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Cat The Play Returns to Waterford – Book CAT THE PLAY Now…

by Shane McDonald | Apr 14, 2019 | Ireland

This is an old post but I’ve left it on the website as CAT the Play is a wonderful show & if you ever get to see it then you should!

CAT the Play returns to the Theatre Royal, Waterford 11th/12th July 2019

This is a show not to be missed. I saw this show on it’s the last visit to Waterford and it is a hilarious show with a bit of an edge where you least expect it. Cat The Play is actually written by a friend of mine and well known Waterford actor Jamie Beamish along with Richard Hardwick. It strings you along with song and well-written script and then it …. well, I will leave you to find out for yourself!

DAVE WAS IN THE ORIGINAL CAST OF CATS. ON OPENING NIGHT HE WAS SACKED.
HE WAS NOT A HAPPY PUSSY…

A roller coaster, tongue-in-cheek homage to the world of musical theatre, CAT (THE PLAY!) is the fictitious account of how Dave the Cat was sacked from the iconic Andrew Lloyd Webber musical CATS just minutes before ‘curtain up’ on opening night.

As dreams of West End acclaim and adulation turn to tatter, this riotous parody of show business offers audiences a comedic, fictional insight into Dave’s turbulent theatrical career, beginning with his first role as Jesus’ donkey in the original cast of Jesus Christ Superstar and ending with a grand finale of backstage drama, romance and anarchy that led to his hopes of stardom becoming nothing more than a distant ‘Memory’.

After a sold-out run at the 2014 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, this comedy about the greatest musical star that never got to shine. Starring Gerard McCarthy, CAT the Play isn’t so much a love letter to musical theatre more a death threat. It is humorous while still having a darker undertone. There’s a lot to keep you entertained and I feel you will be listening to every word which CAT utters.

Book Online

Reviews of 'Cat the Play'

“A WOW OF A ONE MAN SHOW”, Liam Murphy

“AN AMAZING PIECE OF THEATRE!”, Pat McEvoy

“A quirky, sometimes awkwardly funny and always appealing package of melody and movement, CAT offers something for just about everyone – even a darkly unexpected conclusion (Five Stars)”, Belfast Telegraph

Visit the Official ‘Cat the Play’ Website for details

Cat The Play - London's Westend April 2017 - Book NOW

Map Location – Cat the Play, 11th / 12th July 2019, Theatre Royal, Waterford

Cat the Play at Theatre Royal Waterford

Support Solas Cancer Care Waterford – Film for Life 2018

by Shane McDonald | Jun 8, 2018 | Ireland

Film for Life 2018

Film for Life is in it’s second year. This year, I decided to give it a go; not in the area of photography (being the camera) rather as an actor. Over the past 6 weeks rehearsing and filming, I have been involved in acting out a scene from a famous movie.

This years movie is The Hangover and I play Phil, the Bradley Cooper character.

Over a 6-week training programme we were tutored by a professional actor. And at the end of May we shot a few scenes from The Hangover. The Film for Life premiere will take place at a red carpet themed event in the Tower Hotel, Waterford on Saturday 16th June. The inaugural 2017 Film for Life event was great fun and seemed to be enjoyed by all who took part.

Tickets for Film for Life 2018 has now passed and is over – but check out the Solas Cancer Care website for details of the next events This exciting Film for Life event helped to fund the activities and services that will be provided by the Solas Cancer Support Centre in 2018.

I have really enjoyed bring involved and I hope you can support my sponsorship to raise funds for Solas Cancer Care – click here for details.

About Solas Cancer Care, Waterford

The Solas Cancer Support Centre offers free cancer support to those affected by cancer, their families and carers in the South East. These services are available in their centre at Williamstown in Waterford City and in their West Waterford service based in the Alternative Health Clinic in Dungarvan.

Support my "Film for Life" Fundraising event

If you wish to donate to my “Film for Life” fundraising event please click the button below. Any amount will make a difference and I appreciate all donations to this worth cause.

Everyone who supports the event will be mentioned later on shanemcdonald.ie !

DONATE NOW

Total € Donations So Far including Offline Contributions

Thank You …

I would like to thank the following people and businesses who have donated so far.

Maria McEvoy

Vera McEvoy

John & Caroline Duggan / Hawkeye Falconry

Greg Porter

Fergus McDonald

Mary Murphy

Sarah McGrath

Kay Murphy

Maria McDonald

Karen McDonald

Elaine O’Sullivan

Carol McGrath

Brian Kavanagh

Valerie Leahy

I will add the names of individuals and businesses here as donations are received

Waterford City to become a huge game – Beat the Street

by Shane McDonald | Sep 8, 2017 | Ireland

This is an old post from 2017 and thus, the information may be out of date but is held here for reference purposes for this news story.

