Scene and heard: This week's entertainment news

Des O'Driscoll shares this week's talking points from the world of music, TV and film.

Gig Wise

The crowded summer gig roster is in full swing, and there is no shortage of events where you can shake a leg or hoist a mobile phone.

The Marquee kicked off in Cork last night with Kodaline and the next musical act at the venue is A-Ha on Tuesday, followed by Don McLean and Bell XI, next Thursday and Friday.

Morten Harket and co are sold out, but tickets are still available for the latter two gigs.

In Dublin, upcoming biggies include The National and John Grant next Friday at Donnybrook Stadium; and Liam Gallagher and Richard Ashcroft at Malahide Castle the same night.

The rather poptastic trio of Taylor Swift, Charli XCX and Camila Cabello play Croke Park next Friday and Saturday.

Freddie White does a hometown gig at Sirius in Cobh tonight, while the Yoga Loft, Cork, has a ‘substance free’ event featuring musicians Niwel Tsumbu and Eamonn Cagney.

There’ll be sounds of a rather different kind at the Pav when Italian techno DJ/producer Simone Gatto joins forces with Jamie Behan.

The Choice Cuts crew in Dublin continue their gigs for the discerning music lover at the Sugar Club with a modern incarnation of Benin veterans Orchestre Poly Rythmo de Cotonou (June 16); and Roy Ayers on June 28.

On the telly

Cork actress Eileen Walsh has a prominent part in the excellent final episode of Patrick Melrose on Sky Atlantic on Sunday, and has also been reunited with her old Catastrophe pal Sharon Horgan for a new RTÉ series.

Eileen Walsh

Women on the Verge will be filmed in London and Dublin, with both Horgan and Lorna Martin adapting the latter writer’s book, Woman on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, into a six-part series.

Also playing one of the 30-something women in the show will be Thurles actress Kerry Condon, last seen as the ad agency’s secretary in Three Billboards.

Meanwhile, Graham Norton’s show tonight has Usain Bolt and Channing Tatum.

Classical nights

The Great Music in Irish Houses event runs from June 12-17, with chamber music at a number of venues in and around Dublin, including the Royal Irish Academy, and Airbnb’s international hub office at Hanover Quay.

Dublin also provides the setting for the Pipeworks event (June 13-17), which marks the last one hundred years of the French organ and choral tradition.

Coming up in June in Cork ...

'On Saturday June 16th at 8pm the National String Quartet Foundation, in association with UCC and Cork Orchestral Society, presents its annual gala fundraising concert in UCC’s Aula Maxima.

The National String Quartet... https://t.co/yaV9AB2vpJ

— West Cork Chamber Music Festival (@Westcorkmusic) May 31, 2018

Further south, the West Cork Chamber Music Festival (June 29–July 8) is fast approaching, and among the highlights should be the world premiere of Deirdre Gribbin’s Kindersang, a piece inspired by the movement that rescued 10,000 Jewish children from the Nazis.

Comedy capers

Tommy Tiernan’s appearance at the Marquee in Cork tomorrow is the first of two comedy gigs at the venue, with Dara O Briain following on June 29.

Flight Of The Conchords play the 3Arena in Dublin next Friday and Saturday, after the postponement of the

original appearances in March when Bret McKenzie, one half of the Kiwi duo, broke two bones in his hand falling down stairs.

Film tips

You’ve probably been waiting since childhood for the release of Toy Story 4, and could be picking up your pension by the time you see it.

Annie Potts, who provides the voice for Bo Peep, has revealed the next instalment of arguably the greatest animation ever made has been delayed by a huge script overhaul.

She told the Radio Times that the film, originally due last year, had largely been scrapped, and the writers had to redo three-quarters of the movie.

At the moment, it’s due for release in June 2019, and the story revolves around the search for the missing Bo Peep character.

We’ll believe it when we see it. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom was released earlier in the week and will probably be the big crowd-puller in cinemas over the weekend.