rendered":"0800 Cupid – 2026 Tour | The Journal of Music in Ireland"},"content":{"rendered":"

Theatre juggernauts THISISPOPBABY and cabaret star Emer Dineen bring their heartfelt, raucous, five-star musical extravaganza 0800-CUPID back to Irish stages for a summer tour, following a sell-out premiere season in Ireland and the UK in 2024:<\/p>\n

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\u201cHilarious, heartfelt theatre by one of Ireland\u2019s rising stars\u201d \/ \u201cEntertaining in every way\u201d – The Irish Times<\/p>\n

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\u201cthe highlight of Dublin Theatre Festival 2024\u201d – Irish Examiner <\/p>\n

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\u201cFeverish, fantastical soup of pop-star glam\u201d – The Guardian <\/p>\n

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\u201cForget Cillian Murphy, Cork\u2019s real superstar is Dineen!\u201d \/ \u201cA talent this big can\u2019t possibly be contained. Dineen is simply phenomenal\u201d – The Arts Review <\/p>\n

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\u201c0800 CUPID is an incredible piece of theatre, bringing a queer story to the stage in an appropriately flamboyant fashion.\u201d \/\/ \u201dvirtuosic, life-affirming, and perfect.\u201d – GCN <\/p>\n

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\u201cUnmissable\u201d – Everything Theatre<\/p>\n

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\u201cEmer\u2019s writing is like a big hug from someone you\u2019ve cried to in a club bathroom!\u201d \/\/ \u201cAuthentically queer, human, and life-affirming” – The Arts Dispatch <\/p>\n

TOURS: Dublin \/ Cork \/ Galway \/ Clare \/ Sligo \/ Kerry: 3 June \u2013 4 July<\/p>\n

THISISPOPBABY are hitting the road with Cork-born, London-reared cabaret star Emer Dineen\u2019s \u201cunmissable\u201d 0800-CUPID – a genre-defying queer, countercultural opus that fizzes between performance and reality. By turns heartfelt and raucous, this electrifying show charts a musical march into – and back from – one young woman\u2019s existential brink.<\/p>\n

The tour opens at Dublin\u2019s Project Arts Centre before Dineen returns home to Cork as part of Cork Midsummer Festival 2026, followed by a nationwide run through to 4 July.<\/p>\n

Dineen is a formidable talent – writer, actor, cabaret performer and house music vocalist. In 0800-CUPID, she collaborates with award-winning playwright and director Phillip McMahon on a bold, form-busting musical odyssey tracing one extraordinary year in her life. With wit, candour and soaring vocals, Dineen gives voice to a jilted, chronically online generation in a story that is at once universal, hilarious and deeply felt.<\/p>\n

Sliding between fantasy and reality, the show takes audiences on a heady ride through a surreal chapter in Dineen\u2019s life – navigating her father\u2019s dementia diagnosis, her nightlife career in drag as crumbling club-kid \u2018Cupid\u2019 (a horny cherub matchmaker), a Tourette\u2019s diagnosis, and the loss of her call-centre job – all against the pulse of London\u2019s club scene. Amid the chaos of music, drag, toxic relationships and life\u2019s curveballs, she searches for connection and meaning in the big city – finding answers where she least expects them.<\/p>\n

This exhilarating music theatre experience explores identity, crisis and survival, charting a pilgrimage back from the brink through Dineen\u2019s alter ego, \u2018Cupid\u2019. Featuring a live band and a cast of theatrical mavericks, the show unfolds as a high-octane queer party – capturing both the thrill and the quiet anxiety of being untethered in your twenties.<\/p>\n

Written and composed by Emer Dineen, with co-composition by musical director Tom Beech and production by Irish EDM artist Elaine Mai, 0800-CUPID is powered by an exceptional creative team, transforming the stage into an avant-garde nightclub-meets-concert experience. <\/p>\n