Over the next 7 weeks, thousands of people in Waterford city, Kilmacthomas and Dungarvan are expected to take to the streets. Schools, community groups and businesses are going to compete against each other as part of a giant walking and cycling challenge called Beat the Street.

Running from 13th September to 1st November 2017, Beat the Street is a free, fun challenge which will turn all three areas into a community-based game.

Those who take part are rewarded with points and prizes for exploring their local area on foot or bicycle. Almost 80 special Beat the Street sensors will be installed. These ‘Beat Boxes’ will be spread across the city and county and those wishing to participate in Beat the Street can pick up their own Beat the Street card and map at local distribution points and start swiping as many Beat Boxes as possible to receive points, win prizes, and get more active!

Schools across Waterford city, Kilmacthomas and Dungarvan will be competing against each other to see who can travel the furthest and win hundreds of euros worth of prizes. Adult players can also create their own Beat the Street teams or register to join an existing team to be in with a chance to win big prizes which will be announced shortly.

What is Beat The Street?

Beat the Street is run by Intelligent Health UK with support from Waterford Sports Partnership and is funded by Sport Ireland, Healthy Ireland, Dormant Accounts Fund and Waterford City & County Council. The aim of the Beat the Street initiative is to encourage thousands of people to explore Waterford city and county with their friends and family and discover something new about the local area. Waterford is a great county and this is a wonderful way to explore it while having lots of fun.

More than 300,000 people took part in BTS 2016 in towns and cities across the United Kingdom. Waterford city, Kilmacthomas and Dungarvan are the first of several areas – along with Dublin and Limerick – to be launching this incentive in Ireland. The pilot is the first of its kind in Waterford and it is a unique opportunity for those in the community to take part in this free programme by getting active in a fun and rewarding way.

Rosarie Kealy, Sports Coordinator at Waterford Sports Partnership said: “We are incredibly excited to be bringing Beat the Street to Waterford city, Kilmacthomas and Dungarvan and are really looking forward to seeing how everyone rises to the challenge of walking, cycling, running or scooting during the seven-week game.

“Anyone can get involved in Beat the Street – it’s completely free to play and is a great opportunity to go outdoors, spend time with your friends and family and get moving. Watch out for Beat Boxes appearing on a street near you!”

More Information about Beat the Street

Further Information regarding the Beat the Street initiative is available on their website at beatthestreet.me/waterford. On that site you can find out about where you can pick up a BTS card, how to register for BTS and the map with the beat box locations for your area. You can follow @BTSWaterford on Twitter or ‘Beat the Street Waterford’ on Facebook for more information on prizes and how to get involved in this great local project.

Littlewoods Ireland Christmas Commercial

by Shane McDonald | Nov 24, 2016 | Ireland

Normally, the first Christmas commercial I see comes with a cry of ‘No, its far too early for this’. But this year, the first Christmas commercial I saw was the Littlewoods Christmas Advert for Littlewoods Ireland and I actually liked it.

Now, part of the reason why I liked it was because they used the Queen song, “Those were the Days of Our Lives”. The song was written by Roger Taylor about his kids and it was on Queen’s album Innuendo. It’s a very emotive song and therefore fits perfectly, as it is all about looking back. (As an aside, the video for that song was the last time Freddie Mercury was on camera, and today 24th Nov is the anniversary of his death).

Anyway, I really liked this commercial because it focused on the real joys of Christmas. The soft lighting, cheeky grins from kids stealing chocolate, everyone decorating the Christmas tree, putting out mince pies for Santa and of course the excitement coming down the stairs on Christmas morning. There is also a flashback moment when mum and dad are seen as kids. The tagline ‘You never forget how it feels…. to be a child at Christmas’.

I know John Lewis every year has a great Festive commercial, this year’s dog is no exception. But I think Littlewoods Christmas commercial has given them a run for their money,

Take a look at the Littlewoods Christmas Advert / commercial below. What do you think?

The adverts which Littlewoods produce on the run up to the festive season are all about creating an atmosphere. I think this advert does this. The Littlewoods advertising campaign over the past few years have been incrementally better and better each year. I hope you like this particular advert and who knows what they will produce in the years to come. Take a look at the video above and let me know what you think.

Cigarette Butts are Irelands Biggest Litter Problem

by Shane McDonald | Oct 23, 2016 | Ireland

I wrote a blog post back in 2016 which looked back to a 2008 litter report. In the 2008 survey of litter in Ireland, it was found that Ireland’s cities and towns were cleaner than they have been for many years prior. This was thanks to better awareness from the public, more bins and a huge effort from city and town councils. However, some pedestrians and motorists ignore bins and drop cigarette butts and food on the streets.

