Variety is the spice of Frolics

Frolics offer a thousand reasons to head along to Ballyjamesduff in the coming weeks.

Titled A Night of a Thousand Stars, this year’s event is billed as ‘a sparkling revue of music, comedy and dance’. With 70-plus years of success behind them, you know the Frolics team will live up to the billing.

“We had a great show last year, it was really well attended,” recalls musical producer Susan Willis. “What I was hearing at the back of the hall was that it was the best show ever. That’s the standard - you have to either equal or surpass the previous year.”

To ensure the two hour extravaganza meets the stringent standard across the seven performances, the local group put in a phenomenal effort. Their first meeting was way back in May 2024.

“We would have sat as a production team with the musical director and spent a couple of months going through content,” explains Susan.

Then in September they welcomed in the cast for rehearsals at St Joseph’s Hall.

“So the cast have been working since September, two nights a week; at this point four nights a week.”

Amongst those attending rehearsals are Frolics newbies. Adrian McCabe, one of the comedy producers recalls joining the fold as a 16-year-old.

“I started off with the singing and dancing crew. I remember one of the very first songs where I was front of stage was the Vengaboys. That’s the one that comes to mind every time!

“As years went by, I had less time and I was drafted into the comedy,” she says.”

“It was less time consuming but I could still be involved. We had some great people involved in the comedy - Patrick Farrelly, Joseph Miney to name but a few.”

The Celt wonders at the loss to the musical team with Adrian’s transfer to comedy.

“Oh I don’t know about that,” he says laughing heartily. “It could have been a handy out for them.”

Over a quarter of a century on, and Adrian is delighted to report there’s still a steady stream of young blood eager to pitch in.

That still happens to this day - we still take in Transition Year students to the show to give them a little bit of experience on the stage and let them know what it’s all about.”

“I think that’s the heart of it. I’ve seen kids come in first and unbeknownst to themselves they don’t how to talk to people.”

“They don’t know how to deal with meeting new people. And towards the end they are very up front and able to chat to you and have a conversation, whereas at the start they would turn their head away in case they would have to talk to you. It’s unreal the transition over those three or four months.”

The variety show generates huge excitement each year. How do they sustain that enthusiasm for such a long-running event? For Susan it stems from the variety of performance the audience are treated to.

“The real success of Frolics is that it is a variety show - you have music, comedy and dance.

“Musically we have six segments, so you have licence to touch on all genres of music,” she says noting they have a seven-piece live band accompanying the singers.

One of the Frolics centrepieces is the musical segment - always a traditional Broadway smash.

“We’ve done Phantom of the Opera, My Fair Lady and Les Misérables, and we will have a treat in store this year: Evita.

“I think we have something exciting, and that’s really up there musically. So we hope what we have picked will run as well as last year.”

On the comedy side Adrian says the team try to improvise many of the sketches in workshops.

“We’re all at it long enough to know that if something’s not working, thank God none of us are afraid to say, ‘Listen we need to pull this’, ‘We need to do this, ‘We need to change that’.”

They endeavour to have at least some of the skits to reflect current affairs.

“You’ll have sketches of what’s happening at the moment, let it be with the storm or let it be Trump and things like that.”

Community

Adrian notes how the show is a great social outlet for the community - not just the performers, but the audiences too.

“It’s a little bit like Christmas - you see people who you wouldn’t have seen from one end of the year to another, congregating back in town and making a night of it,” he says noting how many people who are at college or now live outside the county come back to stay with family for the occasion.

“It’s great to see as well where you have maybe young people in the show whose parents were in the show and grandparents in the show,” says Adrian.

Susan commends everyone who pulls together to make the show a reality.

“While we have a great cast, very dedicated working together for the past six months, with a production team - we have a great choreographer and musical director. Then there’s a committee who work hard behind the scenes to publicise the event, sell tickets and man the ticket office.

“It’s a huge community effort in Ballyjamesduff. Everyone comes out to lend a hand with this - we have a cast of 40 and there’s another 60 people behind the scenes with backdrops, stage crew.

“If you were to ask, ‘What is the success of Frolics?’ I would say it is the community who comes behind it and makes it work.

“I guess they are very proud of the legacy that it has and are happy to see it emerge each year with a new show. It’s a great thing for the community and a big part of our heritage.”

Opening night is looming and rehearsals have ratcheted up to four nights a week.

Asked about the atmosphere in the hall, Adrian says it’s about perfecting the little things:

“It’s a funny mix between nerves and excitement.

“Attention to detail is what it’s all about - the singing crew know all the words now, there’s no learning anymore, it’s about delivery.

“It’s the same with us in the comedy group - we know the sketches, but it’s about delivering it and getting in the frame of mind, you have an audience there in front of you and you are there to entertain the audience.”

Frolics: A Night of a Thousand Stars runs in St Joseph’s Hall, Ballyjamesduff beginning Thursday, March 6 at 8pm. See advertisement for booking details.