Produced by the multi-award-winning THISISPOPBABY, 0800-CUPID was hailed by the Irish Examiner as the standout hit of the 2024 festival before transferring to Soho Theatre, London, where it garnered rapturous audience and critical acclaim, including multiple five-star reviews. Audiences have called it \u201cincredible, unmissable, riotous, good fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

Touring to six venues this summer, tickets are expected to move quickly – early booking is strongly advised for what promises to be a thrilling night at the theatre.<\/p>\n

CAST: Emer Dineen, Isabel Adomakoh Young, Carl Harrison, Tom Beech (keys), Michael McCarthy (drums), Osazee Aiguokhian (bass)<\/p>\n

CREATIVE TEAM:
Text, Composition and Lyrics \u2013 Emer Dineen
Directed and Developed by \u2013 Phillip McMahon
Co-Composer and Musical Director \u2013 Tom Beech
Music Producer \u2013 Elaine Mai
Choreography – Carl Harrison
Lighting Design – Sarah Jane Shiels
Set Design – Ellen Kirk
Costume Design – Lambdog1066
Band – Tom Beech (keys), Michael McCarthy (drums), Osazee Aiguokhian (bass)
Produced by Daniel Culleton & Carla Rogers
Photo (above) by Eoin Greally and Niall Sweeney
VIDEO TRAILER: https:\/\/vimeo.com\/1145573523?fl=pl&fe=sh<\/a> <\/p>\n

Booking: https:\/\/www.thisispopbaby.com\/book<\/a><\/p>\n

LISTINGS INFORMATION:
Project Arts Centre (Space Upstairs), Dublin
Wednesday 3 \u2013 Saturday 6 June \/ Tuesday 9 – Saturday 13 June @ 7.30pm | \u20ac15-\u20ac32
Matinees: Saturday 13 @ 2.30pm | \u20ac15-\u20ac28
Box Office \u2013 Tel: 01 881 9613 \/ https:\/\/projectartscentre.ie\/events\/0800-cupid-2\/<\/a> <\/p>\n

The Everyman, Cork [as part of Cork Midsummer Festival 2026]
Thursday 18 + Saturday 20 June @ 8.30pm | \u20ac15-\u20ac32
Everyman Box Office \u2013 Tel: 021 450 16 73 \/ https:\/\/everymancork.com\/events\/0800-cupid\/<\/a>
CMF Box Office \u2013 Tel: 021 421 5159 \/ https:\/\/www.corkmidsummer.com\/whats-on\/0800-cupid<\/a><\/p>\n

Town Hall Theatre, Galway
Tuesday 23 @ 8.00pm | \u20ac18-\u20ac22
Box Office \u2013 Tel: 045 448 327 \/ https:\/\/tht.ie\/4743\/0800-cupid<\/a><\/p>\n

Gl\u00f3r, Ennis, Co Clare
Friday 26 June @ 8.00pm | \u20ac18
Box Office \u2013 Tel: 065 684 3103 \/ https:\/\/glor.ie\/events\/thisispopbaby-presents-0800-cupid\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Hawks Well, Sligo
Tuesday 30 June @ 8.00pm | \u20ac18-20
Box Office \u2013 Tel: 071 916 1518 \/ https:\/\/www.hawkswell.com\/whats-on\/shows\/0800-cupid<\/a> <\/p>\n

Siamsa T\u00edre, Tralee, Co Kerry
Friday 3 + Saturday 4 July @ 8.00pm \u20ac18-20
Box Office \u2013 Tel: 066 712 3055 \/ siamsatire.com\/<\/p>\n

Running Time: 80 mins approx. (no interval)
Age: 14+ yrs <\/p>\n

STAY IN TOUCH WITH THISISPOPBABY:
www.thisispopbaby.com<\/a>
INSTAGRAM: @thisispopbaby<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Theatre juggernauts THISISPOPBABY and cabaret star Emer Dineen bring their heartfelt, raucous, five-star musical extravaganza 0800-CUPID back to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":397829,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,60,43],"class_list":["post-397828","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397828","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=397828"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397828\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/397829"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=397828"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=397828"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=397828"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}