Cigarette Butts mentioned in Litter Reports 2008 to 2017

The 2008 National Litter Pollution Monitoring System report found that cigarette butts and cigarette-related litter formed 46% of street litter and food packaging & Sweet wrappers making up 17% of all litter.

The 2015 National Litter Pollution Monitoring System report found Cigarette related litter was at 59.8% – up over 13% on 2008, while packaging litter & sweet related litter combined was around 19% up a small amount on 2008.

In the 2017 Litter Pollution report, it was found that Cigarette related litter dropped slightly to 56.3%. Other issues such as packaging items constituted 17.6%, food related litter at 9%, sweet related litter was 7.9% and paper items 4.7%. It still shows that Cigarette Butts account for over 50% of the nations street litter.

For some reason, cigarette smokers have some sort of ignorance when it comes to litter. Cigarette Butts also contain over 4,000 toxins which can kill birds and fish – so why, when finished a cigarette do smokers flick their butt into the streets – in a “F**k it, someone else will clean that up!” attitude.

Smokers should be fined for doing this – after all, it is litter. If they are not fined then there should be an extra tax on each cigarette in a packet to pay for cigarette butt clean up.

Naming and Shaming

I think Ireland may have to Name and Shame pubs, restaurants or outlets which don’t encourage smokers to bin their butts when finished smoking. Perhaps there may also be a law which allows fining smokers who flick their butts into the street after they are finished smoking. This seems to be a habit amongst many smokers rather than finding a bin.

My Cigarette Butt 10 Step Challenge

I have observed a huge number of cigarette butts on the streets of Ireland. I have come up with a cigarette butt challenge. Basically, try walking 10 steps in any town or city in Ireland, observing the ground. See if you can walk those 10 steps without seeing a cigarette butt on the ground – it is almost impossible. If you do find a street or town let me know in the comments below.

I do have to reiterate that there are conscientious smokers out there who do place their finished cigarettes in bins provided. However, there has been an increase in this sort of litter, so it seems these smokers are in the minority.

Save the Barrow Line Petition

by Shane McDonald | Jul 25, 2016 | Ireland

I enjoy walking and as you probably know I also like photography. Therefore I’m always on the lookout for spots of natural beauty where you might get a glimpse of a sparrow hawk or a kingfisher or just a nice landscape photo. About a year ago I came across a walk from St. Mullins to Graiguenamangh. This is called the Barrow Line and the walk meanders along the side of the barrow and takes about 2 hours 20 to walk. (This includes me taking about 50 photos along the way!). One day while walking here I saw a sign for ‘Save the Barrow Line’ and I was dismayed to hear of the plans for this stretch of walkway.

What is the Barrow Line?

The Barrow Line is the local name for a unique natural grassy tow-path along Ireland’s second longest river, The Barrow. This river is one of the Three Sisters rivers and flows through towns like Athy, Carlow, Leighlinbridge, Bagenalstown, Goresbridge, Graiguenamanagh, St. Mullins and New Ross. The Barrow Line is used by walkers and cyclists who enjoy nature and the area’s outstanding scenic beauty.

The authors of Hiking in Ireland have described the Barrow Line as, “a peaceful green corridor a world away from distractions of the modern world. “

The Threat to the Barrow Line

Apparently, ‘Waterways Ireland’ has plans to apply for planning permission to replace the lush grassy surface of the 90km Barrow Line route with a hard surface. Locals think that this huge change will irreversibly destroy the fabric of this unique amenity – this is why the Save the Barrow Line petition was set up.

Personally, I think there are some major points regarding this hard surface;

With the fact that this area has had such problems with flooding in December 2015, adding an extra hard surface is just going to make drainage even more of a problem.
I enjoy walking on this line because 99% of it is a well maintained grassy surface – if I wanted to walk on tar or stones I would walk on the road. Why add more concrete, tar or stone to a very picturesque area.
Nature flourishes in this area, making this a hard surface could in my view affect this. You see bugs, and insects on the grass all the time. I think it could affect biodiversity on the line.

I think the solution is to maintain the grassy line, and at most a single file cycle path as a hard surface. This would be a compromise which would see both parties happy should it come to an impasse.

Hopefully, it will not come to that and we will maintain a grassy surface on that walk. I have already signed the petition but you can add your voice to the Save the Barrow Line petition below.

It is important to add your voice to the Save the Barrow line. Having a hard surface is the wrong decision in my view as we have a beautiful area of nature and you are simply tarring over it. Not good!

If it is ever tarred over I won’t be returning to the area – tar and cement is not nature.

Sign Save the Barrow Line Petition

Click here to add your voice to the petition

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